The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: Mountain West Recruiting Classes

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Happy Tuesday! I hope you all shared a great Valentine’s Day with the ones you love. February is an interesting month in college football; it marks the end of the recruiting season and the beginning of spring football for some programs. We are going to spend the next four weeks looking at how schools from the PAC 12 and Mountain West did on the recruiting trail. Our first two weeks are going to focus on how teams did in the high school and junior college ranks; the last two weeks will take a look at the transfer portal. We are going to start off our series looking at how teams in next year’s Mountain West did. (Note: Recruiting information on North Dakota State is limited.)

The Good

UNLV

The Rebels won the Mountain West recruiting race by a fairly large margin. Now it’s Dan Mullen’s time to prove he can build a program on something other than transfers. Wide receiver Tatum Bell is the headliner of this class and is probably the most likely day one contributor. Bell makes up for his lack of size with elite speed and should become a reliable deep threat for Dan Mullen’s high power offense. Wide receiver and the secondary were the main priorities in this class, but one recruit that is flying under the radar is offensive tackle Malik White. White has the size to contribute right away at a position where it is really hard to stand out early. This is a deep class that makes up for its lack of star power in solid depth and raw skill.

San Jose State

You might ask how the 124th ranked class in the nation ends up in the “Good” category. The Spartans have the smallest class in the Mountain West but actually have the second highest composite average after UNLV according to 247 sports. My favorite recruit in this class is speedy, wide receiver Carson Clark. The St. John Bosco recruit has elite speed and should shine in the Spartans’ pass-heavy offense. Don’t be surprised if Clark has 50+ receptions as a true freshman.

UTEP

The Miners’ new standing as a Mountain West member seems to have had quite a positive impact on their ability to recruit. Being in Texas sure doesn’t hurt either, as 27 of their 29 recruits are from the Lone Star State. The Miners made the trenches a priority with the additions of DAdrian Tinney-Anderson, Truth Holmes, Dycin Davis, Canyan James, Justin Roberts, and Joshua Shaw on the defensive line. Tinny-Anderson and Holmes should be immediate contributors.

Northern Illinois

The Huskies may be a football-only member, but like the Miners, they used their position in the Mountain West to elevate their recruiting. The Huskies hit the high school and junior college ranks hard, adding 32 new student athletes. The Huskies might have the most intriguing quarterback prospect in the conference in Bryshawn Brown out of Cincinnati. Brown is 6’6, has solid arm strength, and can even run the ball pretty well. He will probably need to put on some weight before he is ready to contribute, but he is a unique prospect with a huge upside.

New Mexico

Jason Eck continues to impress. New Mexico isn’t exactly known for being an elite recruiting school; however, Eck is changing the culture of that program and it shows in their ability to recruit at a high level. Eck’s staff traveled all over the United State to fill their recruiting class, signing 30 student athletes from 10 different states. Eck also made it a priority to hold on to some of the top recruits in the state of New Mexico, signing wide receiver Jacob Maldonado and linebacker Hayes Baum.

The Bad

Nevada

The Wolf Pack was really close to landing in the “Good” category. This is far and away Jeff Choate’s best class since taking over in Reno, which is a significant step in the right direction. The Wolf Pack landed one of the top recruits in the conference in athlete Perrion Williams. Williams had offers from Power Five programs like Utah and Minnesota. Getting him to Reno was a massive win for Choate and his staff. Also keep an eye on junior college transfer running back Janerious Jackson who should play a significant role in the Wolf Pack’s rushing attacks.

Wyoming

While not one of the top classes in the conference, Wyoming did a solid job of building a talented class during the early signing period. The class is evenly split between offense and defense, bringing in reinforcements at key spots such as quarterback (including Taylor Hasselbeck, son of former NFL QB Tim Hasselbeck). Their class features players from 10 different states, including two from the state of Wyoming. While not among the Mountain West’s elite classes, it is a group that gives the Cowboys depth and a long-term opportunity to compete if they can hold on to talent.

North Dakota State

It probably isn’t fair to judge the Bison’s recruiting class considering their move to the Mountain West was not known on signing day. The Bison signed 29 different high school recruits relying heavily on players from the Upper Midwest, an approach that won them a lot of championships at the FCS level. The class is deep at the skill positions with coaches emphasizing building depth in the secondary and at wide receiver. It will be interesting to see how this program recruits knowing that they will be playing at the FBS level moving forward.

The Ugly

Air Force

As always, the Falcons have a massive class that is difficult to evaluate with at least 48 (likely more) commits that will be joining the program. The Falcons may have their quarterback of the future in Case Vanden Bosch whose father is a former NFL Pro Bowler. The class is deep and, as always, this staff is going to have to rely on the toughness and intellectual ability of their student athletes to be successful.

Hawaii

The Rainbow Warriors have the lowest rated class based on the composite average, a disappointing result considering the progress the program made this past season. The class does feature a strong, homegrown contingent which includes standout Hawaii high schoolers like CB Jahren Altura, LB Keoki Cypriano, TEs Vainuupo Fanuaea and Christian Sanford-Tupuola, and WR Hiki Kim Choy-Keb Ah Lo, showing the program’s effort to keep local talent in state. However, this program does continue to struggle to keep the top athletes on the islands away from Big Ten and SEC programs. Chang and his staff will need to prove they are elite developers if this program is going to continue to move in the right direction.

How did your school do this recruiting cycle? Who has the top class in the Mountain West? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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