NSD 2018 Wrap-Up: Pac-12 superlatives
National Signing Day is behind us so today we are taking a look at how Pac-12 schools fared last week. Here is the good, bad and some other notes from the West.
CLASS OF 2018: Rivals250 | Pac-12 team rankings | National team rankings
BIGGEST SURPRISE
There was so much discussion about whether first-year coach Herm Edwards could recruit - or did he even understand recruiting in today’s day and age - and some of those issues were pertinent since Edwards said some zany things leading up to National Signing Day.
In the end, Arizona State closed really well with pledges from four-stars LB Merlin Robertson, S Aashari Crosswell, OL Jarrett Bell and many others on signing day, and the Sun Devils finished with the fifth-best class in the conference.
That is Arizona State’s best finish since 2015 in a class that no one knew what would happen since Edwards has not coached football in nearly a decade and hasn’t been in the college game in three decades.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
Stanford signed 14 players in its 2017 class but five-star offensive linemen Walker Little and Foster Sarell along with five-star quarterback Davis Mills were in that class. The Cardinal finished No. 19 nationally and third in the Pac-12.
The conference power signed 14 again this recruiting cycle but only landed four four-stars and the best player in the class, four-star quarterback Tanner McKee, is going on a two-year Mormon mission. Stanford finished No. 63 nationally sandwiched between Wake Forest and Syracuse, and second-to-last in the Pac-12 ahead of only Oregon State.
That’s not territory Stanford usually finds itself.
BIGGEST MISS
USC is hardly licking its wounds because the Trojans closed phenomenally well and landed five of the top six five-star prospects in the West, an amazing run by getting defensive backs Olaijah Griffin and Isaac Taylor-Stuart on National Signing Day.
The only five-star from the region not to pick USC was Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco safety Jaiden Woodbey and it looked like the Trojans were his leader heading into his announcement. But a late visit to Florida State sealed it for the Seminoles and he’s already on campus.
The former Ohio State pledge said USC was his second choice followed by the Buckeyes so the Trojans were right there to clean house and land all six five-stars.
BIGGEST STEAL
Devon Williams was a lock to Oregon. Or so everyone thought.
Oregon and USC were Williams’ final two - pretty much the top two throughout his recruitment - and on signing day the four-star athlete from Lancaster (Calif.) Antelope Valley decided to pick the Trojans over the Ducks.
It’s a big loss for Oregon since he would have been a tremendous threat in the Ducks’ offense alongside four-stars Jalen Hall and Isaah Crocker or on defense at safety or linebacker. He’s tremendously versatile and USC’s coaching staff now has to figure out where he fits best.
It wasn’t the only loss for Oregon by USC’s hand. The Trojans also landed the state of Oregon’s top player in four-star athlete Talanoa Hufanga and flipped four-star LB Eli’Jah Winston. None of the state’s top six players signed with the Ducks.
