Pac-12 Football: The Midseason All-Conference Team for the Pac-12
We're almost to the halfway point of the conference schedule in the Pac-12, which fortunately means a lot of exciting football is coming over the next six weeks.
But we've seen enough to know which players have already made an unforgettable mark on the 2014 campaign. When the season concludes, the best players at each position will find themselves on the exclusive all-conference team, and that group may look a little different in December than it does today.
Some of the notable players in the preseason have performed as expected, while several fresh faces have inserted themselves into the conversation at their position.
Talent is definitely being factored in here, but it's far outweighed by what a player has done in 2014. Wide receiver Austin Hill is talented and had a spectacular 2012 campaign, but that won't play into the all-conference selection for the current season.
Neither will NFL prospects, so while Oregon defensive end Arik Armstead may be a first- or second-day pick in the NFL draft when he chooses to declare, he probably isn't among the top players at his position in the conference to date.
Take a look at our midseason all-conference team and as always, feel free to point out who's missing and who could make a late-season push to merit inclusion at the end of the year.
All stats via CFBStats.com.
Quarterback
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Marcus Mariota, Oregon
If you thought this spot was going to anyone else, you probably haven't been watching much college football this season. Forget the first two years of Mariota's career and he's still the Pac-12's first-team quarterback by a fair margin, completing over 70 percent of his throws and remaining in total control of the Ducks' offense.
The other contenders in the preseason were Brett Hundley, Taylor Kelly and maybe Sean Mannion.
Folks in Los Angeles might've thrown Cody Kessler's name into the mix, which is fair. Through the first eight weeks, Kessler probably makes the best case to be Mariota's backup with 18 touchdown passes and just one interception.
But Mariota has a slightly better completion percentage, a slightly better TD/INT ratio at 19-0 and he's run for nearly 300 yards and five scores. If you're going solely by the stats, Washington State's Connor Halliday has 28 touchdowns and over 3,300 yards passing. But the Cougars aren't very good, and Halliday has thrown eight interceptions. Mariota, to no one's surprise, has been the best quarterback in the Pac-12 thus far.
Running Back
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Javorius 'Buck' Allen, USC
Heading into the year, the Pac-12 appeared to be lacking elite running backs following a period of wealth at the position with players like LaMichael James, Ka'Deem Carey and Bishop Sankey, to name a few. That's all changed with the emergence of Buck Allen who leads the conference in both total rushing yards and yards per game.
His shining moment came at Arizona when he carried the ball 26 times for 205 yards and three scores, but that was nothing new to Trojans' fans who've watched him morph into a complete back. He has size, speed and balance to break off long runs and become stronger as the game moves on.
Aside from a 31-yard effort at Boston College in which few Trojans decided to actually show up, Allen has been unstoppable.
Two other faces who could make a late run here are Utah's Devontae Booker and UCLA's Paul Perkins, both of whom have emerged as elite backs. For now, however, the clear choice is Allen.
Note: Some all-conference lists will have two running backs. Because of the strength of wide receivers in the conference, we're going with three WRs, one RB, and one TE for the skill positions on offense.
Wide Receiver
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Jaelen Strong, Arizona State
Nelson Spruce, Colorado
Vince Mayle, Washington State
We know there's likely to be some choice words about the wide receiver selections regardless of who's picked, so the methodology was rather simple: Jaelen Strong, Nelson Spruce and Vince Mayle have the most receiving yards of any pass-catchers in the Pac-12.
If you switch it up and go with a per-game average, River Cracraft edges out Mayle for the third spot, but Mayle has 100 more yards with the same amount of catches. You couldn't go wrong trotting out guys like Nelson Agholor, Cayleb Jones or Jordan Payton, but the aforementioned trio have been the most productive players at their position so far. The numbers don't lie, and when they're far greater than ones put up by anyone else, it makes for three pretty obvious choices.
