2007 CFN Pac 10 Preview
Unit Rankings
Team Previews,
Offenses, Defenses & Depth Charts
Arizona | Arizona State
| California |
Oregon | Oregon State
Stanford |
UCLA | USC |
Washington |
Washington State
-
2007 CFN Pac 10 Preview
-
CFN All-Pac 10 Team &
Top 30 Players
- Pac 10 Team-by-Team
Capsules
- Pac 10 Schedules &
Predictions
1.
USC
Does
anyone in the country reload faster than the Trojans? While
there’ll be new faces on the line, at wide receiver, and at offensive
coordinator, the high-powered results that have become commonplace in
the Pete Carroll era aren’t about to change. Of course, it helps
to have at the controls strong-armed senior John David Booty, one of the
early favorites to add a fourth Heisman Trophy to Heritage Hall in the last six
years. He’ll be surrounded by an absolutely decadent amount of
skill position talent, but most of the receivers lack experience
at this level. In this case, talent will overcome inexperience
in a rout. At 6-5 and 220 pounds, junior receiver Patrick
Turner has the imposing size and sticky fingers to conjure up
images of Mike Williams and Dwayne Jarrett, and have a breakout
year. Although the line is going to miss the presence of center
Ryan Kalil, returning two-time All-American Sam Baker to protect
Booty’s blindside will help cushion the blow.
2. California
3. Oregon State
4. Arizona State
5. Oregon
6. UCLA
7. Washington State
8. Washington
9. Arizona
10. Stanford
1.
USC
Dust off the Heisman hype machine because John David Booty will be in
the thick of the race as long as USC is winning games and on top of the
national rankings. In fact, with Mark Sanchez and Mitch Mustain on
campus, don’t even bother putting it back in storage at the end of the
season.
2. California
3. UCLA
4. Washington State
5. Arizona State
6. Oregon
7. Arizona
8. Oregon State
9. Washington
10. Stanford
1.
Oregon State
No one could
have guessed it two years ago, but Yvenson Bernard is about to join Steven Jackson and Ken
Simonton as one of the all-time great backs in school history.
While he’ll shoulder the load and pile up the yards again in
2007, he’ll also get a little more help than usual from
Clinton Polk.
2. Oregon
3. Arizona State
4. USC
5. UCLA
6. California
7. Washington
8. Washington State
9. Arizona
10. Stanford
1.
California
Pick
your poison, defensive coordinators. If DeSean Jackson gets too much attention,
Robert Jordan and
Lavelle Hawkins will feast on single coverage. If the secondary plays
too far back, Craig Stevens will nickel-and-dime it to death.
Other than trying to physically manhandle them, there’ll be no easy way
to contain the Cal receivers in 2007.
2. Oregon State
3. USC
4. Washington State
5. Stanford
6. Oregon
7. UCLA
8. Arizona State
9. Washington
10. Arizona
1.
USC
Sure,
there’ll be mild growing pains with two new starters, but if Drew Radovich and
Jeff Byers can remain healthy
and play up to their potential, any drop-off from last year will
be subtle. Having all-stars in Sam Baker and Chilo Rachal
to work around will make life better for the newcomers. It helps that the Trojans won’t see a top-flight
defensive line until the second half of the year.
2. Oregon State
3. California
4. Arizona State
5. UCLA
6. Oregon
7. Arizona
8. Washington
9. Washington State
10. Stanford
1.
USC
The
Trojan offense is good. The Trojan defense is scary good.
Backed by a Who’s Who of future first-day NFL Draft choices, USC
is ready to unleash the nastiest and stingiest unit of the Pete
Carroll era. Led by Sedrick Ellis at the nose, Keith Rivers at
middle linebacker, and Terrell Thomas at cornerback, the Trojans
boast seven players capable of making a run at All-America
honors in 2007. Yeah, a few more sacks and takeaways would be
nice, but this is as close to a flawless unit that there is in
the country. From front to back, they’re aggressive,
experienced and fast enough to create a swarming effect on the
ball carrier. Although the Trojans will give up yards to teams
playing from behind, scoring meaningful points on them in the
first three quarters is going to be a year-long nightmare.
2. UCLA
3. Arizona
4. Oregon State
5. California
6. Arizona State
7. Oregon
8. Washington
9. Washington State
10. Stanford
1.
USC
Arguably the
nation’s toughest defensive line will set the tone for the entire
defense, winning the battle for the line of scrimmage and clamping down
on every opponent intent on establishing a ground game. Sedrick Ellis
and Lawrence Jackson are All-America caliber playmakers to work around,
while Fili Moala is an unsung rock on the inside who'll swallow
everything up.
2. UCLA
3. Washington
4. Oregon State
5. Arizona State
6. California
7. Arizona
8. Oregon
9. Washington State
10. Stanford
1.
USC
Over the
years, a ton of great linebackers have done their apprenticeship at USC, but this group has a chance to be the
best ever. Three NFL-ready players at their respective positions,
Keith Rivers, Rey Maualuga, and Brian Cushing, will
control game after game. The backup trio of Kaluka Maiava, Thomas
Williams and Clay Matthews could start at about 90 other places.
2. Oregon State
3. California
4. UCLA
5. Arizona
6. Arizona State
7. Washington
8. Washington State
9. Stanford
10. Oregon
1.
USC
Last
season’s Pac-10-best pass defense will be even stingier this season,
adding more picks and fumble recoveries to an already impressive stat
sheet. This is an NFL caliber secondary with several players certain to
make a whole bunch of money at the next level.
2. UCLA
3. Arizona
4. Oregon
5. Oregon State
6. California
7. Arizona State
8. Washington
9. Washington State
10. Stanford
1. California
With DeSean Jackson electrifying on punt returns, and
Andrew Larson and Tom Schneider handling the kicking game, the Cal special teams
unit will have few peers.
2. Oregon State
3. Arizona State
4. UCLA
5. USC
6. Oregon
7. Arizona
8. Washington
9. Washington State
10. Stanford
