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Who are the 12 most important players in the Pac-12?

Washington Huskies, Washington State Cougars, Oregon Ducks, Oregon State Beavers, Utah Utes, Colorado Buffaloes, California Golden Bears, Stanford Cardinal, USC Trojans, UCLA Bruins, Arizona Wildcats, Arizona State Sun Devils

This story appears in ESPN College Football 2016, on newsstands June 7. Order online today!

Where would Stanford's offense be without Christian McCaffrey? He's the pretty obvious choice for the most important player in Palo Alto.

But what about the rest of the conference? 

Here are the most important people on each Pac-12 team, presented in order of predicted finish.

North Division

Washington Huskies: FS Budda Baker

 

The numbers show that Baker has started every game but one the past two seasons, made 111 career tackles and grabbed three interceptions. But his stats don't tell the whole story. After an impressive freshman season (75 tackles, one interception, two forced fumbles), offensive coordinators learned to avoid him. As a result, teammates accounted for more picks: Sidney Jones and Kevin King combined for seven last year, up from three in 2014. The secondary's returning depth (only one player, Brian Clay, is gone from last year's two-deep) will make it tough for QBs to simply avoid Baker.

Stanford Cardinal: RB Christian McCaffrey

 

The do-it-all 2015 Heisman runner-up returns to Stanford ... and no one is happy to see him again except his own team. McCaffrey set the NCAA single-season record for all-purpose yards (3,864) and was the only FBS player to lead his team in rushing and receiving last year. The junior is also a dangerous return man -- he brought back a punt and a kickoff for TDs last year. McCaffrey eludes defenders on the ground, with 47 percent of his rushes going for 5-plus yards in 2015, the best rate of any top-10 back. With upheaval elsewhere (QB, WR), expect coach David Shaw to call his number even more.

Oregon Ducks: QB Dakota Prukop

 

Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh both courted the graduate transfer from Montana State, who played in a variation of Chip Kelly's offense, giving him a head start on the Oregon system. Prukop excelled in it, throwing for 3,025 yards and 28 touchdowns and rushing for 797 yards and 11 TDs. The Ducks return six of their top seven pass catchers from a season ago, including stud running back Royce Freeman, so Prukop will be surrounded by help. After Vernon Adams threw for 2,643 yards and 26 TDs with just 6 INTs in his one season after transferring from Eastern Washington, Oregon has high hopes for Round 2.

Washington State: WR Gabe Marks

 

After leading the conference with eight receptions per game (best in the Power 5), Marks returns for his senior year to wreak havoc on defenses. He caught 104 passes for 1,192 yards and scored 15 touchdowns (fourth in the nation) last season, which set a Washington State record. He has big-play ability -- 64 percent of his catches went for first downs or touchdowns -- and he caught a game-winning TD pass with three seconds left against UCLA. He already owns the WSU school record for career receptions with 227.

California Golden Bears: OC Jake Spavita

 

The former Texas A&M offensive coordinator has been handed the keys to a potentially potent offense. Last season the Bears threw for 4,892 yards -- fifth best nationally -- but now they're without the stars who created most of those fireworks. Gone is Jared Goff (529 pass attempts, 4,719 passing yards, 43 passing TDs), as are the top six receivers, all of whom accounted for at least 40 catches and 450 receiving yards apiece last year. Chad Hansen is the unit's top returning receiver, but he accounted for just 19 catches and one touchdown in 2015.

Oregon State Beavers: QB Darell Garretson

 

Garretson sat out last year at Oregon State after transferring from Utah State, where he made 11 starts for the Aggies in 2013 and 2014. He threw for 2,586 yards, 18 TDs and 10 INTs filling in for injured starter Chuckie Keeton. Last season, on the Beavers' scout team, he imitated the tendencies of other Pac-12 QBs, which he says helped his game.

South Division

USC Trojans: WR JuJu Smith-Schuster

 

Whoever wins the quarterback job will become fast friends with Smith-Schuster. After posting 89 catches for 1,454 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, Smith Schuster will enter 2016 as a favorite for the Biletnikoff Award. How much room is there for improvement? Consider that he was held under 100 yards receiving in each of USC's final five games, including losses to Oregon, Stanford and Wisconsin.

UCLA Bruins: QB Josh Rosen

 

The Bruins went all-in with the 6-foot-4, 210-pound prize recruit as a true freshman last season, and he lived up to the "Chosen Rosen" hype in his first start. Against Virginia, he completed 28 of 35 passes for 351 yards, three TDs and no interceptions. But two games later, he showed his inexperience with three first-half picks and a total of 106 passing yards against BYU. Rosen completed 60 percent of his passes and averaged 282.3 yards per game, and he threw 23 touchdowns with just 11 interceptions. Still, seven of those picks came in the Bruins' five losses, including two in a 40-21 drubbing against USC.

Arizona Wildcats: QB Anu Solomon

 

Solomon had an extremely successful redshirt freshman campaign in 2014, when he led the Wildcats to the Fiesta Bowl while throwing for 3,793 yards and 28 touchdowns with just nine interceptions. But he struggled as a sophomore (20 TDs, 2,667 passing yards), suffering through a particularly rough outing in a 49-3 loss to Washington, when he went 18-of-31 for 160 yards and two interceptions. His health bears watching after he suffered two concussions last season and missed games against Stanford on Oct. 3 and Arizona State on Nov. 21.

Utah Utes: DT Lowell Lotulelei

 

While there are multiple offensive gaps, coach Kyle Whittingham's top priority is an airtight defense. That makes the 6-foot-2, 310- pound Lotulelei perhaps his most important player. A junior with 18 career starts, Lotulelei was first-team All-Pac-12 last season, and his forced fumble against BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl led to a game winning touchdown for the Utes. He's a run stopper, he can rush the passer and he can take on double-teams.It's not the sexiest position on the field, but what he gives the Utah defense is invaluable.

Arizona State Sun Devils: RB Demario Richard

 

As the Sun Devils break in a new quarterback, there will be extra pressure on the running game, and that means a heavy workload for Richard. He posted seven 100-yard games as a sophomore last season, averaged 5.3 ypc and finished sixth in the conference with 1,098 yards. Look for Kalen Ballage (6-3, 230) to complement Richard and help form a nice one-two punch, but expect about a 2-to-1 carry ratio in Richard's favor.

Colorado Buffaloes: WR Shay Fields

 

Expect Fields, a junior, to emerge as the replacement for Nelson Spruce, who left Colorado as the Pac-12's all-time receptions leader (294). An ankle injury slowed Fields last season, but he still managed 42 catches for 598 yards and four touchdowns. At 5-foot-11, 180 pounds, he's not the biggest receiver in the league. But with 19 catches of 10-plus yards last year and a long of 72, he's got the speed to stretch the field. Look for him to be the favorite target among the receiving corps.

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