Strong had a Hail Mary grab as part of his 10-catch, 202-yard game against USC where he reached paydirt three times. He's also topped 140 yards in three of the Sun Devils' six games. Spruce leads the entire country with 11 touchdowns, and Mayle, while obviously a beneficiary of a pass-happy offense, has an 11-grab, 263-yard game on his résumé.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Tight End
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Pharaoh Brown, Oregon
The tight end position has not been a strong one for the Pac-12 conference, with just three players totaling over 200 yards receiving on the season. But Oregon's Pharaoh Brown, with 18 catches for 314 yards and three scores, has been the most productive by far.
As proof, Oregon State's Connor Hamlett has the second-most yards receiving with 234 and Stanford's Austin Hooper sits in third place in the Pac-12 with 227 yards. If this piece was written two weeks ago, you might see Hamlett or Hooper as the headliner, but Brown has come on strong as of late.
He had five catches for 84 yards and a score against UCLA and followed it up with three grabs for 99 yards against Washington. He's a big, physical tight end with great hands and enough speed to rack up yards in the open. With Brown's increased role in the offense, don't expect his name to leave the all-conference team anytime soon.
Offensive Line
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Jake Fisher, Oregon
Andrus Peat, Stanford
Christian Westerman, Arizona State
Jamil Douglas, Arizona State (Switched from guard to tackle in offseason)
Max Tuerk, USC
Picking the offensive line is the hardest aspect of the all-conference selections in part due to a rash of injuries to key players like Oregon's Tyler Johnstone, Oregon State's Isaac Seumalo and USC's Aundrey Walker.
Another reason is that players can be great while still belonging to a weak offensive line, and that can be difficult to recognize.
That's the main rationale for including Oregon's Jake Fisher, who missed a narrow win against Washington State and a loss to Arizona due to injury. In the two contests, the Ducks surrendered 12 sacks. But in a dominant win at UCLA in which Fisher played, they failed to allow a single sack. His presence has made such a difference in the offense that it became clear how skilled he is at his position, if it wasn't already.
Andrus Peat may be getting in partly due to his enormous talent, but his skill set cannot be overlooked. He'll be a high draft pick, and at 6'7" and 320 pounds, you can understand why. Both Christian Westerman and Jamil Douglas have anchored an Arizona State line that adapted nicely to the quarterback switch following Taylor Kelly's injury, and they held up nicely in a 26-10 win over Stanford this past Saturday.
Oregon's Hroniss Grasu was the obvious choice at center to begin the season. However, USC's run game has been impressive ever since a loss to Boston College, and the Trojans' line has allowed fewer sacks than Oregon's, so we're giving credit to the leader of the unit, center Max Tuerk.
Other positions use stats to measure key differences between players, but selecting the offensive line relies on keen eyes, and mine don't necessarily fit that description at all times. But if this was the line you trotted out in a championship game, you'd feel pretty good about being able to run the football and protect the quarterback. Keep in mind, this is one unit that will remain in flux moreso than others, and hopefully injuries won't play a role in the second half of the season.
Defensive Line
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Hau'oli Kikaha, Washington
Danny Shelton, Washington
Leonard Williams, USC
With many teams opting to go with a 3-4 scheme on defense, we're doing the same with our midseason all-conference team, and the first eight weeks have spit out Hau'oli Kikaha, Danny Shelton and Leonard Williams as the three best defensive linemen. A notable fourth from Utah is absent, though you may or may not find him lumped in with the linebackers, so hold the outrage Utes fans.
Kikaha is the most obvious selection on the list, even moreso than Mariota at quarterback, due to his 12.5 sacks on the year. He even got to the Ducks' signal-caller 2.5 times on Saturday, though he's tallied three sacks in two other games already. In fact, Kikaha has a sack in every game thus far in addition to being the national leader.
As for Shelton, you don't typically expect big numbers from defensive tackles who are expected to take on double-teams. Their job is to disrupt the offensive line as much as possible so the ends and linebackers can fill the gaps and make plays. But Shelton, who has 7.5 sacks, isn't a typical player. In fact, with 58 tackles on the year, he leads his whole team.
