Ranking the Top 15 Players in the Pac-12 for 2014 (Experts Poll)

The SEC is college football’s No. 1 conference, but the Pac-12 isn’t far behind. With playoff contenders in Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, and USC, the league has a deep group of teams pushing for a spot among the top 10 this year. And the depth of the Pac-12 is strong, highlighted by Arizona State, Washington, Washington State, Oregon State and Arizona. Strong quarterback play highlights the Pac-12, including Oregon's Marcus Mariota and UCLA's Brett Hundley.

In order to rank the top 15 players in the Pac-12 for 2014, Athlon Sports sought the insight of several experts from the conference. The voting process was simple. Using criteria such as career performance so far, 2014 potential/projection, pro outlook, recruiting ranking, value to team or overall talent, each voter was asked to rank their top 15 players for 2014.

A point system was assigned, giving 15 points for a player with a No. 1 vote, 14 points for a No. 2 vote, 13 points for a No. 3 vote and so on.

The Voters:

Steven Lassan, AthlonSports.com, (@AthlonSteven)
Tyler Lockman, FoxSportsArizona.com, (@TylerLockman)
Braden Gall, AthlonSports.com, (@BradenGall)
Kyle Kensing, CFBHuddle.com, (@kensing45)
Mitch Light, AthlonSports.com, (@AthlonMitch)
Andrew Greif, The Oregonian, (@AndrewGreif)
Ryan Kartje, OCRegister.com, (@Ryan_Kartje)
Jeremy Mauss, MWCConnection.com, (@JeremyMauss)
Mark Ross, AthlonSports.com, (@AthlonMarkR)
Avinash Kunnath, PacificTakes.com, (@PacificTakes)
Ryan Abraham, USCFootball.com, (@InsideTroy)
Nick Krueger, HouseofSparky.com, (@NickPKrueger)
Jon Woods, RalphieReport.com, (@RalphieReport)
Jeff Nusser, CougCenter.com, (@NussCoug)
Jack Follman, PacificTakes.com, (@JackFollman)
Chris Huston, HeismanPundit.com, (@HeismanPundit)
David Fox, AthlonSports.com, (@DavidFox615)

Ranking Pac-12's Best Players for 2014

Rank	Player	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Marcus Mariota, QB		14	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	252
2	Leonard Williams, DE		1	7	4	4	0	0	1	0	0	0	222
3	Brett Hundley, QB		0	6	4	3	3	0	1	0	0	0	214
4	Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, CB		1	0	4	1	6	3	1	0	1	0	191
5	Andrus Peat, OT		0	1	2	3	1	2	0	2	2	0	147
6	Myles Jack, LB		1	0	1	3	1	1	2	1	0	1	143
7	Taylor Kelly, QB		0	0	1	2	3	1	2	1	0	0	113
8	Sean Mannion, QB		0	0	0	1	2	2	1	2	0	2	98
9	Hroniss Grasu, C		0	0	0	0	0	3	2	2	2	2	97
10	Jaelen Strong, WR		0	0	0	0	0	2	3	0	1	2	89
11	Ty Montgomery, WR		0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	4	2	87
12	Nelson Agholor, WR		0	0	0	0	1	1	0	2	3	1	80
13	Shaq Thompson, LB		0	0	0	0	0	1	2	2	2	1	77
14	Henry Anderson, DE		0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	26
15	Eric Kendricks, LB		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	25
16	Byron Marshall, RB		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	23
17	Hayes Pullard, LB		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	22
18	Hau'oli Kikaha, DE		0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	21
19	Marcus Peters, CB		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13
20	A.J. Tarpley, LB		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	13
21	Danny Shelton, DT		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11
22	Jordan Richards, S		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	11
23	Su'a Cravens, S		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7
24	D.J. Foster, RB		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7
25	Alex Carter, CB		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7
26	Darryl Monroe, LB		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6
27	Thomas Tyner, RB		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6
28	Jamil Douglas, OL		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5
29	Cyler Miles, QB		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5
30	Isaac Seumalo, OL		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5
31	Bryce Treggs, WR		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
32	Buck Allen, RB		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
33	Dres Anderson, WR		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
34	Connor Halliday, QB		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
35	Greg Henderson, CB		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
36	Addison Gillam, LB		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
37	Fabian Moreau, CB		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

A Few Observations:

* Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota recorded 14 of the 17 first-place votes. Mariota did not rank lower than second on any ballot.

* Three of the top nine players in this experts poll are from Oregon: Mariota, cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu and center Hroniss Grasu.

* The top 10 players in this experts poll are split evenly: Five from the North, five from the South.

* Arizona is the only team to not have a player represented in this poll.

* Four of the top 10 players are quarterbacks: Mariota, Mannion, Kelly and Hundley.