Conference Review: PAC-12
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With college football in full swing, we’ll be bringing you a review of the “Big Five” conferences each and every week. These recaps will feature sections for “Premier Conference Performer,” “Rising Players,” “Falling Players,” and a special Freshman spotlight. These weekly reviews will keep you up-to-date on all the happenings in devy leagues and allow you to keep tabs on future dynasty league assets. By the time the NFL Draft rolls around, you won’t see too many strangers.
Premier Conference Performer
DJ Foster, RB Arizona State
19 rushes for 216 yards and one touchdown, three receptions for 54 yards
DJ Foster was everywhere on Saturday annihilating New Mexico’s defense and helping the Sun Devils easily march to a 58-23 win. Foster didn’t just pile up a bunch of yards through Arizona State’s offense continually feeding him, [inlinead]instead he rushed for 11.4 yards per carry! That average wasn’t inflated by one long carry either as his longest carry of the night was 49 yards, instead he just legitimately thrashed the Lobos relentlessly. When you factor in Foster’s receiving ability, he could be looking at getting a call from an NFL team in the second day of the draft if he can continue to perform as he has thus far in the season. If you’re in a devy league that allows adds in-season then I’d seriously consider grabbing him if you can.
Rising
Jaydon Mickens, WR Washington
Six receptions for 53 yards
Mickens has been a consistent performer for Washington for his entire college career. He has always been who the Huskies have turned to in order to move the chains, gaining a solid ten yards per reception every season he’s played for Washington. That statistic is very likely why Mickens doesn’t get his due headlines; he isn’t a big play receiver who can take it to the yard with one pass. Instead, he finds ways to get open and is that reliable target every quarterback desires to get themselves out of sticky situations. That label held true once again on Saturday as Mickens was the reception leader for the Huskies with six catches but was outgained by John Ross by one yard. Mickens will make a great slot or possession receiver for a team that is looking for consistency to go with their big player guys.
Terron Ward, RB Oregon State
15 rushes for 124 yards and two touchdowns
Terron Ward’s size has always worked against him as there seems to be the feeling that he just isn’t big enough to carry a full load. However, when he has been given the chance, such as on Saturday, he’s usually made the most of it. Against Hawaii this weekend Ward looked great, amassing 124 yards on 15 carries for an average of 8.3 yards per carry. Ward was quick and decisive, hitting the holes instantly and bursting through them with ease. He was also able to add to touchdowns to his stat line including a nice rush he broke for 32 yards to score. I don’t expect Ward to continue to get as much work as he did against the Rainbow Warriors but he could be intriguing to watch in case the Oregon State coaching staff disagrees with me. Nonetheless, Ward will likely need to convert to a slot wide receiver for him to make much of a splash in the NFL unless he is content with a Dexter McCluster/De’Anthony Thomas role in the NFL.
Falling
Cody Kessler, QB USC
15 completions for 135 yards
For as good as Cody Kessler looked in the season’s opening weekend, he looked equally bad against Stanford. Now sure, he did enough to get the win and that’s all anyone will remember but there was something very disturbing about his game. First, if it wasn’t for the Trojans’ dominant rushing attack there is absolutely no way USC would have walked away victorious. Kessler actually threw less passes (22) than USC’s top rusher, Javorius Allen, had rushing attempts (23). Now maybe that was the game plan, go rush heavy, but the more telling statistic is that Allen’s average rush went for more yards (6.7) then Kessler’s average pass (6.1). All in all it was just an ugly performance for Kessler and one that he can’t repeat if USC hopes to do much damage in the PAC12 this season.
Jamal Morrow, RB Washington State
Seven rushes for 32 yards
It’s no secret, the Cougars like to throw the football. I don’t think that’s a surprise to anybody reading this and it definitely isn’t a surprise to Washington State’s opponents. That being said there needs to be some semblance of a running game in order to keep defenders honest. Unfortunately for the Cougars that just isn’t the case currently. Freshman Jamal Morrow was heavily talked up by the Cougars’ coaching staff as a player to keep an eye on in the regular season and their promotion of him to first string backed up those beliefs. However thus far Morrow has looked less than spectacular. Against Nevada, Morrow rushed only seven times for 32 yards and didn’t look all that impressive for a second consecutive game. If we don’t see something more out of Morrow soon, then I don’t expect the Cougars to win more than a game or two this season.
Freshman Spotlight
Nick Wilson, RB Arizona
30 rushes for 174 yards and one touchdown
Nick Wilson was the very definition of a workhorse in Arizona’s victory over UTSA on Thursday. Wilson ran the ball an incredible 30 times for 174 rushing yards and a touchdown en route to the Wildcat’s 26-23 victory. Arizona has now decided that this performance, on the heels of his seven carry, 104 rushing yard performance against UNLV, has warranted Wilson’s move up the depth chart. According to Arizona’s official depth chart Wilson is now listed ahead of well-traveled senior Adonis Smith. Keep an eye on Wilson as his two early performances could very well be a taste of things to come for the Wildcats.
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