There certainly has been a lot of down time this off-season.  This off-season we were not blessed with all the exciting Pac12 talk and media deals to rant over.   Also, (so far) Cougar athletes have stayed below the radar and kept their noses out of trouble.  This brings us to the upcoming football season.  Even though we have sucked the past few seasons the summertime always brings excitement in air about the up-and-coming season.  The one area I get excited about is the incoming recruits, because I am always intrigued with how well they do, how hard they work and how they fit the system.  Below is a list of the 2011 incoming recruits.  I am interested on who you are you are interested in and why.  Below this list is the players that have me most intrigued.

Scout.com 2011 Commit List

OG	NR	NR	Moritz Christ (Leander HS) Leander, TX		6-4/300	03/20/2011		Washington State
TE	NR		Mansel Simmons (Sheldon HS) Sacramento, CA		6-5/231	02/02/2011		Washington State
CB	88		Rahmel Dockery (Curtis Senior HS) Tacoma, WA		5-9.5/164/4.40	02/02/2011		Washington State
OT	NR		Wendell Taiese (McClymonds Senior HS) Oakland, CA		6-6/340	01/31/2011		Washington State
OG	99		Alex Mitchell (Jefferson HS) Portland, OR		6-3/300/5.40	01/31/2011		Washington State
OG	JC		Matt Goetz (Navarro) Corsicana, TX		6-4/280	01/30/2011		Washington State
MLB	46		Darryl Paulo (Grant Union HS) Sacramento, CA		6-4/270	01/30/2011		Washington State
RB	NR		Marcus Mason (Etiwanda HS) Etiwanda, CA		5-8.5/175	01/17/2011		Washington State
DE	JC		Lenard Williams (Iowa Western) Council Bluffs, IA		6-2/245	12/27/2010		Washington State
DE	JC		Ian Knight (Butler County (KS)) El Dorado, KS		6-2/244	12/16/2010		Washington State
C	JC		Taylor Meighen (Kilgore) Kilgore, TX		6-3/285	12/15/2010		Washington State
DT	PG		Demetrius Cherry (Oak Ridge Military Academy) Oak Ridge, NC		6-6/270/4.73	12/15/2010		Washington State
DE	JC		Niko Aumua (Contra Costa) San Pablo, CA		6-6/225	12/05/2010		Washington State
WR	128		Dominique Williams (Garey Senior HS) Pomona, CA		6-4/190/4.50	10/17/2010		Washington State
DE	JC		Eli Edwards (Cerritos) Norwalk, CA		6-2/245	10/10/2010		Washington State
OLB	NR		Tana Pritchard (Clover Park HS) Lakewood, WA		6-4/203	09/30/2010		Washington State
OT	JC		Rico Forbes (Navarro) Corsicana, TX		6-6/290	09/12/2010		Washington State
DT	103		T.J. Poloai (Burbank (Luther) HS) Sacramento, CA		6-2/265	09/04/2010		Washington State
QB	65		Cody Clements (La Habra HS) La Habra, CA		6-2/205/4.80	07/08/2010		Washington State
DE	190		Brock Lutes (Newberg HS) Newberg, OR		6-3/210	06/23/2010		Washington State
WR	207		Henry Eaddy (Olympia HS) Orlando, FL		5-8/170/4.46	06/22/2010		Washington State
WR	NR		Isiah Myers (Olympia HS) Orlando, FL		6-0/170/4.60	06/22/2010		Washington State
MLB	66		Darryl Monroe (Dr. Phillips HS) Orlando, FL		6-1/210	06/22/2010		Washington State
CB	163		Spencer Waseem (Apopka Senior HS) Apopka, FL		5-10/170/4.47	06/20/2010		Washington State
DT	61		David Davis (Palos Verdes HS) Palos Verdes Estates, CA		6-1/280	06/10/2010		Washington State
OLB	15		Chester Sua (Kaimuki HS) Honolulu, HI		6-2/217/4.50	05/20/2010		Washington State
OLB	28		Logan Mayes (Marist HS) Eugene, OR		6-3/215/4.70	05/19/2010		Washington State
S	62		Max Gama (La Mirada HS) La Mirada, CA		6-1/195	03/25/2010		Washington State
MLB	39		Max Hersey (Curtis Senior HS) Tacoma, WA		6-2.5/233	02/04/2010		Washington State

We have heard about the Rahmel Dockery's, Logan Mayes and the Chester S'ua's of this class, but I am curious who you are interested to see and why.  Here is a list of players--by category--that I am most interested to see.

