Top 10 players in the Pac-12 in 2023: USC's Caleb Williams headlines a loaded group of quarterbacks
We’re inching ever-so-close to the 2023 season, and with Week 0 just around the corner, I’m unveiling my Top 10 players from each Power 5 conference over the next week.
This is a fun, but tough exercise. Whittling down to just 10 guys in a sport this loaded with stars and All-Americans is hard. We kickstarted the series with the SEC, and then unvield my Top 10 players in the Big Ten and Top 10 players in the ACC for 2023.
Yesterday, we finally had some quarterbacks make the list, and well, that unit is even deeper in the Pac-12, where the league arguably has three of the Top 5 gunslingers in the game in 2023 — and a fourth who’s led his team to two-straight conference championships.
As has been the case for the other Top 10 rankings, there were some tough omissions, so apologies to guys like Oregon tailback Bucky Irving, Washington wideout Jalen McMillian and Arizona receiver Jacob Cowing. Big uglies like Jordan Morgan and Troy Fautanu just missed the cut, too.
And where do you slot a guy like Travis Hunter, who could be a two-way star at Colorado this fall? This list could look much different by the end of the season. Or maybe not. We’ll see. Debate away.
10. TE Brant Kuithe, Utah
Kuithe had 19 receptions and three touchdowns before tearing his knee against Arizona State in Week 4 last season. The tight end torched Florida for nine catches, 105 yards and a score in the 2022 opener, and he’ll be back on the field to face the Gators in Week 1 this fall.
Kutihe isn’t a prototypical tight end at 6-2, 230-pounds, but the sixth-year senior has carved out a key role as a mismatch against nickel and linebacker defenders. In 2021, he was Cam Rising’s top target, finishing with 50 catches for 611 yards and six touchdowns.
9. QB Cam Rising, Utah
I almost left Rising off the list because of the quarterback’s uncertainty to start the season while still recovering from last season’s ACL injury, but the veteran has led the Utes to back-to-back Pac-12 titles and deserves the benefit of the doubt.
Rising doesn’t have quite the gaudy stats of some of the other quarterbacks in the conference, but he did throw for more than 3,000 yards last season with 32 total touchdowns.
8. DB Calen Bullock, USC
Bullock was the star in for the Trojans’ feast or famine secondary, recording a team-high five interceptions and six PBUs.
The long 6-3 safety also added 48 stops, missing just three tackles all season, per PFF. With Utah’s Clark Phillips II now in the NFL, Bullock is the best-returning safety in the Pac-12.
7. EDGE Laiatu Latu, UCLA
The former Washington transfer made an immediate impact in his first season in Westwood, and returns as the league’s top sack artist (10.5) in 2023.
The First-Team All-Pac 12 edge rusher had 12.5 tackles for loss, eight QB hits and 45 pressures, per PFF. Not bad at all for a guy doctors told wouldn’t play football again due to a debilitating neck injury, which is why he left Washington for UCLA.
6. WR Dorian Singer, USC
In a two-year span, Singer went from walk-on at Arizona to a First-Team All-Pac-12 receiver and now he gets to team up with Caleb Williams for his junior year.
In a breakout sophomore season, the Arizona transfer led the Wildcats with 66 receptions for 1,105 yards and six touchdowns in 2022. Singer, who is tasked with replacing Jordan Addison at USC, was the most explosive wideout in the Pac-12 last season, leading the league with 21 receptions over 20 yards — including 11 catches over 30 yards.
5. WR Rome Odunze, Washington
The 6-3, 210-pound junior headlines the deepest receiver room in the conference, and Odunze is the best wideout in the Pac-12. He led the conference with 1,145 yards in 2022 and was second in receptions with 75. He had seven touchdowns, too.
Flanked by Jalen McMillan (another 1,000-yard wideout) and dynamic freshman Ja’Lynn Polk, Odunze emerged as Michael Penix’s favorite deep-threat target. With another big season, Odunze could be a potential 1st Round draft pick come April.
4. QB Bo Nix, Oregon
Similarly to Michael Penix at Washington, Nix’s decision to team up with former Auburn OC Kenny Dillingham at Oregon paid off dearly in 2022. The ex-Tigers’ quarterback had a career renaissance in Eugene, throwing for more than 3,500 yards, completing nearly 72% of his passes and accounting for 44 total touchdowns.
Nix opted to return to Oregon to improve his NFL Draft stock and with another monster season for the Ducks, he could work his way into the 1st Round conversation come next April.
3. DL Bralen Trice, Washington
Trice went from a little-used backup (just a dozen career appearances over three seasons) to a First-Team All-Pac-12 standout in 2022.
The 6-4, 270-pound defensive end had 10 sacks for the Huskies last season, adding 12.5 tackles for loss and 46 hurries. In the pass-happy Pac-12, Trice should have ample opportunities to record double-digit sacks in 2023, and the edge rusher could vault himself into the top half of the 2024 NFL Draft.
2. QB Michael Penix, Washington
Penix’s reunion with former Indiana coordinator Kalen DeBoer did wonders for the southpaw’s career last season, as the former Hoosiers quarterback led the nation in passing yards per game (357) in his first season at Washington. He finished with over 4,600 passing yards and 31 touchdowns.
He’s one of three Heisman Trophy candidates in the conference, and if Penix can avoid the injury bug that’s plagued him throughout his career, then he should put up video game numbers surrounded by so much talent in DeBoer’s system.
1. QB Caleb Williams, USC
What hasn’t been said about the reigning Heisman Trophy winner? The former Oklahoma transfer blossomed into the best quarterback in the country last fall, throwing for 4,537 yards with an eye-popping 52 total touchdowns.
Williams is accurate (67% completion), avoids mistakes (just five interceptions on 500 attempts) and a wizard at making big plays out of structure (nation’s-best seven touchdowns on such throws, per PFF). He’s looking to become the second-ever two-time Heisman winner while leading USC to a potential Pac-12 Championship in its final year in the conference.