Post signing day PAC 12 power rankings.

Top 4 teams come out of the north.

A couple of things I'm looking forward to next season:

Ex UW qb troy williams now likely starting at Utah. He's a guy I really liked coming out of high school, I was surprised it didn't work out at UW.

I also really like the rb's from the LA schools. Especially Soso Jamambo at ucla, he's going to be a stud.

Bryce love at Stanford is another guy to keep an eye on. Will make a great 1-2 punch with mccaffrey.

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id ... r-rankings

That's pretty cool about Troy Williams. I'll be rooting for him so long as it doesn't hurt the Huskies. Like you I couldn't understand why Lindquist and Miles got so much opportunity while Williams rotted on the bench.

I also agree that the top four teams should be from the North. Whatever order you put them in, I think those are the four best in the Pac-12 right now.

Every one of these teams probably has a recruit or two they love. But I think one of UW's recruits- Sean Mcgrew- could have a huge impact for UW. I compared him to Danny Woodhead before, but watching him some more, I'm starting to get some serious De'Anthony Thomas vibes. Not only does he run deceptively fast, but he makes moves in bullet time. And UW's offense actually carves out a pretty big chunk of their plays for backup RBs.

Still, McCaffrey is so damn good, it's hard not to have Stanford #1. I think McCaffrey is the best non-QB player to come out of the conference since Marshawn Lynch.

I'm not really a college football expert so don't take me too seriously on this but I wouldn't discount the Trojans and Bruins. Somehow I can't really buy into both washington teams having an amazing season this year, so I doubt all 4 best teams come from the north.

I actually find Stanford at #1 to be an absurd ranking.

Their starters last season included Seniors at the following positions:

QB, WR, WR, LT, LG, C, RG, FB, DE, DE, OLB, ILB, FS, SS, CB, K

If you look at the two deeps, they also lost the imediate back-ups at HB (2nd & 3rd string gone) WR, RG, RT, DT, DE.

McCaffrey is really really good, and they've recruited well, but you don't replace 16!!!! Senior starters, including 80% of your OL and 66% of your DL and not expect a drop off.

Overseasfan":241s0w8q said:

I'm not really a college football expert so don't take me too seriously on this but I wouldn't discount the Trojans and Bruins. Somehow I can't really buy into both washington teams having an amazing season this year, so I doubt all 4 best teams come from the north.

Click to expand...

If you're going just by talent then USC and ucla should be at the top of the conference every year, but they always seem to underachieve. I personally think it's a culture thing, guys go to those two schools for the sun, the babes and the glory. I don't think they get the grinders who are going to bust ass every day to get better. (Obviously a generalization and there are exceptions, but I believe that to be true).

I actually think oregon has a little bit of the same problem the last couple years. For awhile there it became "the cool school" and I think guys thought they could just come in and win and not put in the work. I think they kind of got slapped on the face last season and from reports it sounds like they're getting back to the grind.

drrew":zn2wvvjq said:

I actually find Stanford at #1 to be an absurd ranking.

Their starters last season included Seniors at the following positions:

QB, WR, WR, LT, LG, C, RG, FB, DE, DE, OLB, ILB, FS, SS, CB, K

If you look at the two deeps, they also lost the imediate back-ups at HB (2nd & 3rd string gone) WR, RG, RT, DT, DE.

McCaffrey is really really good, and they've recruited well, but you don't replace 16!!!! Senior starters, including 80% of your OL and 66% of your DL and not expect a drop off.

Click to expand...

I totally get what you are saying, there will likely be a drop off of some kind. That said, McCaffrey is one of those generational college football players that can put a team on his back, and Stanford was the #1 Pac-12 team last season by a comfortable margin. And some of the seniors they lost, like Hogan, were only mediocre starters.