The final pick of Leonard Williams is another obvious one, and despite not having the numbers of the two Huskies, he may be the most feared player at his position. Even still, he has 4.5 sacks to go along with 45 tackles, and he'll be selected early when he decides to enter the NFL draft.
Linebacker
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Nate Orchard, Utah
Eric Kendricks, UCLA
Scooby Wright, Arizona
Shaq Thompson, Washington
As noted in the previous slide, having four linebackers is all the rage on defense, so we're following suit with the all-conference selections. And no, Utah fans, we didn't forget about Nate Orchard. Though he lines up along the defensive line way more often than not, we'll throw him in with the linebackers because he's played the position before and because he's more versatile than the defensive ends on the previous slide at just over 250 pounds.
And for anyone else who needed proof that Orchard belongs here, just see his 13 tackles for loss, good for third in the nation. He's the most dominant player on a nasty Utes defense.
The name you might not recognize in the bunch is Scooby Wright, who burst onto the national scene following a win against Oregon in which he had seven tackles, a sack and the game-winning forced fumble. He has six sacks on the season and has been the best player on the Wildcats' defense, which has been much better than most folks, including yours truly, thought it would be.
Not a lot needs to be said about the play of Shaq Thompson, who has four defensive touchdowns on the year. He's a fast, physical player who could probably start on Sundays right now. Eric Kendricks is your prototypical linebacker and leads the league in tackles with 77. He's posted double-digit tackles in every game, except one in which he had "only" nine.
Secondary
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CB Marcus Peters, Washington
CB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, Oregon
S Su'a Cravens, USC
S Damarious Randall, Arizona State
With all of the passing going on in the Pac-12, there's bound to be at least a few secondary players stepping their game up and earning some national recognition.
The corners shouldn't surprise you as both Ifo Ekpre-Olomu and Marcus Peters were regarded as two of the top defensive backs entering the season. Ekpre-Olomu has seen his stock drop some after allowing big catches against both Washington State and Arizona, but you won't find a more physical corner in the game.
He also has two interceptions, one fewer than Peters, who may be the first corner off the board in next year's NFL draft. Peters has the edge in cover skills but both should be starters at the next level.
At the safety position, Su'a Cravens is beginning to realize his talent and dominate games in a variety of ways. There isn't a spot on the field he can't get to on defense, which makes him a nuisance for offenses regardless of what they're trying to do. He has two interceptions and 9.5 tackles for loss.
Damarious Randall is perhaps a surprise pick. But he's more than deserving, given what he's been able to do in comparison with some of the other candidates, such as Stanford's Jordan Richards or Arizona's Jared Tevis. Randall has six tackles for loss to go along with 58 tackles, 54 of which were solo. He also has a pair of forced fumbles.
Special Teams
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Punter: Tom Hackett, Utah
Kicker: Andy Phillips, Utah
Punt Returner: Kaelin Clay, Utah
Kickoff Returner: Trevor Davis, Cal
It was nearly a Utah sweep on special teams, which might help explain how the Utes are in prime position to win the South Division. As for the methodology, it's a simple numbers game.
Tom Hackett averages a shade over 47 yards per kick, good for third-best in the country. Arizona's Drew Riggleman is less than a half-yard from Hackett's average, but the biggest number gets the honor here.
We made a small exception in the case of Andy Phillips over Cameron Van Winkle, despite Phillips missing two kicks to Van Winkle's one. The reason is that just two of Van Winkle's made field goals were from 40 yards or more, while Phillips has made nine such kicks in 10 tries. Given the level of difficulty, we're taking Phillips every time.
There might not be a better punt returner than Kaelin Clay, who has three touchdowns on the season. California's Trevor Davis has a pair of kick returns for scores, both of which came at Washington State and on back-to-back kicks as well. The pair's impressive numbers make for easy selections in the return game.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
