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The countdown of the 50 best Mountain West players continues with the No. 23 ranked player: Colorado State LB*, Shaquil Barrett.
*Author's Note: Barrett is listed as a LB, but does line up as a DE many-a-time when the package is called for.
Last season Barrett had a down year statistically, however he managed to still pick up all-conference honors after a phenomenal 2011 season. He has played in every single game at Colorado State in his career, making him a valuable leader for this season.
Even though it was a down year statistically for the Rams veteran, he still made many key plays last season, specifically helping CSU in their win column. In the Rocky Mountain Showdown, he made four tackles and forced a fumble off a big hit on Colorado's QB Jordan Webb. After being named the defensive captain for the Rams before the UNLV game, he took leadership in the position by picking off Nick Sherry and returning it for a touchdown. Finallly, he registered 7 tackles against New Mexico in the final game of last season.
Barrett has not been overlooked this preseason, as Phil Steele put him in his first team all-MWC team. That being said, there is a very important question to be asked this season:
Can the senior expand his leadership skills, and guide the Rams defense to improvement?
Here is the latest update on who picked where plus the composite, click the players name in the composite row to read why they ended up with that ranking. Also, bold is where today's player was selected.
| Composite | Jeremy Mauss | Chris Hondros | ROFLCOPTER16 | rebelfan1 | NevadaPack | Matthew_K |
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| 9. | Austin Wentworth, Fresno State, OT | |||||
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| 12. | Austin Wentworth, Fresno State, OT | |||||
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| 15. | Keith Smith, San Jose State, LB | Charles Leno, Boise State, OT | Tyeler Davison, Fresno State, DT | Nat Berhe, San Diego State, S | ||
| 16. | Austin Wentworth, Fresno State, OT | Tyeler Davison, Fresno State, DT | Eric Schultz, Utah State, OT | |||
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| 18. | Austin Wentworth, Fresno State, OT | |||||
| 19. | Garrett Grayson, Colorado State, QB | Derek Largent, San Diego State, LB | Charles Leno, Boise State, OT | |||
| 20. | Shaquil Barrett, Colorado State, LB | |||||
| 21. | Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe, Boise State, DT | Nick Tenhaeff, San Diego State, LB | ||||
| 22. | Joe Southwick, Boise State, QB | Shaquil Barrett, Colorado State, LB | Matt Paradis, Boise State, OT | |||
| 23. Shaquil Barrett, Colorado State, LB | Shaquil Barrett, Colorado State, LB | Isaiah Burse, Fresno State, WR | ||||
| 24.Keith Smith, San Jose State, LB | Nat Berhe, San Diego State, S | Vince Buhagiar, San Jose State, LB | Keith Smith, San Jose State, LB | Jake Doughty, Utah State, LB | Nicholas Kaspar, San Jose State, OT | Kyler Fackrell, Utah State, LB |
| 25. Isaiah Burse, Fresno State, WR | Austin Wentworth, Fresno State, OT | |||||
| 26.Charles Leno, Boise State, OT | Joe Southwick, Boise State, QB | Gabe Linehan, Boise Sate, TE | Jeremy Ioane, Boise State, S | Nick Sherry, UNLV, QB | ||
| 27. Matt Paradis, Boise State, OT | Devante Davis, UNLV, WR | Isaiah Burse, Fresno State, WR | Cory James, Colorado State, LB | Eric Schultz, Utah State, OT | Isaiah Burse, Fresno State, WR | |
| 28. Austin Wentworth, Fresno State, OT | Jeremy Ioane, Boise State, S | Matt Paradis, Boise State, OT | Devante Davis, UNLV, WR | Keith Smith, San Jose State, LB | ||
| 29. Joe Southwick, Boise State, QB | Tyeler Davison, Fresno State, DT | Eric Schultz, Utah State, OT | L.J. Jones, Fresno State, CB | Derek Largent, San Diego State, LB | Isaiah Burse, Fresno State, WR | Chase Clayton, KR/WR, New Mexico |
| 30. Tyeler Davison, Fresno State, DT | Isaiah Burse, Fresno State, WR | Jeremy Ioane, Boise State, S | Devante Davis, UNLV, WR | |||
