If you haven’t been able to see the rest of our Kickoff Week coverage from this week, be sure to catch up on the content we rolled out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
There are many ways to measure the strength of a team or conference. During this week, we’ve tried to capture that from as many angles as possible. Today’s post is a simple list of what we view as the top ten players in the Mountain West Conference. Yes, it’s hard to compare different positions and sides of the ball, but it’s also
hard not to make a top 10 list of best players when doing internet blogs.
Here’s our preseason list for comparison.
Without further ado, here are the top ten players in the Mountain West after the 2024 season, voted on by the MWCConnection team.
1) QB Anthony Colandrea (UNLV)
- 2025 stats: 3275 passing yards, 66.1%, 621 rushing yards, 5.3 ypc, 31 total TDs
2) OL Kage Casey (Boise State)
- 2025 stats: PFF Grade 79.3, #2 in conference (hard to do stats for OL)
3) WR Danny Scudero (San Jose State)
- 2025 stats: 88 receptions, 1291 receiving yards, 14.7 ypc, 10 TDs
4) QB Bryson Barnes (Utah State)
- 2025 stats: 2687 passing yards, 60.3%, 733 rushing yards, 4.2 ypc, 27 total TDs
5) DB Chris Johnson (San Diego State)
- 2025 stats: 49 tackles, 3 TFLs, 1 sack, 4 INTs, 1 FF, 9 PD
6) RB Lucky Sutton (San Diego State)
- 2025 stats: 1237 rushing yards, 5.2 ypc, 10 TDs
7) LB Jaxton Eck (New Mexico)
- 2025 stats: 126 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, 1.5 sacks, 1 FF, 2 PD
8) LB Owen Long (Colorado State)
- 2025 stats: 151 tackles, 2 TFLs, 2 sacks, 1 FF, 5 PD
9) EDGE Trey White III (San Diego State)
- 2025 stats: 49 tackles, 10.5 TFLs, 7 sacks, 1 PD
10) RB Jai’Den Thomas (UNLV)
- 2025 stats: 985 rushing yards, 7.2 ypc, 221 receiving yards, 6.1 ypc, 13 total TDs
Team Breakdown:
- San Diego State: 3
- UNLV: 2
- Boise State: 1
- Colorado State: 1
- New Mexico: 1
- San Jose State: 1
- Utah State: 1
Notes:
- 18 total players received votes. Those who did not crack the top 10 were: Jackson Harris, Dylan Riley, Keyshawn James-Newby, Simeon Harris, Liam Szarka, Dylan Labarbera, John Miller, and Kansei Matsuzawa.
- There are six players on the offensive side of the ball, which means the other four players play defense. Position-wise, there are 2 quarterbacks, 2 running backs, 1 wide receiver, 1 offensive lineman, 1 edge rusher, 2 linebackers, and 1 defensive back.
- Seven different teams have a representative, with San Diego State leading the way and UNLV the only other team with multiple representatives.
- The voting for this list was all over the place. Four different players got a vote for the top player, and three of those four players also didn’t appear on another voter’s ballot at all.
- Three players from the preseason list also appear on this list (Kasey, White III, and Thomas). Kasey dropped from 1 to 2, White III from 2 to 9, and Thomas from 6 to 10.
- Everyone else on the list didn’t even receive preseason votes.
There it is. So let’s hear it. Who did we snub? Who did we put on here that shouldn’t be? Let’s hear your feedback in the comments section.