Intriguing Player:

TE Mansel Simmons - There hasn't been a lot of talk about this guy, but the kid is 6' 5" and 231 lbs. and has a very athletic frame.  I wonder if he will stay at the TE position or play DE or do they want him to put on size and play on the line?  I am positive he will redshirt.

Defensive Player(s):  I had to list two here: 

LB Darryl Monroe - From what I have seen and heard about this kid is that he looks the part.  He is out of Florida, so we don't know a ton about him, only what we have seen on youtube.  He already enrolled this spring, so this is sign to me this kid wants to work and has done what he needs to do to put himself in the right situation.  The last LB we got out of Florida made quite an impact as a freshman.  It think Monroe will surprise some people.

DT David Davis - As many of you know he is the Grandson of Hall of Fame defensive end Willie Davis.  He has a good GPA (3.4) and already has good size.  I believe he has already enrolled this spring, so that is another sign this guy is ready to go.  I believe he has to size to start playing now, the question is whether the coaching staff decides to redshirt him.  I don't think they do.

Offensive Player(s): Again, I had to pick two

RB Marcus Mason -  We don't have a lot of depth at the running back position and we just lost running back Arther Burns (formerly a LB) to academic qualifications.  We already have a smaller running back in Rickey Galvin (5'8" 172), so now we will have two.  He only played the running back position for one season at Etiwanda High School (WR Bobby Ratliff's former High School), so it will be interesting to see what he is all about.  I have followed him on twitter and he is a interesting guy.

QB Cody Clements - We all understand this kid is going to redshirt unless he comes in and lights the world on fire.  I have watched video and read quite a few articles about this guy.  Some times players in a large pond (like Southern California) can get over shadowed by the big fish.  I think we found a quality QB in Clements.  He is known to be an accurate passer.  We know that in college a strong arm isn't everything but a accurate passer can make all the difference.  I think with Clements you are getting a hybrid of Jason Gesser and Alex Brink (without the Space Pajamas).  He will definitely push Halliday.

Overall: 

Tana Pritchard - This kid is a stud athlete (rumor is he can also punt) and I am sure the coaching staff is having trouble trying to figure out where to put him.  So far, all reports point to him playing WR--in the Jared Karstetter mold--which makes sense but I think WR is an area we are the most stacked.

Intriguing Players of late:

DE Xavier Cooper - Cooper came in this spring as a gray shirt from our 2010 class.  He is listed at 6'4" 268 lbs, at that size I see Cooper moving to the DT position, unless he as the speed of a Justin Tuck or Osi Umenyiora.  I am not sure if they will redshirt him or not.  I guess what will matter is whether or not he has put in the work and put on size during this past year.

OG Moritz Christ - A late sign for the 2011 class.  It is hard to get overly excited about the OL, because they usually don't play right away and usually redshirt to put on weight and work on technique.  A lot of these guys get lost in the mix and we never end up seeing them.  Many believe Christ will reshirt, but the guy already has the size (6'4" 300 lbs) to start in the Pac12 and we know how our O-Line has been in recent years.  His redshirt may get burned by mid year due to injuries.  His technique and experience might not be ready for Pac 12 play but we have seen a lot of young guys forced into action in recent years (due to injures and lack of talent) and I am not sold that we have depth on the O-Line.  For some reason coming from Germany and playing one year of Texas high school football has me intrigued and from reports he hasn't been playing football for very long.

I am intrigued by a lot of the incoming class like Williams, Edwards and others, but for some reason these are the guys that stood out to me, maybe because some were not being talked about or there was something interesting that I can't put a finger on.  I am not saying they are world beaters but guys who have my intrigue.  I would have talked more about Max Gama, but he is supposedly gray-shirting and will arrive next spring.  I guess we will have to wait and see on Gama.

Go Cougs!