As our signing day approaches and we reflect on the year I compiled a study to help get a sense of where we stand next year in the conference. And where our current class stands compared to past years. The study is divided up by position and, while the study is complete, the data entry is not. So this is just the first of many. I hope you find it helpful. And feel free to post any extrapolations you find interesting. I am certainly willing to edit as necessary. Cal players are highlighted in blue. Data was compiled from Rivals, ESPN, Phil Steele and 24/7 Sports. The ratings only include players at the top end of the scale. This study is not meant to be conclusive but to promote discussion. <br />Because of today's events, I will probably enter the data for Safety next so you can see where Shaq stands. <br /><br />CAL TALENT EVAL COMPARE PAST/PRESENT AND CURRENT PAC-12 ROSTERS<br /><br />SCORE/RATING LISTED FIRST (rivals # refers to national ranking at that position)<br />* DENOTES PROJECTED and /or RETURNING STARTER<br />Transfers and 2 stars do not have a position rating or ranking and are not listed.<br />Lists are not meant to be consistent but to give a sense of where Cal stands<br />Since Phil Steele does not rank the 2012 class until after spring, I will use the rankings from 24/7 sports instead. I could not use 24/7 for the whole thing because they only go back to 2010.<br /><br />[SIZE="3"]<b>[U]QUARTERBACKS[/U]</b>[/SIZE]<br /><br /><b>[U]RIVALS RANKINGS (Rankings are mixed over several recruiting classes)[/U]</b><br />1 Matt Barkley Sr. USC* (2009)<br />2 Cody Kessler Fr. USC (2011)<br />2 Brett Hundley Fr. UCLA* (2011)<br />3 Max Wittek Fr. USC (2011)<br />4 Brett Nottingham So. Stan* (2010)<br />4 Sean Mannion So.* (2008)<br />5 Jesse Scroggins Fr. USC (2010)<br />5 Matt Scott Sr. UA* (2008)<br />6 Darron Thomas Sr. UO* (2008)<br />6 Richard Brehaut Sr. UCLA (2009)<br /><b>[COLOR="Blue"]7 Kyle Boehm Fr. Cal (2011)[/COLOR]</b><br />8 Michael Eubanks Fr. ASU (2011)<br /><b>[COLOR="Blue"]10 Allan Bridgford Jr. Cal (2009)[/COLOR]</b><br />11 Nick Crissman Sr. UCLA (2008)<br />12 Marcus Mariota Fr. UO (2011)<br />12 Griff Robles Jr. Utah (2007)<br />13 Josh Nunes Jr. Stan (2009)<br />14 Mike Bercovici Fr. ASU (2011)<br />15 Bryan Bennett So. UO (2010)<br />15 Kevin Hogan Fr. Stan (2011)<br /><br />[U]Other Notables[/U]<br />22 Jordan Wynn Sr. Utah* (2009)<br />22 Derrick Brown Fr. UW (2011)<br />22 Nick Montana So. UW (2010)<br />[COLOR="Blue"]<b>23 Austin Hinder So. Cal (2010)</b>[/COLOR]<br />33 Keith Price Jr. UW* (2009)<br /><br />[U][COLOR="Blue"]<b>Past Cal Rated QBs</b>[/COLOR][/U]<br />5 Kyle Reed (2005)<br />6 Kevin Riley (2006)<br />8 Nathan Longshore (2004)<br />11 Brock Mansion (2007)<br />13 Beau Sweeney (2008)<br /><br />[U]Verbals[/U]<br />2 Cyler Miles UW<br /><b>[COLOR="Blue"]3 Zach Kline Cal[/COLOR]</b><br />6 Jake Rodriques UO<br />7 Jeff Lindquist UW<br />10 Brent Vanderveen OSU<br />11 Travis Wilson Utah<br />13 Shane Dillon CU<br />25 T.J. Millweard ASU<br /><br /><b>[U]PHIL STEELE (# is the "PS" # used in his magazine) /24-7 Sports[/U]</b><br />5 Brett Hundley UCLA* (2011)<br />5 Matt Barkley USC* (2009)<br />8 Jesse Scroggins USC (2010)<br />9 Cody Kessler USC (2011)<br />11 Max Wittek USC (2011)<br />12 Nick Crissman UCLA (2008)<br /><b>[COLOR="Blue"]13 Austin Hinder Cal (2010) [/COLOR]</b><br />14 Brett Nottingham Stan* (2010)<br />14 Richard Brehaut UCLA (2009)<br />15 Matt Scott UA* (2008)<br />15 Nick Montana UW (2010)<br /><b>[COLOR="Blue"]15 Allan Bridgford Cal (2009)[/COLOR]</b><br /><b>[COLOR="Blue"]17 Kyle Boehm Cal (2011)[/COLOR]</b><br />17 Josh Nunes Stan (2009)<br />18 Kevin Hogan Stan (2011)<br />22 Darron Thomas UO* (2008)<br />28 Bryan Bennett UO (2010)<br />30 Michael Eubanks ASU (2011)<br />31 Sean Mannion