Now that all the signings are official and the classes are finalized, it’s time to break down this year’s Mountain West recruiting classes. It’s a fun time of year because teams have secured so much talent, and coaches, players, and fans dream of each one of them reaching their potential.
Our aim here at MWCConnection is to discuss how much talent and potential are entering the conference in this recruiting class. This will be accomplished through numerous different posts this month. Some of these
posts will be team-specific, and others will be looking more from the standpoint of the conference as a whole. Today is a snapshot of the top talent entering the Mountain West in this class.
Here is a breakdown of how we came up with the teams.
It’s important to remember there is no perfect formula for recruiting, but we considered a few different things. Since the first signing day, I have spent a lot of time watching highlight films and diving into 247 player rankings, offer lists, and level of competition. The two teams below are the result of that process.
It is important to keep in mind that this isn’t a prediction on who will make the most significant impact or end up the best players in four years. Instead, it is a statement about who the best recruits are entering the Mountain West and the PAC-12 as freshmen. Recruiting rankings should never be mistaken for an exact science, as each year, some highly-rated players don’t live up to their rating, and players entirely off the radar end up making a big impact. However, the rankings get it right more often than not.
As mentioned above, we released two teams. A first team and second team of the best high school talent entering the conference. A few other quick notes: We went with two RBs, two WRs and a FLEX spot-on offense. On defense, we went with a FLEX as well, along with the traditional two defensive linemen, two edge rushers, three linebackers, and four defensive backs. Here are this year’s all-recruit teams.
1st team
QB Cash Herrera (Boise State)
RB Keilan Chavies (Boise State)
RB Josiah Lucas (San Diego State)
WR Terrious Favors (Boise State)
WR Xavier Owens (Fresno State)
FLEX Jesse Harden (UNLV)
TE Keawe Brown (Boise State)
OL Kole Cronin (Boise State)
OL Malik White (UNLV)
OL Eli Sanchez (UNLV)
OL Connor LaGrow (Boise State)
OL Josh Haney (UNLV)
DL Desman Manuel (Colorado State)
DL Prin Fox (UNLV)
EDGE Alijah Lash (San Diego State)
EDGE Jake Plummer (Fresno State)
LB Adam Auston (Boise State)
LB Jordan Njoku (UNLV)
LB Jaydon Sutko (Fresno State)
DB Jermaine Santana-Diaz (Colorado State)
DB Madden Soliai (Boise State)
DB Jermaine Santana-Diaz (Colorado State)
DB Therman Williams (Wyoming)
DB Tainoa Lave (San Diego State)
FLEX Isaiah Lucero (Fresno State)
K Kyle Nelson (Nevada)
P Bradan Scott (Boise State)
LS Tyler Himebauch (Boise State)
2nd team
QB Jackson Taylor (Boise State)
RB Damian Moore (Colorado State)
RB Mariyon Sloan (Boise State)
WR Tatum Bell (UNLV)
WR Troy Foster (Colorado State)
FLEX Perrion Williams (Nevada)
TE Jude Nelson (Utah State)
OL Hakeim Smalls (Boise State)
OL Andrew Price (Hawaii)
OL Jesus Garcia (UNLV)
OL Alex Rivera (Fresno State)
OL Jonathan Pearcy (Wyoming)
DL Paz St. John (Boise State)
DL Bryce Robinson (UNLV)
EDGE Robby Lavata’i (San Diego State)
EDGE Gustaf Henriks Ras (Boise State)
LB Brody Flores (Utah State)
LB Zephaniah Sesay (Fresno State)
LB John McClellan (Utah State)
DB Dontae Dyson (Utah State)
DB Justin Lewis (Colorado State)
DB Davin Hill (Boise State)
DB Joey Thomas III (Nevada)
FLEX Tylen Matthews (UNLV)
K Lane Rigby (Air Force)
P Jackson Andrews (Air Force)
LS Mickey Widner (Air Force)
Team Totals: (1st team in parentheses)
Boise State: 15 (9)
UNLV: 10 (6)
Fresno State: 6 (4)
Colorado State: 6 (3)
San Diego State: 4 (3)
Utah State: 4 (0)
Nevada: 3 (1)
Air Force: 3 (0)
Wyoming: 2 (1)
Hawaii: 1 (0)
New Mexico: 0 (0)
San Jose State: 0 (0)
Notes:
- As shown above, Boise State and UNLV both had at least 10 players between the two teams, with the Broncos accounting for 27% of the list by themselves, and the Rebels making up 18.5% of the list. They also had the most players on the first-team, accouting for 55% of the list on their own.
- 10 of the 12 teams had at least 1 player make the list and 7 of the teams had at least 1 first-team player.
- That is not to say the rest of the Mountain West didn’t recruit any talent. All 12 teams signed a high school player with a composite rating of 85 or higher, and most of those teams signed multiple players in that category. While not every team had the same level of talent or depth in their class, every team improved on paper.
- Fresno State, San Diego State, and Wyoming made the most of their selections, with the majority of their players appearing on the first team.
- There were a number of competitive positions this year. Specifically, quarterback, wide receiver, tight end, edge rusher, and defensive back. Several players who usually would have been on the first team in recent years were instead on the second team (including one player on our top 10 list), meaning players normally worthy of the second team missed the list entirely.
- On the flip side, running back, defensive line, linebacker, and specialists were relatively easier decisions or had smaller pools of players to choose from.
Your turn: Who do you agree with? Who got snubbed? Talk about it in the comments section.
Yesterday: Our Top 10 Mountain West Recruit List
Coming Monday: In the Mountain West Recruiting Roundup, we release our final team rankings for the 2026 class.
Follow @Mike_SBN for all MW recruiting news and updates. Jeremy Rodrigues and Zach Ballard also contributed extensively to this article.
