Happy mailbag Wednesday. Follow me here on Twitter.
To the notes!
Greeny in Boston writes: You guys keep saying six Pac-12 teams are going to be ranked or should be ranked. Give me a "buy/sell" on each team, just for arguments sake.
Kevin Gemmell: Sure! Buy/sells are fun this time of year because it’s pure speculation at this point. I actually think it should be seven. Others among us might disagree. But here are some quick thoughts on the seven I believe should be ranked (or will be ranked at some point throughout the season):
Arizona: A lot of talent coming back on offense. But we need to see how quickly the offensive line comes together.
Arizona State: Smooth quarterback transition and a defense that surged at times last year. Might be my dark horse for the South. Still thinking about that one.
Oregon: A perennial contender that should again have the strongest rushing attack in the conference. The quarterback question is the obvious selling point.
Stanford: Finished the year as strong as any team in the country. Another dark horse team I’m considering. But the depth at defensive line -- for the first time in a long time -- is the selling point.
UCLA: Should be one of the better defenses nationally and the Bruins return the league’s leading rusher from last year. Same selling point as Oregon -- what happens at quarterback?
USC: On paper, this is a top-10 team. But as I wrote last week, the Trojans struggled against some of the top-tier teams. That provides enough pause before completely buying in.
Utah: Really good defense. Really good special teams. Really good running back. Is this the year we see some consistent quarterback play?
You'll notice that five of these teams are in the South, which again will beat itself up en route to the Pac-12 title game. It's likely not all seven will be ranked at the same time. But at some point during the year, my guess is that all seven will appear in the Top 25.
Dimond Mike in Oakland writes: I think the blog has given Jared Goff plenty of love, but as a fan who has seen the real deal (Aaron Rodgers) and poseur (Kyle Boller), Jared Goff is a no doubt about it starting NFL QB in years to come. He'll have the numbers to back it up, so shouldn't that get him on more national radars, or is it solely about getting 10+ wins?
Kevin Gemmell: Depends on what kind of national radar you’re looking for. If we’re talking Heisman, then yes, 10-plus wins would certainly help. There were four quarterbacks who threw more touchdowns than Goff last season -- and one of them won the Heisman. But that’s also because he ran for 15 on top of his 42 passing. Goff had zero rushing touchdowns.
Unfortunately, the en vogue Heisman candidate does more than just throw touchdowns. He’s a dual-threat guy who is praised or criticized for his team’s success. And when you play for the team that ranked 120th in scoring defense in 2014, well, you do the math.
Remember Colby Cameron? He was Sonny Dykes’ quarterback his last year at Louisiana Tech. He tossed 31 touchdowns to just five interceptions and completed 68.8 percent of his throws for 4,147 yards. Pretty darn good numbers. I believe he plays in Japan now. It’s unfortunate, but quarterbacks in throw-heavy systems get labeled as “system” quarterbacks. Well, guess what: Every single quarterback is a “system” quarterback. Marcus Mariota was a system quarterback. Andrew Luck was a system quarterback. It’s a dumb label. Tangent ...
As to his NFL future, I’m not a scout. But a lot of scouts and coaches I’ve talked to seem to think he’s a budding star. I’ve seen him make all the throws he has to make at the next level. But as always, a lot of it depends on where he goes, how much time he sits or is forced to play. Who is his coach/position coach/coordinator, etc. I think he’ll end up getting drafted. But a lot of his success will come down to where he lands.
Al in Tempe, Ariz. writes: I liked the Travis Haney story on coaching bargains. But do we still have to keep referring to Graham as a program hopper?
Kevin Gemmell: Let me first thank you for being an Insider. With your subscription, Ted can keep the air conditioning on for another week.
I’m not sure the stigma will ever leave him. Which is wildly unfair given the commitment he’s made at ASU. He owns a home. He’s donated half a mill to improving facilities. He also won a Pac-12 South title and is 2-1 in bowl games.
In Travis’ defense, he did say “all jokes aside,” meaning he wasn’t going to make one. But still, the fact that the national media still goes there when thinking about Todd Graham is unfair at this point. While he left Pitt under bad circumstances, he’s also owned it a 1,000 times over, calling it a mistake to go there in the first place. And let’s be honest, do you really want a coach who doesn’t want to be there?
Per the good folks at Arizona State, here’s a list of all the coaches from that hiring class. You’ll note that 11 have already moved on or been dismissed.
2011 coaching hires
Urban Meyer, Ohio State (38-3)
Jim Mora, UCLA (29-11)
Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M (28-11)
Todd Graham, Arizona State (28-12)
Tim DeRuyter, Fresno State (26-14)
Rich Rodriguez, Arizona (26-14)
Matt Campbell, Toledo (25-13)
Hugh Freeze, Mississippi (24-15)
Kyle Flood, Rutgers (23-16)
Larry Fedora, North Carolina (21-17)
Justin Fuente, Memphis (17-20)
Curtis Johnson, Tulane (12-25)
Tim Beckman, Illinois (12-25)
Mike Leach, Washington State (12-25)
Terry Bowden, Akron (11-25)
Bob Davie, New Mexico (11-26)
Norm Chow, Hawaii (8-29)
Coaching changes (11): Arkansas (John L. Smith), Arkansas State (Gus Malzahn), Colorado State (Jim McElwain), FAU (Carl Pellini), Houston (Tony Levin), Kansas (Charlie Weis), UMASS (Charley Molnar), Penn State (Bill O’Brien), Pitt (Paul Chryst), Southern Miss (Ellis Johnson), UAB (Garrick McGee)
Graham isn’t going anywhere. And even if he does … he gave ASU three good years and a lot of wins (and counting). Can anyone really complain at this point?