Going into the inaugural Pac-12 football season, the best gunslingers reside out west. In his initial "Big Board," Mel Kiper projects Stanford's Andrew Luck and USC's Matt Barkley as two of the three best overall prospects in the nation. Oklahoma's Landry Jones is the next quarterback on most lists, but Arizona's Nick Foles is not far behind.Of course, the NFL is only interested in pro-style QBs, but Oregon's Darron Thomas is considered a frontrunner in any Heisman conversation.Â
Meanwhile, Utah's Jordan Wynn, Washington State's Jeff Tuel and Oregon State's Ryan Katz play outside the spotlight, but they can light up any stadium. Only Cal and UCLA seem unsettled at the position as fall camp approaches, while Washington is the only program to lose an entrenched starter in Jake Locker.Â
The league is loaded with experienced talent.Â
Thomas, Katz and Tuel can build on a full year of starts. Barkley, Wynn and Luck are still only juniors.Â
If you cannot defend the pass in year one of the Pac-12, you will be found out.