OSU* (2010)<br />31 Marcus Mariota UO (2011)<br />38 Nick Hirschman CU (2010)<br />39 Griff Robles Utah (2007)<br />42 Derrick Brown UW (2011)<br /><br />[U]Other Notables[/U]<br />57 Jordan Wynn Utah* (2009)<br />77 Jeff Tuel WSU* (2009)<br />87 Keith Price UW* (2009)<br /><br /><b>[U][COLOR="Blue"]Past Cal Rated QBs[/COLOR][/U]</b><br />6 Joe Ayoob (JC) (2005)<br />18 Nate Longshore (2004)<br />18 Kyle Reed (2005)<br />24 Beau Sweeney (2008)<br />28 Brock Mansion (2007)<br />33 Kevin Riley (2006)<br /><br /><br />[U]Verbals 24/7 rankings (sorry but 24/7 does not go back before 2010)[/U]<br /><b>[COLOR="Blue"]95 Zach Kline Cal[/COLOR]</b><br />95 Jesse Scroggins USC (2010)<br />95 Travis Wilson Utah<br />94 Cyler Miles UW<br />94 Max Wittek USC (2011)<br />94 Cody Kessler USC (2011)<br />93 Brett Hundley UCLA (2011)<br />92 Brett Nottingham Stan (2010)<br /><b>[COLOR="Blue"]92 Kyle Boehm Cal (2011)<br />92 Austin Hinder Cal (2010)[/COLOR]</b><br />91 Marcus Mariota UO (2011)<br />91 Nick Montana UW (2010) <br />89 Evan Crower Stan (2011)<br />89 Jake Rodrigues UO<br />88 Shane Dillon CU<br />88 T. J. Millwead ASU<br />88 Derrick Brown UW (2011)<br />87 Michael Bercovici ASU (2011)<br />87 Josh Kern UA<br />87 Brent Vanderveen OSU<br />85 Jeff Lindquist UW<br />84 Jeff Lockie UO<br />84 Kevin Hogan Stan (2011)<br />84 Jerry Neuheisel UCLA (2011)<br /><br /><b>[U]ESPN RATINGS[/U]</b> <br />93 Matt Barkley Sr. USC *<br />82 Jesse Scroggins So. USC<br />81 Max Wittek Fr. USC<br />81 Josh Nunes Jr. Stan <br />81 Nick Crissman Sr. UCLA<br />81 Richard Brehaut Sr. UCLA<br />81 Brett Hundley Fr. UCLA*<br />80 Darron Thomas Sr. UO*<br />80 Brett Nottingham So. Stan*<br />79 Nick Montana So. UW<br />79 Derrick Brown Fr. UW<br /><b>[COLOR="Blue"]79 Allan Bridgford Jr. Cal<br />79 Austin Hinder So. Cal<br />78 Kyle Boehm Fr. Cal[/COLOR]</b><br />78 Cody Kessler Fr. USC<br />78 Tyler Shreve Fr. Utah<br />78 Sean Mannion So. OSU*<br />78 Evan Crower Fr. Stan<br />78 Nick Hirschman So. CU<br />78 Matt Scott Sr. UA*<br />77 Bryan Bennett So. UO<br />77 Kevin Hogan Fr. Stan<br />77 Griffin Robles Jr. Utah<br />77 Michael Eubanks Fr. ASU<br /><br />[U]Other Notables[/U] <br />76 Jordan Wynn Sr. Utah*<br />75 Keith Price Jr. Wash*<br />72 Jeff Tuel Sr. WSU *<br /><br />[U]Verbals[/U]<br /><b>[COLOR="Blue"]81 Zach Kline Cal[/COLOR]</b><br />80 Jake Rodriguez UO<br />80 T.J. Millweard UA<br />80 Jeff Lindquist UW<br />79 Cyler Miles UW<br />78 Josh Kern ASU<br />78 Travis Wilson Utah<br />78 Chase Hansen Utah<br />77 Shane Dillon CU<br /><br /><b>[U][SIZE="3"]OVERALL SUMMERY[/SIZE][/U]</b><br /><br />The spreadsheets are available upon request.<br /><br /> [U]<b>[SIZE="2"]FINAL RANKING[/SIZE]</b>[/U]<br />1. USC<br />2. OREGON <br />2. WASHINGTON<br />4. UCLA <br />5. STANFORD<br />6. CAL<br /><br />The consensus highly rated QB list is as follows in order:<br /><br />1. Matt Barkley (USC)<br />2. Jesse Scroggins (USC)<br />3. Brett Hundley (UCLA)<br />4. Cody Kessler (USC)<br />5. Max Wittek (USC)<br />6. Brett Nottingham (Stan)<br />7. Richard Brehaut (UCLA)<br />8. Nick Crissman (UCLA) <br />[COLOR="Blue"]<b>9. Kyle Boehm (Cal)</b>[/COLOR]<br />10. Darron Thomas (UO)<br /><br />Amongst the verbals:<br />1. Cyler Miles (UW)<br />[COLOR="Blue"]<b>2. Zach Kline (Cal)</b>[/COLOR]<br /><br />On further analysis, including the returning starters in the rankings Cal lags behind it's prime competitors. But part of this is due to the high level of recruiting in the conference and the excellence of the returning starters which include a Rose Bowl champion and a Heisman candidate. The other issue is the continued doubt behind Cal's starter and the low ranking of Zach Maynard.<br />But in every applicable rating Zach Kline ranked in the top 5 all time and is the top Cal QB ever.

