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If you haven’t been able to see the rest of our Kickoff Week coverage from this week, be sure to catch up from the content we rolled out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
There are many ways to measure the strength of a team or conference. During this week, we’ve tried to capture that from as many angles as possible. Today’s post is a simple list of what we view as the top ten players in the Mountain West Conference. Yes, it’s hard to compare different positions and sides of the ball but it’s also hard not to make a top 10 list of best players when doing internet blogs.
Here’s our preseason list for comparison.
Without further ado, here are the top ten players in the Mountain West heading into 2019, voted on by the MWCConnection team.
1) DE Curtis Weaver (Boise State)
- 2019 stats: 47 tackles, 18 TFLs, 13.5 sacks, 1 FF, 1 INT, 3 passes defended
2) LB David Woodward (Utah State)
- 2019 stats: 93 tackles, 5 TFLs, 2 sacks, 4 FF, 2 passes defended (7 games)
3) LB Logan Wilson (Wyoming)
- 2019 stats: 98 tackles, 7 TFLs, 1 sack, 1 FF, 4 INTs, 7 passes defended
4) DB Tariq Thompson (San Diego State)
- 2019 stats: 51 tackles, 3 TFLs, 1 sack, 1 FF, 3 INTs, 8 passes defended
5) WR Warren Jackson (Colorado State)
- 2019 stats: 77 receptions, 1119 yards, 8 TDs, 14.5 ypc.
6) QB Josh Love (San Jose State)
- 2019 stats: 3633 passing yards, 60.4%, 22 TDs, 8.1 ypa
7) WR JoJo Ward (Hawaii)
- 2019 stats: 55 receptions, 906 yards, 11 TDs, 16.5 ypc.
8) LB Kyahva Tezino (San Diego State)
- 2019 stats: 96 tackles, 9 TFLs, 3 sacks, 2 FF, 1 INT, 3 passes defended
9) WR Tre Walker (San Jose State)
- 2019 stats: 79 receptions, 1161 yards, 2 TDs, 14.7 ypc.
10) WR Cedric Byrd (Hawaii)
- 2019 stats: 91 receptions, 1049 yards, 10 TDs, 11.5 ypc.
Team Breakdown:
- Hawaii: 2
- San Diego State: 2
- San Jose State: 2
- Colorado State: 1
- Boise State: 1
- Utah State: 1
- Wyoming: 1
Notes:
- 17 players received votes. Those who did not crack the top 10 were: Charles Williams, Cole McDonald, Ezra Cleveland, John Hightower, Savon Scarver, Luq Barcoo, and Jordan Love.
- The position breakdown is: That comes out to 5 on offensive, 5 on defense. 4 wide receivers, 3 linebackers, 1 quarterback, 1 defensive end, 1 defensive back.
- Seven players from our preseason list did not make this list. Jordan Love (previously #2) had the biggest fall.
- On the opposite end, Logan Wilson had the biggest rise. Going from an unofficial 18th in the pre-season to 2nd in the final season votes.
- Curtis Weaver was the unanimous #1 pick. The rest of the picks were more of a mixed bag, but Woodward and Wilson were 2 or 3 on most ballots.
There it is. So let’s hear it. Who did we snub? Who did we put on here that shouldn’t be? Let’s hear you feedback in the comments section.