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each team for the fill class list
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Arizona
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| Oregon
| Oregon St
| Stanford
UCLA
| USC |
Washington
| Washington St
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2006 Pac 10 Recruiting Rankings
1.
USC
The
class is heavy on ... The best
of the best high school recruits.
Depending on who you believe,
Florida might have gotten a better
overall class, but USC got the stars
with, arguably, the top two running
backs (Joe McKnight and Marc Tyler),
the No. 1 center (Kristofer Dowd),
the No. 1 defensive end (Everson
Griffin), the No. 1 linebacker
(Chris Galippo), and players like
corner Ronald Johnson, safety
Marshall Jones, and quarterback
Aaron Corp who might end up being
the best in America.
The player who'll someday be a
really big deal ... QB Aaron
Corp
The player you might care about
this year ... RB Joe McKnight
What it all means to the real
world of college football ...
USC classes have become so good
every year they set their own
standard. It's gotten to the point
where a player recruited by Pete
Carroll and his staff get a special
badge of honor. Those programs who
get players recruited by USC
advertise to anyone who'll listen
that they got a Trojan-caliber
player. Basically, the program gets
just about anyone it wants to.
2. Oregon
The
class is heavy on ... Linemen.
The Ducks loaded up the lines with
some tremendous prospects getting
in, arguably, the best class of
lines the Mike Bellotti has ever
had. Three of the offensive linemen,
Darrion Weems, Carson York and
Charlie Carmichael, could've gone
anywhere in America, while defensive
tackles Simi Fili, Myles Wade and
Tonio Celotto, along with ends Kenny
Rowe and Dominic Glover, made a good
overall class something special.
The player who'll someday be a
really big deal ... LB Terrance
Pritchett
The player you might care about
this year ... WR Terence Scott
What it all means to the real
world of college football ...
After coming up with a 2006
recruiting class that many dismissed
as one of the Pac 10's weakest,
Oregon went ballistic beating out
the other conference heavyweights
for plenty of California talent. While the
lines got the most attention, the linebacking corps has the stars and
the receiving corps, thanks to Drew
Davis and Terence Scott, is
something special. This could be the
recruiting class that eventually
takes Oregon from very, very good to
a true threat to USC.
3. California
The
class is heavy on ... Defense.
There isn't a dud in the offensive
bunch, but the defense got the most
attention loaded with size, speed,
and NFL talent. The five linebackers
are as good as any haul in America
with JUCO transfers Devin Bishop and
Alex Cook ready to roll right now,
while Robert Mullins, John Tyndall
and D.J. Holt will get time to
develop. Head coach Jeff Tedford
wanted to get bigger in the
secondary, so he got a pair of 6-3
safeties in Sean Cattouse and Chris
Conte.
The player who'll someday be a
really big deal ... LB D.J. Holt
The player you might care about
this year ... LB Devin Bishop
What it all means to the real
world of college football ...
Cal is no longer the Little Engine
That Could; it's a bear when it
comes to getting California players.
This isn't a class of overachievers
or ready-made JUCO talents, it's a
group of tremendous prospects that
should keep the program among the
Pac 10 elite for a long time to
come. No, Cal isn't USC when it
comes to picking up players, but it
won more than its share of battles,
with a major surprise getting safety
Chris Conte from UCLA at the last
second..
4. Washington
The
class is heavy on ... Skill
players. Ty Willingham wanted to
improve the overall depth and
upgrade the skill players with his
27-man class, and he did it and then
some with a tremendous array of
potential offensive playmakers to
put UW back on the map. Speed backs
Brandon Johnson and Curtis Shaw
headline a good group of five
runners, while Anthony Boyles, Devin
Aguilar, Alvin Logan, and tight end
Chris Izbicki will be the Husky
passing game in 2009. It might fly
under the radar, but JUCO PK Jared
Ballman might be the team's most
significant recruit for 2007.
The player who'll someday be a
really big deal ... WR Anthony
Boyles
The player you might care about
this year ... RB Brandon Johnson
What it all means to the real
world of college football ...
The knock on Willingham at Notre
Dame was that he couldn't recruit,
yet Charlie Weis won a lot of games
with Ty's old players. This class
disproves the myth as Willingham
loaded up with several fantastic
prospects that could've gone just
about anywhere in the Pac 10. Last
year's class was about the lines,
this year's class was about the
skills, and the two classes should
converge into something special by
2010.
5. Oregon State
The
class is heavy on ... The lines.
The skills guys and CB David Ross
are the stars of the 29-man show,
but this class was all about
improving up front as well as
providing overall depth. Four JUCO
transfers were brought in for the
offensive line to beef things up
right away, while eight players
signed for the defensive line led by
top end prospect Kevin Frahm.
The player who'll someday be a
really big deal ... CB David
Ross
The player you might care about
this year ... OG Jon Ioane
What it all means to the real
world of college football ...