He is definitely rated highly, but only marginally more so than Boehm and Hinder...<br /><br />edit: forgot to say thanks for the work you're putting into this. Love this kind of analysis on this board.

Tedford needs to find someone at QB, else Cal will be that team with the #1 conference defense that keeps going to the Vegas Bowl.

<blockquote><div class="name-said">atticus;670740 said:</div><hr>He is definitely rated highly, but only marginally more so than Boehm and Hinder...<br /><br />edit: forgot to say thanks for the work you're putting into this. Love this kind of analysis on this board.<hr></blockquote><br /><br />It <b>is</b> a ton of work but I enjoy it, especially if it is usefull and appreciated. So thank you too. And what a great day it was. I will be posting the information on Safety, DE and WR as soon as I get it all entered. It takes about 2-3 hours per position.

<blockquote><div class="name-said">heartofthebear;670750 said:</div><hr>It <b>is</b> a ton of work but I enjoy it, especially if it is usefull and appreciated. So thank you too. And what a great day it was. I will be posting the information on Safety, DE and WR as soon as I get it all entered. It takes about 2-3 hours per position.<hr></blockquote><br /><br />thanks for the work.....USC sure seems to have loads of talented QB's which we all knew anyway but it boggles my mind. Why aren't transfers included?.. people will want to see where Maynard stacks up...thanks

The vast majority of these guys have not played enough to have any sense of how (or if) they will validate their ratings. Barkley, Thomas, Price and, to a lesser degree, Wynn and Tuel have performed at or above expectations. Jury's still out on Brehaut but he's looking like a miss. Cal's Reed, Riley and Longshore have all disappointed some or all of the time. On balance, I'd say it only really validates what most of us would infer: that it's better to draw highly rated recruits, some of whom will bomb than to live and die with the lower end of the scale and hope for a Tuel or Price (or, dare I say it, an Aaron Rodgers) to pop up. Still, I appreciate your effort. Thanks.

<blockquote><div class="name-said">Cal_Fan2;670758 said:</div><hr>thanks for the work.....USC sure seems to have loads of talented QB's which we all knew anyway but it boggles my mind. Why aren't transfers included?.. people will want to see where Maynard stacks up...thanks<hr></blockquote><br /><br />There is nothing I can do. The rating agencies do not give them a numbered rating, but I think that Maynard was a 2 star. I'll look it up.<br /><br />Edit: The only rating I could find for Maynard was a PS #253 from Phil Steele's magazine. I didn't look on Scout, but I looked everywhere else including the database here. I'm kinda boycotting Scout so I'm not going to look because I doubt the info. would be very accurate anyway. Are they a Fox affiliate? If so, that would explain everything.

<blockquote><div class="name-said">59bear;670767 said:</div><hr>The vast majority of these guys have not played enough to have any sense of how (or if) they will validate their ratings. Barkley, Thomas, Price and, to a lesser degree, Wynn and Tuel have performed at or above expectations. Jury's still out on Brehaut but he's looking like a miss. Cal's Reed, Riley and Longshore have all disappointed some or all of the time. On balance, I'd say it only really validates what most of us would infer: that it's better to draw highly rated recruits, some of whom will bomb than to live and die with the lower end of the scale and hope for a Tuel or Price (or, dare I say it, an Aaron Rodgers) to pop up. Still, I appreciate your effort. Thanks.<hr></blockquote><br /><br />The interesting thing about this research is it shows both the value of ratings and the inaccuracy of them at the same time.