With it being the summer time there is mostly speculation, previews and random thoughts about college football. Sometimes there are great ideas that are a good way to pass the time, and the latest in that group is Sports Illustrated's Andy Staples decided to hold a one round draft where every single player is available. Staples ranks the team using Jeff Sagarin's computer rankings from the 2011 season, and placing the teams in reverse order.
So, with that here is who Staples picked for the Mountain West teams, with analysis from me.
9. New Mexico: DT Star Lotulelei, Sr., Utah: He is a beast and was give the prestigious award of being named by Pac-12 offensive lineman as the best defensive player they faced. He is a beast and was always in the backfield chasing down quarterbacks.
12. UNLV: RB Montee Ball, Sr., Wisconsin: 1,923 yards, 137.36 yards per game, 33 touchdowns and a 6.26 average per carry. That is some very good production there.
15. Colorado State: DE Will Gholston, Jr., Michigan State: New head Jim McElwain learned a lot while is time at Alabama, and one of those main topics was that defense is the key to winning. So why not take a future NFL prospect.
28. Fresno State: DT Jesse Williams, Sr., Alabama: He is from Australia, that is all we need to know. Actually, he is a run stuffer and can easily occupy multiple offensive line man.
35. Hawaii: QB Logan Thomas, Jr., Virginia Tech: With passing the key to the Hawaii offense, Thomas threw for 3,013 yards with 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last season. however in Hawaii's pass happy offense this future NFL player would easily surpass those numbers.
47. Wyoming: QB Keith Price, Jr., Washington: Price is not as athletic as head coach Dave Christensen would want to run his offense, but Price can get the job down with his arm. Also, Christensen would not force Price to run his specific offense, but it would be the other way around.
57. Air Force: S Robert Lester, Sr., Alabama: Interesting choice here, but Lester has won a pair of national titles.
59. San Diego State: DE Aaron Lynch, So., South Florida: The former Notre Dame player had a solid fist year with 5.5 sacks and seven tackles for loss, plus he has a lot of potential.
67. Nevada: QB Blake Bell, So., Oklahoma: An interesting choice since Chris Ault runs the pistol offense, however even though Ault's offense is based on running he still needs a quarterback who can throw. There is no way Colin Kaepernick would have been drafted if he was only a running quarterback.
117. Boise State: LB A.J. Klein, Sr., Iowa State: Picking this low the talent pool has slightly dipped, but Klein was the 2011 co-defensive player of the year.
So there you have it, the 10 players taken in a mock draft, and out of all of the 125 players none were taken who came from a Mountain West team.
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