The MWC 2019 All-Recruit Teams

Now that the all the signings are official and the classes are finalized, it’s time for a countless amount of hype and articles about your favorite team’s recruiting classes. It’s a fun time of year because teams have secured so much talent and coaches, players, and fans dream of each one of them reaching their potential.

It is our aim here at MWCConnection to discuss specifically how much talent and potential is entering the conference in this recruiting class. This will be done through a few different posts, some of which will be team specific and others will be looking more from the standpoint as the conference as a whole. Today we release the MWCConnection MWC All-Recruit Teams

How did we come up with this list you ask? Good question!

Jeremy, Zach, and myself (Mike) put our heads together and spent a few hours discussing to arrive at the three teams we listed below. It’s important to remember there is no perfect formula for recruiting, but we considered a few different things. Of course, we leaned on the major recruiting sites, 247 and Rivals, and the rankings they provided. This helped to narrow our focus substantially. Then, we considered offer lists, watched quite a bit of film and stated our cases for players. Other factors, such as position or level of competition also used to an extent, mainly coming into play in “tie-breaker” scenarios. What you see below is the result of that process.

It is important to keep in mind this isn’t a prediction on who will make the most significant impact or be the best players in four years. Instead, it is a statement of who are the best recruits entering the Mountain West as freshmen. Recruiting rankings should never be mistaken as an exact science, as each year some highly rated players don’t live up to their rating and players completely off the radar end up making a bit impact. However, the rankings end up getting it right more often than not.

As mentioned above, we released three teams. A first team, second team, and JUCO/Grad Transfer team. The first two teams are high school players only, where the third one gives college players their time to shine. A few other quick notes. We went with two WRs and a FLEX spot on offense. On defense, went with four defensive lineman and four defensive backs rather than divide them into ends, tackles, corners and safeties. This was done to promote the four best players at each unit.

First Team

Quarterback

• Hank Bachmeier (Boise State)

Running back

• George Holani (Boise State)

Wide Receiver

• Jalen Cropper (Fresno State)
• Khyheem Waleed (Boise State)

Tight End

• Henry Ikahihifo (Nevada)

Flex

• Keegan Duncan (Boise State)

Offensive Line

• Ben Dooley (Boise State)
• Justin Scrempos (San Jose State)
• Joey Capra (San Diego State)
• Nathan Peterson (Air Force)
• Zac Welch (Nevada)

Defensive Line

• Breylan Garcia (Nevada)
• Dylan Hall (Boise State)
• Alonzo Hall (Wyoming)
• Demetrius Dorceus (Air Force)

Linebacker

• Casey Kline (Boise State)
• Lolangi Langi (Boise State)
• Christian LaValle (Utah State)

Defensive Back

• Brandon Crossley (Colorado State)
• JL Skinner (Boise State)
• BJ Johnson (San Jose State)
• Markel Reed (Boise State)

Special Teams

• K/P Pierce Callister (Utah State)
• LS Aiden Kneller (New Mexico)

Second Team

Quarterback

• Levi Williams (Wyoming)

Running back

• Justin Dinka (San Diego State)

Wide Receiver

• Ty McCullough (Colorado State)
• Jaylen Hearst (Colorado State)

Tight End

• Dominic Mazotti (San Jose State)

Flex

• Lincoln Victor (Hawaii)

Offensive Line

• Cade Briggs (New Mexico)
• Jackson Owens (Utah State)
• Carlos Harrison (Wyoming)
• Caden Hillborn (Hawaii)
• Jack Lookabaugh (Wyoming)

Defensive Line

• Nassir Sims (San Diego State)
• Shawn Nielsen (San Diego State)
• Joe Quillin (Air Force)
• Aidan Cullen (Colorado State)

Linebacker

• Tiger Peterson (Hawaii)
• Jaymason Willingham (Utah State)
• Michael Shawcroft (San Diego State)

Defensive Back

• Keevan Bailey (Colorado State)
• Cam Stephens (Nevada)
• Deven Jarvis (Fresno State)
• Nathan Polk (Air Force)

Special Teams

• K/P Gavin Wale (Boise State)
• LS Jesse Vasquez (Utah State)

JUCO/Grad Transfer Team:

Quarterback

• Brandt Hughes (New Mexico)

Running back

• Biaggio Ali Walsh (UNLV)

Wide Receiver

• Nate Craig-Myer (Colorado State)
• Melquise Stovall (Hawaii)

Tight End

• Austin Griffin (Boise State)

Flex

• Juan Rodriguez (Fresno State)

Offensive Line

• Jacob Capra (San Diego State)
• Quinn Oseland (San Jose State)
• Desmond Noel (Colorado State)
• TJ Storment (Colorado State)
• Rocky Aitogi (New Mexico)

Defensive Line

• Tavai Tuitasi (UNLV)
• Mason Vega (Hawaii)
• Joey Noble (New Mexico)
• Eliel Ehimare (UNLV)

Linebacker

• Vic Viramontes (UNLV)
• Tauivi Ho Ching (Hawaii)
• Reco Hannah (New Mexico)

Defensive Back

• Shaddrick Lowery (New Mexico)
• Cortez Davis (Hawaii)
• Eric Cuffee (New Mexico)
• Jeremiah Houston (UNLV)

Special Teams

• K Jake Walrath (Utah State)
• P Alex Galland (San Jose State)

Team Totals: (HS players listed only)

Boise State: 11

Colorado State: 5

San Diego State: 5

Utah State: 4

Nevada: 4

Wyoming: 4

Air Force: 4

San Jose State: 3

Fresno State: 2

Hawaii: 3

New Mexico: 2

JC/GT Totals:

New Mexico: 6

UNLV: 5

Hawaii: 4

Colorado State: 3

San Diego State: 1

San Jose State: 2

Boise State: 1

Fresno State: 1

Utah State: 1

Notes:

• The toughest battles were 2nd team QB between Levi Williams and Josh Calvin, 2nd team LB (with Kyle Beaudry also considered), 2nd team DL, and the last two spots on the 1st team secondary. 2nd team Flex was probably the most difficult decision, with three players strongly considered for that spot.
• It wasn’t the strongest class for Defensive Tackles. Not that there isn’t talent, but it is a spot short on depth to be sure.
• On the other hand, the depth are linebacker, wide receiver, and defensive back is apparent in this class.
• Looking at team totals, it was no surprise Boise State led the way given their historic class. No other team was within striking distance.
• Colorado State and SDSU finished with the second most players. They continue to do a good job on the recruiting trail despite their on the field struggles this season. Other usual suspects in the top half of the conference were Utah State, Nevada, and San Diego State.
• Fresno State was a bit of a surprise given how much success they’ve had on the field the past two seasons. Hawaii could be put in that surprise category as well following a strong season.
• On the JC/GT front, naturally New Mexico and UNLV led the way. Both are brining in a large quantity of these type of players as well as a high level of talent. It’s exciting to think of how a number of these players will make an immediate impact next season.

Yesterday: Our top 10 MWC Recruit List

Coming Monday: In the MWC Recruiting Roundup, we release our final class of 2019 Team Rankings.

Your turn: Who do you agree with? Who got snubbed? Talk about it in the comments section.

Follow @Mike_SBN for all MWC recruiting news and updates. Jeremy Rodrigues and Zach Ballard also contributed extensively to this article.