Chantel Jennings, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Pac-12 players we thought we would see play in 2015, but won't

This past offseason has been busy and many of the storylines we anticipated have either begun to completely unravel or get even stronger. Every offseason we expect attrition for any number of reasons and this past offseason there was quite a bit (for a few reasons). Here's a look back at some of the Pac-12 players we thought we would see in 2015 that we no longer will.

Utah WR Deniko Carter: It looked like all was going well for this transfer, but Utah coach Kyle Whittingham told the Salt Lake Tribune that it "looks like he's not going to make it" and academically qualify. That's a huge blow, not only for the Utah wide receivers but the offense as a whole. Utah needed a few wide receivers to step up and take some of the pressure off of running back Devontae Booker. But every wide receiver Utah loses is one more reason for teams to stack the box against the Utes. Sorry, Devontae, your road just got a little bit harder.

Washington QB Cyler Miles: It's always tough to see a kid's career end so early, especially when it's because of medical reasons. But no one saw Miles' retirement coming. Most anticipated he'd be the Huskies' starting quarterback when they took the field at Boise State. Without Miles in spring camp, coach Chris Petersen got a good look at a few of his guys, but it'll still be pretty surprising to not see No. 10 out there this fall.

Colorado DE Josh Tupou: A case of mistaken identity had Tupou stuck in the middle of a house party arrest saga, and after the charges were dropped, Colorado announced Tupou -- who had started 31 games for the Buffs -- wouldn't return to the team. This is a huge blow for Colorado because Tupou was a huge part of that defense a season ago. He played 642 snaps last season (the most of any Colorado defensive lineman) and if the Buffs wanted to take another step forward in 2015, Tupou was going to be a big part of it.

Stanford DB Zach Hoffpauir: The Cardinal are going to have some major transition in their secondary -- this they knew entering the offseason. But they didn't expect Hoffpauir to be a part of that transition. But Hoffpauir chased his MLB dreams, and now he's in the Arizona Diamonbacks' farm system. The Diamondbacks' gain is the Cardinal's loss. "Hoffpauir is a very gritty, smash mouth player, a quality that will be very hard for Stanford to replace," Rule of Tree's Ben Leonard wrote. "He flew under the radar last season with Jordan Richards anchoring the secondary, but his value to this team shouldn't be understated."

The graduate transfers: Brennan Scarlett, we thought we'd see ... just not at Stanford. Wayne Lyons will have a chance to play some former Pac-12 brethren when he suits up at Michigan. As will Avery Sebastian when Notre Dame and USC face off in October and Kelsey Young, when Boise State and Washington face off in the season opener. Richard Mullaney going from Oregon State to Alabama was certainly a surprise.

Now, there are also a few players we're still waiting to hear about... Oregon hasn't heard back from the NCAA yet about the status of wide receiver Darren Carrington's appeal. He would be a welcome addition to the Ducks' wide receiver group. ... Arizona State has two players whose futures are in doubt. Defensive tackle George Lea was arrested last Monday on a variety of charges and could also face extra punishment for violating the Arizona Board of Regents' Student Code of Conduct. ... Meanwhile, Sun Devil teammate Davon Durant has been suspended indefinitely stemming from a March 7 arrest. He was told he'd have to complete court-ordered domestic-violence counseling, according to azcental.com's Doug Haller before re-applying to ASU. It seems safe to safe we won't see either of these two on the field in 2015, but there hasn't been any official word. ... Nothing new has come out of Cal regarding the status of safety Damariay Drew, who was charged with felony assault in May. A Cal statement said that Drew would be suspended "pending further information."

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