Pass Happy Pac-12 Lands Five Players on Preseason Jim Thorpe Award Watch List
Written by Ryan Wright
The preseason Jim Thorpe Award watch list was released on Monday outlining the thought best of the best defensive backs in the nation. While no preseason watch list is perfect, one message has been sent to the rest of the Power 5 conferences in college football by the Pac-12 – your defensive backs are not better than ours.
Of the 42 defensive backs recognized among the best of the best in college football heading into the 2015 season, five were from the Pac-12. The five listed include Ishmael Adams (UCLA), Budda Baker (Washington), Adoree’ Jackson (USC), Fabian Moreau (UCLA), and Jordan Simone (Arizona State).
In a possible oversight by the selection committee, even one of the five Pac-12 players listed, Ishmael Adams, may not start at corner for his school this season. During spring ball Marcus Rio played exceptionally well for the Bruins pushing Adams into the starting nickel spot.
The five players listed on the Jim Thorpe watch list is not surprising. When the 2014 season completed the Pac-12 had four of the Top 12 passers in terms of total yardage in the nation; Marcus Mariota (Oregon), Jared Goff (Cal), Cody Kessler (USC), and Anu Soloman (Arizona). The Pac-12 was still full of other gunslingers like Brett Hundley (UCLA), Sean Mannion (Oregon State), and Sefo Liufau (Colorado). Had Washington State’s Connor Halliday not been injured midway through the season he would have surely topped the list in total passing yardage.
With this much talent slinging the ball around the yard the various Pac-12 cornerbacks and safeties eventually step their game up becoming better players.
The other conference to rival the Pac-12 is the ACC. The Atlantic Coast Conference also had five selections; Mackensie Alexander (Clemson), Quin Blanding (Virginia), Jeremy Cash (Duke), Kendall Fuller (Virginia Tech), and Jalen Ramsey (Florida State).
“DBU” Who?
LSU throws the “Defensive Back University” around a lot, and from past history and from recent recruiting for good reason. But there are two schools that can rival UCLA, Virginia Tech, and LSU per the preseason Jim Thorpe Award watch list, Louisiana Tech and San Diego State. Louisiana Tech place Adairius Barnes and Xavier Woods while SDSU added Damontae Kazee and JJ Whittaker.
Jim Thorpe Award Watch List
Ishmael Adams, UCLA – Pac-12
Mackensie Alexander, Clemson – ACC
Tony Annese, Central Michigan – Mid-American
Budda Baker, Washington – Pac-12
Adairius Barnes, Louisiana Tech – Conference USA
Dante Barnett, Kansas State – Big 12
Vonn Bell, Ohio State – Big Ten
Quin Blanding, Virginia – ACC
Kevin Byard, Middle Tennessee – Conference USA
Michael Caputo, Wisconsin – Big Ten
Jeremy Cash, Duke – ACC
Tony Conner, Ole Miss – SEC
Donte Deayon, Boise State – Mountain West Conference
Kendall Fuller, Virginia Tech – ACC
Vernon Hargreaves III, Florida – SEC
Nate Holley, Kent State – Mid-American
Adoree’ Jackson, USC – Pac-12
William Jackson, Houston – American Athletic Conference
Randall Jette, Massachusetts – Mid-American
Jonathan Jones, Auburn – SEC
Karl Joseph, West Virginia – Big 12
Damontae Kazee, San Diego State – Mountain West Conference
Montres Kitchens, Troy – Sun Belt Conference
Mitch Lane, University Louisiana-Monroe – Sun Belt Conference
Richard Leonard, FIU – Conference USA
William Likely, Maryland – Big Ten
Paris Logan, Northern Illinois – Mid-American
Trent Matthews, Colorado State – Mountain West Conference
Adrian McDonald, Houston – American Athletic Conference
Doug Middleton, Appalachian State – Sun Belt Conference
David Mims II, Texas State – Sun Belt Conference
Fabian Moreau, UCLA – Pac-12
Parry Nickerson, Tulane – American Athletic Conference
Kevin Peterson, Oklahoma State – Big 12
Jalen Ramsey, Florida State – ACC
Max Redfield, Notre Dame – Independent
Zack Sanchez, Oklahoma – Big 12
Jordan Simone, Arizona State – Pac-12
Weston Steelhammer, Air Force – Mountain West Conference
Darian Thompson, Boise State – Mountain West Conference
JJ Whittaker, San Diego State – Mountain West Conference
Xavier Woods, Louisiana Tech – Conference USA
Conference Breakdown
AAC – 3
ACC – 5
Big 12 – 4
Big Ten – 3
Conference USA – 4
Mid-American – 4
Mountain West Conference – 6
Pac-12 Conference – 5
SEC – 3
Photo credit: zimbio.com; No. 10 Fabian Moreau defends a pass against ASU.