Mike Leach's first recruiting class at Washington State University was pretty remarkable when you consider the fact that he only had roughly two months to recruit. We missed out on high profile guys like Kenny Lawler and Cedric Dozier (damn you, California Golden Blogs) but the mere fact that we were even in the conversation speaks volumes to Leach and his staff's ability to recruit.

After talking with a buddy of mine who works for the University of Florida Rivals site about recruiting*, I figured I'd make a preliminary list of guys who we should keep an eye on, some who are realistic, and some who are simply not coming to WSU.

*This past weekend, Florida picked up their 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th commits of the 2013 class. Signing Day was like, three weeks ago. And they have eight commits. I'm baffled.

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The fun of signing day is over -- judging by the lack of comments around here yesterday, I'd say you all had a bit of a signing day hangover -- but the impact this 2012 recruiting class will have on WSU is just beginning.

To that end, I supplemented CougCenter's recruiting coverage by going crazy on it this week at Cougar Sports Weekly, sending out a newsletter each day. Normally, I send three in a week, not five, but such a special occasion warrants special content.

Here's an excerpt from Thursday's newsletter, in which I identify five guys from this class whose names you'll want to remember both this fall and down the line. This is the first guy, who is somewhat obvious, but the quintet also includes a dark horse guy who might surprise you:

Gabe Marks, WR (5-foot-11, 175 pounds)
Cougar fans like to think WSU is already pretty deep and talented at receiver, but they're just not as deep and talented as most people think, never mind the fact that Leach will play a ton of receivers and there aren't enough currently on the roster. Beyond that, he is looking for guys with very specific abilities to play in his offense, and the fact that he signed four guys who profile as inside receivers in his system speaks volumes about whether he thinks there already are guys on the roster who can do what he wants in there.

Marks is the most heralded of the four wide receiver recruits Mike Leach brought in, rated four stars by both Scout and Rivals. He was WSU's only recruit in the Rivals 100, rated No. 87 overall by the service, and decommitted from SMU to join WSU. Marks has speed to burn, as evidenced from the way he runs away from defenders in a Southern California league that's got plenty of speedy defenders. He moves in and out of cuts without losing any speed, an essential skill for any Leach inside receiver, and it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if Marks is earning snaps from day one. If not -- after all, Leach demands a high level of execution on offense, and it will be tough to develop that in fall camp -- he still projects as a guy who will eventually excel in this Air Raid offense.

If you don't subscribe ... why don't you? You can rectify that here. It's so cheap, even a student can subscribe. I'll send you this newsletter and you'll immediately have access to our archives. You also can request a complimentary copy if you've never seen CSW before.

24-hour live chat + abundance of news = straight to the links.

Bud Withers | Mike Leach's first WSU recruiting experience hectic, successful | Seattle Times Newspaper
Jim Mora — of all things, a Husky — did Mike Leach a nice turn this year. Next year, Leach is on his own. That will no doubt be an adventure, because with Leach, it always is.

Washington State Recruits With Offensive Line in Mind - SWX Right Now-Sports for Spokane, CdA, Tri-Cities, WA
It became evident by Wednesday afternoon that Mike Leach wants to beef up the Cougars' offensive line. Of the 23 prospective athletes who signed a Letter of Intent to play in Pullman, nearly a quarter of them had "OL" in the Position column next to their name. No small fact.

Washington State football 2012 recruiting class | CollegeFootballTalk
PULLMAN, Wash. - Washington State University Head Coach Mike Leach announced Wednesday that 28 student-athletes have each signed a National Letter of Intent or Financial Aid Agreement to play football for the Cougars.

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We already went over the offensive depth chart, so now it's time to take a look at the defensive side. While we're at it, might as well go over special teams as well.

(RS) = Player used his redshirt season. * = Player is a walk-on.

Defensive Linemen

Seniors: Travis Long, Lenard Williams, Adam Coerper (RS), Skylar Stormo (RS), Anthony Laurenzi (RS), Steven Hoffart (RS), Justin Mann (RS)*

Juniors: Ian Knight (RS), Jordan Pu'u Robinson (RS), Justin Clayton (RS), Ioane Gauta, Zach Brevick (RS)*, Matthew Brock (RS)*

Sophomores: Kalafitoni Pole (RS)

Freshman: Robert Barber, Keith Ewing, Destiny Vaeao, Darryl Paulo (RS), Xavier Cooper (RS), David Davis (RS), Eddie Releford (RS)*, Hamza Griffin (RS)*

Scholarships: 17

Overview

No position group has a bigger scholarship allocation on the WSU roster than the defensive line. Even if we assume Ewing will move to linebacker, that is still 16 scholarship guys for three starting spots. I think we can assume Travis Long will play a major role in the defense next season. It's also not a major stretch to think Pole will see significant time. The other spot, whether it be at NT or DE, is still up for grabs. The sheer amount of players on the defensive line should provide a nice rotation for Mike Breske to utilize.

2012 Recruiting Class Impact

We've already determined Barber and Vaeao are four year starters correct? Now that Kyle's brain has exploded, my guess is that the two true freshman redshirt while Gauta sees time in the NT rotation. As with the entire defensive line, a lot is up in the air with the newcomers. Fall camp will be a great measuring stick for this group.

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Washington State's recruitment of Kenny Lawler was a bit of a wild ride which ultimately ended this afternoon when Lawler chose the Cal Bears over WSU and Oregon State. If you are scoring at home, that is now two 4-star wide receivers who have chosen Cal over WSU in the last two days.

WSU started recruiting Lawler late, and initially he was a heavy Oregon State lean. After visiting Pullman, reports were Lawler was 50-50 between OSU and WSU. California offered a scholarship less than two weeks ago with Lawler going on his official visit to Berkeley on the final weekend. That late push was enough to sway Lawler away from the Northwest.

While it's nice to have a hat on the table as these top recruits decide, finishing second or third is not a trend we want to see continue. WSU did well at wide receiver in this class, but Lawler would have put the group over the top. Kyle mentioned in the chat he thought Lawler would have been the best player in the class.

WSU is still in the running for cornerbacks Alphonso Marsh and Raymond Ford, although neither are considered likely. Both players will be announcing at 5:30 p.m.

The day is finally here. We'll be along with many more posts detailing what's happening throughout the day, but for live play by play of letters faxed in, join the Cover it Live chat below! We've been chatting for the past six hours, and Mark and I have been awake for almost 24 hours straight. Wooooo!

Bolded players have either enrolled or signed their LOI

• Gabriel Marks
• Jeremiah Allison
• David Buccannon
• Austin Apodaca
• Robert Lewis
• Khalil Pettway
• Kache Palacio
• Eduardo Middleton
• Denzell Dotson
• Taylor Taliulu
• Sam Flor
• B.J. Salmonson
• Alex Jackson
• Jacob Tuivaiave
• Keith Ewing
• Brett Bartolone
• Teondray Caldwell
• Theron West
• Pierson Villarrubia
• Niu Sale
• Robert Barber
• Ioane Gauta
• Destiny Vaeao
• Feddie Davey
• Mike Bowlin
• Sam Jones
• Alex Mitchell

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The signing day thread and live chat are still going strong below, but here are a few pictures from players who have already signed. I'm hoping to get a few more as the day goes on and will update this post as they come in.

Jacob Tuivaiave

Thanks to Washington High School coach Mike Von Rueden for sending these in.

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