Porter Gustin, EDGE, USC- The USC Trojans will be known for their offense this upcoming season but their defense will be excellent as well and it will need to be if they want to compete for a championship. The Trojans will be facing quarterbacks like Josh Rosen and Luke Falk this upcoming season and they will need a dominant pass rush to stop these lethal passing attacks and Gustin who is already on NFL draft radar’s has the potential to be all-conference and the leader of that defense.
Jordan Miller, CB, Washington- The Huskies lost three elite defensive back’s to the NFL in the offseason with Kevin King, Budda Baker, and Sidney Jones all going high in the draft. They will need Miller and the rest of the secondary to step up if they want to replicate the success of last season, Miller is similar to Kevin King since they both are very tall and lanky cornerbacks.
Blake Barnett, QB, Arizona State- Barnett was an elite quarterback coming out of high school and he committed to Alabama but eventually lost the starting job to star quarterback Jalen Hurts and eventually transferred to Arizona State. It will be interesting to see if Barnett can live up to the hype that surrounded him as a high school prospect.
Scott Quessenberry, C, UCLA- The UCLA offensive line will need to be dominate if they want to keep Josh Rosen on the field, Quessenberry is a center with NFL potential, he was dominant last season and he would have probably been drafted at some point in the middle rounds if he declared for the draft this year. It will be interesting to see if UCLA can compete this season with the elite teams in their conference like USC and Washington.
Royce Freeman, RB, Oregon- If Freeman had declared for the draft he would have been one of the better running backs in that class but he decided to stay at Oregon for his senior season. Oregon running backs have a history of dominating college football with running backs like LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner but many of them have struggled to maintain that dominance at the professional level, I think Freeman could change that. The Oregon offense will lean on Freeman this season and he will be one of the best players on their roster and as a result he has the potential to be one of the best running backs in college football in 2017;
Trey Udoffia, CB, Colorado- Similar to Washington losing elite cornerbacks in Sidney Jones and Kevin King to the NFL, Colorado lost elite corners in Chidobe Awuzie and Ahkello Witherspoon. Udoffia redshirted his freshman season and this will be his first season where he sees real action, Colorado will need to find someone to step up and fill the void left by the loss of Awuzie and Witherspoon and Udoffia has the potential to do that.
Luke Falk, QB, Washington State- There will be many elite quarterbacks in college football this season with the likes of Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, and Josh Rosen. There is another quarterback that has the potential to go high in the draft and that is Luke Falk from Washington State and he will need to carry his team through the Pac-12 this season since Washington State does not get the elite recruits like a USC or Washington does.
Chase Forrest, QB, California- Chase Forrest will compete with Ross Bowers for the starting job at Cal this upcoming season. Cal has had a quarterback drafted in the last two drafts with both Jared Goff and Davis Webb getting drafted but this season they have a potential quarterback controversy on their hands. If Forrest can win the job it will be interesting to see if he can continue that streak and get drafted like Goff and Webb did.
Nick Wilson, RB, Arizona- Wilson played at an elite level as a freshman but he has missed some games in both his sophomore and junior seasons. If he can replicate the level he was at just three years ago he has the potential to be one of the top running backs in his conference but in order to do that he will need to stay on the field which he has struggled to do recently.
Lowell Lotulelei, DT, Utah- Lotulelei was considered an elite player going into last season and a potential NFL prospect but he got injured and is now coming back to college for another season. Lowell Lotulelei has a brother named Star Lotulelei who is a great player in the NFL and one day hopefully Lowell can be on the same level as his brother. If Lowell Lotulelei can repeat the production that he had pre-injury he has the potential to go very high in the draft and be one of the best defensive tackles in college football.
Dalton Schultz, TE, Stanford- Schultz was a four star recruit coming out of high school and he has the potential to be the best tight end in the Pac-12 this upcoming season and a potential John Mackey award winner. I think David Shaw is one of the best coaches in college football and if anyone can get Schultz to that level it is him, David Shaw has a history of getting offensive players to the NFL with names such as Andrew Luck, Kevin Hogan, Ty Montgomery, Coby Fleener, and Kyle Murphy. It will be interesting to see if Schultz can continue that tradition.
Xavier Crawford, CB, Oregon State- Oregon State has a great player with potential in Crawford, he is one of the better players in their secondary and he has the potential to grow into a top Pac-12 defensive back. Oregon State is not even the best school in their state but if they can find difference makers on their team they could get over that hump eventually and Crawford is a key candidate to become a difference maker.