| 31. Nat Berhe, San Diego State, S | Chris Nwoke, Colorado State, RB | Nolan Kohorst, UNLV, PK | Jake Doughty, Utah State, LB | Dominic Rufran, Wyoming, WR | Blair Burns, Wyoming, CB | |
| 32. Jeremy Ioane, Boise State, S | Kyler Fackrell, Utah State, LB | Gabe Linehan, Boise Sate, TE | Christian Tago, San Jose Sate, LB | Jake Doughty, Utah State, LB | ||
| 33. Vince Buhagiar, San Jose State, LB | Shaquil Barrett, Colorado State, LB | Chris Nwoke, Colorado State, RB | Tyeler Davison, Fresno State, DT | Alex Hansen, DE, Air Force | Zach Vigil, Utah State, LB | |
| 34. Jake Doughty, Utah State, LB | Zach Vigil, Utah State, LB | Jon Lee, Air Force, RB | Nicholas Kaspar, San Jose State, OT |
Marcel Jensen, Fresno State, TE | Matt Paradis, Boise State, OT | Nicholas Kaspar, San Jose State, OT |
| 35. Eric Schultz, Utah State, OT | Cole Gautsche, New Mexico, QB | Joe Southwick, Boise State, QB | ||||
| 36. Gabe Linehan, Boise Sate, TE | Charles Leno, Boise State, OT | John Hardy-Tuliau, Hawai'i, S | Matt Paradis, Boise State, OT | Matt Paradis, Boise State, OT | Chandler Jones, San Jose State, WR | |
| 37. Devante Davis, UNLV, WR | Blair Burns, Wyoming, CB | Cole Gautsche, New Mexico, QB | Joel Bitonio, Nevada, T | Shaquil Barrett, Colorado State, LB | Joe Southwick, Boise State, QB | L.J. Jones, Fresno State, CB |
| 38. L.J. Jones, Fresno State, CB | Vince Buhagiar, San Jose State, LB | Blair Burns, Wyoming, CB | Shaquil Barrett, Colorado State, LB | Keith Smith, San Jose State, LB | Jake Doughty, Utah State, LB | |
| 39. Chris Nwoke, Colorado State, RB | L.J. Jones, Fresno State, CB | Ty MacArthur, Air Force, WR/KR | Vince Buhagiar, San Jose State, LB | Nick Tenhaeff, San Diego State, LB | ||
| 40. Blair Burns, Wyoming, CB | Nevin Lawson, Utah State, CB | Don Jackson, Nevada, RB | Josh Harper, Fresno State, WR | Nicholas Kaspar, San Jose State, OT | Lenny Jones, Nevada, DE | |
| 41. Kyler Fackrell, Utah State, LB | Josh Harper, Fresno State, WR | Marcel Jensen, Fresno State, TE | Chris Nwoke, Colorado State, RB | Derek Largent, San Diego State, LB | ||
| 42. Derek Largent, San Diego State, LB | Cory James, Colorado State, LB | Austin Lopez, K, San Jose State | Andy Jennings, Fresno State, DE | Josh Quezada, Fresno State, RB | Joe Southwick, Boise State, QB | |
| 43. Nicholas Kaspar, San Jose State, OT | Dillon Farrell, New Mexico, Center | Nat Berhe, San Diego State, S | Dillon Farrell, New Mexico, Center | Andy Jennings, Fresno State, DE | Dallas Bollema, New Mexico, LB | |
| 44. Nick Tenhaeff, San Diego State, LB | Billy Ray Stutzmann, Hawaii, WR | Nevin Lawson, Utah State, CB | Nevin Lawson, Utah State, CB | DeAndre Elliott, Colorado State, CB | Ben Clarke, Hawaii, C | John Hardy-Tuliau, Hawai'i, S |
| 45. Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe, Boise State, DT | Jon Lee, Air Force, RB | Blake Renaud, LB, Boise State | Marcel Jensen, Fresno State, TE | Devante Davis, UNLV, WR | Ian Seau, Nevada, LB | Alex Hansen, DE, Air Force |
| 46. Chase Clayton, KR/WR, New Mexico | Trent Matthews, Colorado State, S | Sam Meredith, DT, San Diego State | Billy Ray Stutzmann, Hawaii, WR | Taylor Graham, Hawaii, QB | Nolan Kohorst, UNLV, PK | LaMarr Bratton, G, New Mexico |
| 47. Zach Vigil, Utah State, LB | Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe, Boise State, DT | Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe, Boise State, DT | Sidney Hodge, UNLV, CB | Kivon Cartwright, Colorado State, TE | Tyler Ervin, KR, San Jose State | |
| 49. Cory James, Colorado State, LB | Ty MacArthur, Air Force, WR/KR | L.J. Jones, Fresno State, CB | Richy Turner, Nevada, WR | Joel Bitonio, T, Nevada | ||
| 49.Marcel Jensen, Fresno State, TE | Nick Sherry, UNLV, QB | Chase Clayton, KR/WR, New Mexico | Eric Pinkins, San Diego State, SS | Marcus Sullivan, UNLV, WR | Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe, Boise State, DT | |
| 50. Garrett Grayson, Colorado State, QB | Colin Lockett, San Diego State, WR | Lenny Jones, Nevada, DE | Chandler Jones, San Jose State, WR | Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe, Boise State, DT | Jeremy Ioane, Boise State, S |