Pac-12 spotlight: Inside the recruiting numbers
There are a bunch of interesting recruiting trends across college football including in the Pac-12 and West region. Here is a look at five that seem to be standing out as the college football season kicks into high gear.
6 – Oregon’s spot in the national rankings, tops in the Pac-12
First-year Oregon coach Willie Taggart and his staff have done a phenomenal job so far this recruiting cycle selling a vision in Eugene. Top kids are buying in. The Ducks have secured the top spot in the Pac-12 team recruiting rankings and rank sixth nationally, a huge credit to that coaching staff since Oregon finished 4-8 last season. The Ducks have been recruiting the West really well and also doing a great job in Florida, which makes sense since Taggart came to Oregon from USF. Three four-star prospects from Florida are already committed to the Ducks and two four-star recruits from Texas have pledged as well. Taggart and his staff also have a tremendous opportunity with in-state prospects as well. The top three recruits in the state including four-star athlete Talanoa Hufanga and four-star wide receiver Chase Cota remain uncommitted.
2 – Number of Pac-12 schools in the top 20 national rankings
This stat has to be concerning for Pac-12 teams. Only two squads in the conference are in the top 22 among the team national rankings. The good news is that Oregon is sixth and UCLA is ninth. The bad news is that Washington, which played in the College Football Playoff, and USC, the Rose Bowl winners, are not higher. The Ducks are doing incredibly well on the trail and so are the Bruins, who landed four-star receiver Jahan Dotson out of Nazareth, Pa., over the weekend. USC has been recruiting well but the numbers remain low with 11 commitments led by five-star linebacker Palaie Gaoteote. Washington is also doing fine on the trail ranked No. 29 nationally, but the Huskies have slowed down in recent months. After loading up early with a bunch of four-star prospects, the Huskies haven’t landed a four-star prospect since the spring.
5 – 2019 four-star quarterbacks in West already committed
It’s hard to believe how much quarterback recruiting has been moved up where players are landing offers late in middle school or really early into their high school careers, many before they even play varsity football. Maybe nowhere is that evident more than in the 2019 recruiting class out West where five quarterbacks made pledges to Power Five schools before their junior years even started including the No. 1 player in the class, Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei’s JT Daniels, who committed to USC. Daniels is joined by Spencer Rattler, the top-rated dual-threat quarterback in the class, going to Oklahoma, four-star Dylan Morris picking Washington, four-star Cade McNamara committing to Notre Dame and Ty Evans selecting Arkansas. Only two quarterbacks in the 2019 Rivals250 – Michael Johnson Jr., and Hank Bachmeier – have not committed yet.
6 – Number of five-stars since 2014 class from California to leave region
One of the concerns for Pac-12 schools is other top national programs coming into the region and poaching talent. There have been some major five-star defections in the last few recruiting classes that would have made the conference so much more competitive. Running back Najee Harris and five-star offensive lineman Jonah Williams both left Northern California for Alabama. Linebacker Caleb Kelly and running back Joe Mixon jetted out of the Fresno area for Oklahoma. Wyatt Davis turned down USC, UCLA and others for Ohio State. And defensive tackle Kahlil McKenzie went to Tennessee because of numerous family connections. The conference is still loaded with talent – and with five-stars – but these players could have made the Pac-12 even more competitive from top to bottom.
7-5-7 – Number of commits for Stanford, Utah and Oregon State, respectively
Nine of the 12 schools in the conference have double-digit commitments except for Stanford, Utah and Oregon State, which are the three lowest-ranked programs in the Pac-12. Lots of wells are drying up with a bunch of aggressive programs taking a ton of early commitments. Oregon has the top-ranked class in the conference and the Ducks have 22 pledges. UCLA is second with the most in the Pac-12 at 23. Utah has landed its possible quarterback of the future in four-star quarterback Jack Tuttle, but has not seen a bunch of skill players follow with their pledges. Stanford is expecting a smaller class, but seven is a slow start. If the Cardinal can land five-star Amon-Ra St. Brown, all will be forgotten. We suspect Stanford won’t have any problems putting together a top-notch recruiting class.