MWC media day voting, an interesting ritual we deal with

LAS VEGAS — TCU’s Andy Dalton deserves being the preseason offensive player of the year and the Frog defense has been outstanding the past two seasons as the national leader, so it is no surprise TCU landed the most honors by the media when the MWC released the list Tuesday morning.

Here at the Mountain West Conference football media days in Las Vegas, these preseason honors are interesting. Some votes are no brainers, others are kind of stipulations, as in a player may be recognized, has been around the block so therefore he is honored because he’s put up numbers. The toughest vote is for offensive linemen because you really have to break down film or talk to coaches sometimes to fully appreciate the artistry of a good lineman.

I’ve voted on these things for years and sometimes you pencil in a player because you know of him and he has the potential to be all-conference, filling in where another star has graduated. SDSU receiver Vincent Brown is a load to cover and deserves it. I like Utah’s Eddie Wide as the all-conference RB, but where would Harvey Unga have been voted if he returned for his senior season as a Cougar?

The guys who aren’t on the list are what makes this preseason stuff interesting. Each team has a few guys they know will be very, very good, but media guys across the league many not fully understand how valuable an asset that player will be in coming months. We saw this happen at BYU with John Beck and Max Hall. At Utah, this was the case with WR David Reed and safety Robert Johnson.

At BYU, I put several guys in this category this year. Linebacker Jordan Pendleton falls in this area. He is a gifted athlete who just came on last year as pass rusher after switching from the secondary. So is corner Brian Logan and offensive guard Braden Hansen.

One player who isn’t even on the radar with many BYU fans is linebacker Austin Jorgensen, a 6-3, 230 pound sophomore who played 11 games as a freshman behind Bryan Kehl. Some say he’s better than highly touted Reno freshman Kyle Van Noy and could play outside or inside.

Voters certainly overlook mission guys who’ve disappeared for two seasons. Noseguard Eathyn Manumaluena, who blocked that potential game-winning kick against UCLA as a freshman, fits in this file. Nobody can ballot up a freshman like Ross Apo, Mike Muehlmann or Jake Heaps, yet they could prove key cogs in a BYU attempt to surprise folks in the league race down the road.

Ballots?

Unscientific, but definitely fun in July when hunger for anything football is heartily digested.