Pac 10 QB preview

Part 1 (USC, Washington, Stanford)

2008 is being viewed as a down year for the Pac 10 Conference. There is some merit to that, but overall, I think this will be a year in which every team in the conference will be competitive, unlike years past. The conference is thin on established Quarterback Play. Arizona State QB Rudy Carpenter returns for his Senior Year at ASU as he is poised to get the Sun Devils to the Rose Bowl or National Championship. Washington's Jake Locker is a unique QB who is young, Willie Tuitama is a 4th year Senior who brings   of Experience back to Arizona as he tries to get them to a Bowl game this year. Lets take a look at the QB Situations in the Pacific 10 conference.

Ranking the Units

1. USC  (Best QB group in the Nation possibly)

2. Cal (5th year Senior Nate Longshore and Soph Kevin Riley can both be above average QB's)

3. Stanford (Mich. Transfer Jason Forcier, Incumbent Tavita Pritchard, Alex Loukas and Blue Chip recruit Andrew Luck all competing in a heated battle)

4. Oregon State (Sean Canfield has proven to be adequate, Lyle Mojeavo is a beast who can make plays with his feet at least)

Oregon, Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA Washington and Washington State all either have only one quarterback who has proven he can get the job done on the field or have huge question marks about who their guy will be.

Team by Team Breakdown

USC-  Mark Sanchez(Jr) was billed as the best HS quarterback to ever take part in the Elite 11 qb camp when he went to it in 2004. He posseses the best physical pure passing skills of any quarterback in the Pac 10 and possibly the nation even though his body of work is small. His intangibles are off the charts. Teamates respect him and he is Tebow esque in his demeanor on and off the field, I would say he has some of the best Pure Leadership skills in the country at Quarterback. Putting up huge numbers will not be a problem for Sanchez this year as the WR corps is much stronger and more experienced than last year and Sanchez brings spirit, accountability, Leadership and all of the physical skills to equation. A Heisman Trophy and National Championship Appearance are legitimate goals for Mark Sanchez and the USC Trojans, but the road will not be easy, Sanchez has all the tools at his disopsal to navigate successfully through that.

Washington- Jake Locker (So)   Means so much to UW. Easily the MVP of the Pac 10 because he is astronomically important to his teams success.  Best Running quarterback in the Conference, easily. Needs to improve as a passer, posseses the "It" factor needed to rally his teamates and make plays in clutch situations. Look for a big year from this kid.

Stanford- Jason Forcier/Tavitia Pritchard/Alex Loukas

This team can win with any one of the guys. Pritchard brings experience to the forefront but besides the USC win he resurected last year, he didn't really do much else. But Pritchard is the best of the bunch here and not everything that happened last year was his fault. Stanford lacked big play ability at reciever and had no TE. In order for Stanford to have success with any of these quarterbacks, they need to put playermakers around the quarterback, until then it could be a long season. (Forcier is adequate and could be effective as could Loukas, again its a matter of surrounding them with playermakers who can make their life easier)

Part 2 coming tommorrow.....