So how does our "raw" talent compare to our competitors.
I'm going to use two relatively easy metrics neither of which nor both in combination are very good talent determinants but in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.
The first is aggregated recruiting rankings and the second is past honors in the P12.
Simple math: Using Phil Steele's aggregated rankings, I will give a likely 2015 starter, 1 point if they were very highly touted coming out of HS or JC
If they have been in the past two years an AllP12 1st team player, they get 3 points, 2 points for 2nd team, 1 point for HM
Thus, the emphasis is on production and less on prep accolades
Arizona: 7 points
Arizona State: 10 points
Cal: 9 points
Colorado: 2 points
Oregon: 14 points
Oregon State: 1 point
Stanford: 5 points
UCLA: 19 points
USC: 15 points
Utah: 6 points
Washington:5 points
Washington State: 3 points
Now, we're close enough to Cal to know that some of our players prep accolades weren't well deserved - e.g. Ced Dozier and Todd Barr. That may well be true for others as well. Net net, coaching counts for an awful lot. As you can see, using this admittedly crude tool, we are in the top half of the Pac 12 for defensive talent. Utah and Stanford clearly scout well and UCLA and Oregon need to perform better than they did last year to live up to these scores.
I'm going to use two relatively easy metrics neither of which nor both in combination are very good talent determinants but in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.
The first is aggregated recruiting rankings and the second is past honors in the P12.
Simple math: Using Phil Steele's aggregated rankings, I will give a likely 2015 starter, 1 point if they were very highly touted coming out of HS or JC
If they have been in the past two years an AllP12 1st team player, they get 3 points, 2 points for 2nd team, 1 point for HM
Thus, the emphasis is on production and less on prep accolades
Arizona: 7 points
Arizona State: 10 points
Cal: 9 points
Colorado: 2 points
Oregon: 14 points
Oregon State: 1 point
Stanford: 5 points
UCLA: 19 points
USC: 15 points
Utah: 6 points
Washington:5 points
Washington State: 3 points
Now, we're close enough to Cal to know that some of our players prep accolades weren't well deserved - e.g. Ced Dozier and Todd Barr. That may well be true for others as well. Net net, coaching counts for an awful lot. As you can see, using this admittedly crude tool, we are in the top half of the Pac 12 for defensive talent. Utah and Stanford clearly scout well and UCLA and Oregon need to perform better than they did last year to live up to these scores.
