The 2024 Mountain West All-Recruit Teams

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 are this year’s all-recruit teams.

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 (Mike) have spent a lot of time watching highlight film and scouring through 247 player rankings, offer lists, and level of competition. Jeremy and Zach lent their thoughts as well. The two teams below are the result of that process.

It is crucial to remember that this isn’t a prediction on who will make the most significant impact or who will be the best players in four years. Instead, it is a statement of who the best recruits are entering the Mountain West as freshmen. Recruiting rankings should never be mistaken as 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 end up getting 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 (Junior college and transfer players will be getting their own post later this month). 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.

1st team

QB Danny O’Neil (San Diego State)

RB Cincere Rhaney (San Diego State)

RB Lamar Radcliffe (San Jose State)

WR Jordan Ross (Colorado State)

WR Will Cianfrini (San Diego State)

FLEX Sire Gaines (Boise State)

TE Arthur Ban (San Diego State)

OL Kai Holec (San Diego State)

OL Toby Moore (UNLV)

OL Tevita Manukainiu (San Jose State)

OL Marsel Atkins (Fresno State)

OL Ryan Wolfer (San Diego State)

DL Zaiden Wallace (Nevada)

DL Alvin Puefua (Hawaii)

EDGE Damarrion White (Fresno State)

EDGE LeVar Talley (Nevada)

LB Melvin Laster (UNLV)

LB Clay Martineau (Boise State)

LB Jabari Mann (San Jose State)

FLEX Daegon Bryant (Wyoming)

DB Jason Mitchell II (San Diego State)

DB Isaiah Buxton (San Diego State)

DB Joseph Bey (San Jose State)

DB Dagan Myers (Colorado State)

K Caden Chittenden (UNLV)

P William Duncan (Air Force)

LS Ty Smith (Boise State)

2nd team

QB Darius Curry (Colorado State)

RB Dylan Riley (Boise State)

RB Anthony McMillian (San Diego State)

WR Landon Bell (Colorado State)

WR Marshel Sanders (Fresno State)

FLEX Damien McDaniel (UNLV)

TE Kaden Anderson (Boise State)

OL Phillip Ocon (Colorado State)

OL Camden Jury (Utah State)

OL Ethan Dasmann (Fresno State)

OL Eyitayo Omotinugbon (Boise State)

OL Berlin Lillard (Colorado State)

DL Jack Moran (Colorado State)

DL Trevor McKenna (Boise State)

EDGE Eltoum Murgus (Wyoming)

EDGE Roman Caywood (Boise State)

LB Kahekili Pa’ao’ao (UNLV)

LB Dash Bauman (Wyoming)

LB Tanner Williams (Utah State)

FLEX Logan Studt (Fresno State)

DB Treyvon Tolmaire (Boise State)

DB Camrin Cole (Fresno State)

DB Travis Anderson (Boise State)

DB Prince Williams (San Diego State)

K Max Miranda (Air Force)

P Spencer Barnett (Colorado State)

LS Jake Helms (Air Force)

Team Totals: (1st team in parentheses)

54 total

San Diego State: 10 (8)

Boise State: 10 (3)

Colorado State: 8 (2)

Fresno State: 6 (2)

UNLV: 5 (3)

San Jose State: 4 (4)

Air Force: 3 (1)

Wyoming: 3 (1)

Nevada: 2 (2)

Utah State: 2 (0)

Hawaii: 1 (1)

New Mexico: 0 (0)

Notes:

• As shown above, there was a large divide between the talent recruited by the top 3 teams (San Diego State, Boise State, and Colorado State), the next group (Fresno State, UNLV, San Jose State) and the other teams in the conference. The Aztecs, Broncos, and Rams 3 accounted for 48% of the first team and 52% of the recruit teams overall.
• That is not to say the rest of the Mountain West didn’t recruit any talent. 10 of the 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. Four different teams signed a four-star recruit, with three of those teams not being in the top three mentioned. However, the quantity and depth of the class are meaningful, and many teams had a drop off in the rankings after their top group of players.
• Boise State San Diego State led the way in total recruits on the two teams, but the Aztecs were the clear leader in players on the first team, doubling the second-highest team (San Jose State)
• Nevada and San Jose State made the most of their selections, with all of their players appearing on the first team.
• There were a number of competitive positions this year. Specifically, running back, wide receiver, linebacker, and defensive back. Several players who usually would have been on the first team in recent years were instead on the second team, meaning players normally worthy of the second team missed the list entirely. A good example that illustrates this is one player on the second team was featured as a top 10 conference recruit yesterday.
• On the flip side, quarterback, tight end, defensive line, and edge were relatively easier decisions or had smaller pools of players to chose 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 2024 class.

Follow @Mike_SBN for all MW recruiting news and updates. Jeremy Rodrigues and Zach Ballard also contributed extensively to this article.