Pac-12 Spotlight: The five biggest position battles

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Spring football is underway around the country and teams in the Pac-12 are looking for position battles to sort themselves out and have reliable replacements step forward. These are five Pac-12 position battles to keep an eye on as August inches closer.

With Manny Wilkins gone, the quarterback position seems wide open at Arizona State and after spring practice ,nothing has been officially settled yet. High four-star quarterback Jayden Daniels came to Tempe with a big reputation and he backed it up with an outstanding spring, probably separating himself from Joey Yellen and Ethan Long, the two other freshman quarterbacks on the roster.

But redshirt junior Dillon Sterling-Cole is the only quarterback on the roster with any college experience and he’s not going down easily. The Arizona State coaches wanted a two-man battle heading into the summer and fall camp and it looks to be going just that way with Daniels and Sterling-Cole headed to figure it out before the season-opener.

Coming into the spring, Cal added UCLA transfer Devon Modster to compete with incumbent Chase Garbers for the starting quarterback job. Justin Wilcox and offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin both noted Garbers' command of the offense has improved from last fall. Modster's shown a willingness to throw over the top, but there was still some rust that needed knocking off during the 15 practices. Wilcox said that if the season started today, Garbers would be the team's quarterback, but there's still 30 practices in fall camp to go, and Modster isn't far behind.

This quarterback competition sounds far from settled. Garbers played 12 games last season but he threw 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions - not exactly a ringing endorsement to solidify the starting job - and Modster did not transfer to Berkeley to be a backup. Garbers has the slight edge through spring practice but Modster, a former four-star, has serious ability as well.

Travon McMillan rushed for 1,009 yards last season and he was the focal point of the running attack at Colorado. But he’s now gone - and the second-leading rusher on the team was quarterback Steven Montez with 238 yards. That leaves a big hole in the backfield and one first-year coach Mel Tucker will have to figure out as soon as possible for the Buffaloes to have any viable rushing attack next season.

Beau Bisharat is the returning senior of the group and has the most carries on the roster with 57 for 249 yards. Redshirt sophomore Alex Fontenot carried the ball just 11 times last season. Colorado has talented youngsters in redshirt freshmen Deion Smith and Jarek Broussard as well as incoming freshmen Joshia Davis and Jaren Mangham. Bisharat will probably get the load of carries early in the season but don’t count out Mangham, who could be special in the coming years.

With 10 offensive and eight defensive starters returning, Mario Cristobal does not have to do much replacing at key positions but there’s no question that finding a replacement for outside linebacker Justin Hollins will be a major focus through spring practice and into the summer. Last season, Hollins had 64 tackles (14.5 for loss) with 6.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an interception. That level of production will be missed.

The Ducks have plenty of talented players vying for that position with former four-star Adrian Jackson, former four-star and Miami transfer D.J. Johnson and former four-star Keith Simms battling it out. Simms has been with the program, Jackson is a special and rangy athlete and Johnson is 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds who can play with his hand down or in coverage. It should be a great contest.

There surely is a lot to talk about when it comes to USC football. Whether it’s Clay Helton’s job security, the new offense under coordinator Graham Harrell, the quarterback competition or the Trojans’ waning importance on the national level, USC will be scrutinized. But we’re here to talk about another position battle and it’s at middle linebacker.

A two-way competition is being waged between John Houston and Jordan Iosefa and nothing has been settled yet. Houston, a former five-star prospect, has played weak-side linebacker for the last two season and has the trust of defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast. Iosefa played strong-side linebacker last season. Houston is the quicker and rangier option while Iosefa is the more powerful, physical presence. Both have experience, just not at middle linebacker, where they’re both competing for that starting position.