Barry Sanders, Jr. announced his intention to transfer from Stanford to Oklahoma State.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/sto ... te-cowboys

JSeahawks":azeqbl8w said:

Overseasfan":azeqbl8w said:

I'm not really a college football expert so don't take me too seriously on this but I wouldn't discount the Trojans and Bruins. Somehow I can't really buy into both washington teams having an amazing season this year, so I doubt all 4 best teams come from the north.

Click to expand...

If you're going just by talent then USC and ucla should be at the top of the conference every year, but they always seem to underachieve. I personally think it's a culture thing, guys go to those two schools for the sun, the babes and the glory. I don't think they get the grinders who are going to bust ass every day to get better. (Obviously a generalization and there are exceptions, but I believe that to be true).

I actually think oregon has a little bit of the same problem the last couple years. For awhile there it became "the cool school" and I think guys thought they could just come in and win and not put in the work. I think they kind of got slapped on the face last season and from reports it sounds like they're getting back to the grind.

Click to expand...

Do you think they will play with a chip on their shoulder like the Hawks? And NO pun intended, honestly.

Seahawkfan80":1msqegow said:

JSeahawks":1msqegow said:

Overseasfan":1msqegow said:

I'm not really a college football expert so don't take me too seriously on this but I wouldn't discount the Trojans and Bruins. Somehow I can't really buy into both washington teams having an amazing season this year, so I doubt all 4 best teams come from the north.

Click to expand...

If you're going just by talent then USC and ucla should be at the top of the conference every year, but they always seem to underachieve. I personally think it's a culture thing, guys go to those two schools for the sun, the babes and the glory. I don't think they get the grinders who are going to bust ass every day to get better. (Obviously a generalization and there are exceptions, but I believe that to be true).

I actually think oregon has a little bit of the same problem the last couple years. For awhile there it became "the cool school" and I think guys thought they could just come in and win and not put in the work. I think they kind of got slapped on the face last season and from reports it sounds like they're getting back to the grind.

Click to expand...

Do you think they will play with a chip on their shoulder like the Hawks? And NO pun intended, honestly.

Click to expand...

I think the biggest difference from last year is that the defense is going to be aggressive and attack instead of read, react and let the offense dictate. The dline will no longer be just occupying blockers but trying to make plays. I think the result of that will be more big play, both from the ducks defense, and probably from opposing offenses. I'm fine with that though. With the offense the ducks put on the field I'd rather see the ducks defense giving up occasional 3 play 80 yard drives then constant 12 play 80 yard drives. The last few years of pellum lead defenses felt like 4 quarters of prevent defense and bend but don't break defense that would bend then break.

IMO the role of the ducks defense should be to get the ball back for the offense as quickly as possible, if they give up points in the process, so be it, as long as they also create turnovers and 3 and outs.

And yes i think they feel like they have something to prove, whether that means they have a chip on their shoulder I don't know.

UW held a Husky Combine today. John Ross III ran a 4.25 40. Can't wait to see him on the field again this fall.

SeatownJay":3tgtq9km said:

UW held a Husky Combine today. John Ross III ran a 4.25 40. Can't wait to see him on the field again this fall.

Click to expand...

Budda baker ran a 4.34. These are hand timed. I'd like to see them officially clocked. De'anthony Thomas is the fastest player I've ever seen on a football field, compared to other players around him, and he ran a 4.5 at the combine, although the hand timer had him at 4.33.

Both Ross and Budda can legitimately fly though.

I watched Stanford's spring game the other day. I know spring games are just glorified scrimmages but you can at least see the type of athletes.

I think their offense is going to be much more explosive then what we've seen. Keller Chryst is going to be light years better then hogan could ever dream of being at qb. At 6'5", 230 he's a future first round draft pick (Wouldn't be surprised if hes the best qb in the pac 12 this season). Mccaffrey and Bryce love are big plays waiting to happen. Plus they've got a wr, Trenton Irwin, who was rated a 5 star by a few services, he looks pretty legit.

It's stanford. So you know they'll have a good o'line and defense no matter how many guys they have to replace.