It'll be fascinating to see how this
class turns out, because it's almost
exactly what you want if you're
Oregon State. With 29 recruits, some
will come from out of nowhere to
star, others will get plenty of time
to develop, and there are just
enough JUCO players to fill
immediate holes. While there's bulk,
the coaching staff got excellent
prospects at key positions upgrading
the overall talent level at
quarterback, running back, offensive
tackle and receiver.
6. UCLA
The
class is heavy on ... Quality
over quantity. The Bruins only
picked up ten players, but they're
all good ones. All are highly rated
by just about everyone with no flier
prospects; this is a class with
relatively little waste. From tall,
fast QB Chris Forcier to speedster
RB Raymond Carter to future NFL
defensive tackle Brian Price, the
team upgraded its talent.
The player who'll someday be a
really big deal ... DT Brian
Price
The player you might care about
this year ... RB Raymond Carter
What it all means to the real
world of college football ...
Last year's class was for the
foundation on the lines, while this
year's group is to find stars. There
can't be many misses with a class
this small. While a recruit that
pans out and lives up to
expectations is worth his weight in
gold, the UCLA coaching staff thinks
it got a bunch of gems. However, as
everyone knows, out of any ten
recruits, no matter how many stars
are next to their names, if you get
more than five real, live,
productive starters, you're happy.
7. Arizona State
The
class is heavy on ... High
school defenders. Dirk Koetter
desperately tried for a quick fix
last year loading up on JUCO
talents. While new head man Dennis
Erickson is hardly a stranger to
getting ready-made starters, and his
best defenders in this class, end
Luis Vasquez, corner Jarrell Holman
and linebacker Morris Wooten, are
from the JUCO ranks, this defense
will be built from the ground up
from the high school ranks. CB Omar
Bolden and end James Brooks are the
cornerstones for the future.
The player who'll someday be a
really big deal ... QB Chasen
Stangel
The player you might care about
this year ... DE Luis Vasquez
What it all means to the real
world of college football ...
Considering he didn't have much time
to work, Erickson did a heck of a
job. He not only kept most of
Koetter's recruits, but he was able
to snag QB Samson Szakacsy from USC
at the last second as part of a
class as good as anything the
program has had in several years.
From the way this group was built,
with several high school prospects
and players to work around on the
lines, this is a class for the long
haul ... sticking around isn't
exactly an Erickson forte.
8. Stanford
The
class is heavy on ... Instant
players from the high school ranks.
They might not be ready yet, but
after last year's disaster, every
spot is open under the eye of the
new coaching staff. Jim Harbaugh's
stars are the quarterbacks, Kellen
Kiilsgaard and L.D. Crow, and each
will have to play key roles right
away. Kiilsgaard might be moved to
safety early on just to get him on
the field. It might not be a good
thing when the best recruit is a
kicker, but David Green should be
worth it.
The player who'll someday be a
really big deal ...LB Johnathon
Frink
The player you might care about
this year ... PK David Green
What it all means to the real
world of college football ...
Harbaugh is going to get this
offense moving no matter what it
takes. Crow, running backs Chike
Amajoyi and Jeremy Stewart,
receivers Doug Baldwin and Sean
Wiser, and tight end Coby Fleener
will all get long, long looks this
fall to at least provide quality
depth. Walt Harris did a good job of
recruiting last year, and that
class, combined with this one,
should make Stanford more
competitive.
9. Arizona
The
class is heavy on ... The
defensive front seven. Arizona went
hard after receivers, and got a
phenomenal talent in tight end Rob
Gronkowski, but the real stars are
on the defensive front in tackle
Kaniela Tuipulotu, end Apaiata
Tuihalamaka and LeVar Brown, and
JUCO transfer LB Vuna Tuihalamaka.
Expect many of the new players to be
folded into the mix early on.
The player who'll someday be a
really big deal ... DT Kaniela
Tuipulotu
The player you might care about
this year ... TE Rob Gronkowski
What it all means to the real
world of college football ...
This is probably a far better class
than it's being given credit for
here. The skill prospects are
terrific Gronkowski has mega-star
potential, and the defense will only
be better from this group. Forget
the recruiting ranking, this is a
team with the talent to do some
really big things, and this might be
the class to put it over the top and
into a bowl.
10. Washington State
The
class is heavy on ... Defense.
The offense wasn't ignored in the
large class, but this year was about
improving a defense that hit the
wall once injuries kicked in last
year. JUCO transfers Tyson Kirksey
at linebacker, Jessee Feagin at end,
and Terry Mixon at safety will
either start right away or be a
close second on the depth chart. In
all, seven defensive backs were
brought in, four linebackers and
four linemen.
The player who'll someday be a
really big deal ... QB Kevin
Lopina
The player you might care about
this year ... S Terry Mixon
What it all means to the real
world of college football ...
Washington State is trying to get
over the hump right now. The Bill
Doba era needs a bowl game after two
bizarre, disastrous finishes over
the last two seasons, and he and his
staff are going for the quick fix by
hitting the JUCO ranks hard. The
high schoolers aren't that bad, but
it's highly doubtful they'll have
the same coaching staff by the time
they're done in Pullman.