ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

No. 4

Jacquizz Rodgers, RB, Oregon State: The Pac-10 blog would never scold its readers, but it's going to scold some. Yes, we read your comments. And the very idea, as a small but tenacious minority repeatedly suggested, that Rodgers is overrated and doesn't belong in the top five of this list made me do an angry dance around my office, which then made the appalled Blog Baby throw his new Alabama Crimson Tide stuffed football at me (yes, my wife's family is from Alabama, though the Auburn side probably just spontaneously combusted).

But if anyone wants to continue to call Rodgers overrated, then let them say it like this. The Pac-10's 2008 Offensive Player of the Year is... overrated. The true freshman who rushed for 186 yards vs. the nation's best defense is... overrated. The true freshman who earned Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year from the COACHES and rushed for 1,253 yards -- second-best in the conference -- with 11 touchdowns in just 10 starts is... overrated. If you can say it like that without feeling ridiculous, then go ahead. But the rest of us will continue to think of the 5-foot-7, 193-pounder from Richmond, Tex., as a potential All-American and one bad man.

5. Kristofer O'Dowd, C, USC

6. Brian Price, DT, UCLA
7. Damian Williams, WR, USC
8. Syd'Quan Thompson, CB, California
9. Jeremiah Masoli, QB, Oregon
10. Walter Thurmond, CB, Oregon
11. Jake Locker, QB, Washington
12. Joe McKnight, RB, USC
13. Dexter Davis, DE, Arizona State
14. LeGarrette Blount, RB, Oregon
15. Alterraun Verner, CB, UCLA
16. Ed Dickson, TE, Oregon
17. Charles Brown, OT, USC
18. Will Tukuafu, DE, Oregon
19. Josh Pinkard, DB, USC
20. Reggie Carter, LB, UCLA
21. Stafon Johnson, RB, USC
22. James Rodgers, WR, Oregon State
23. Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, DE, Washington
24. Lawrence Guy, DT, Arizona State; Stephen Paea, DT, Oregon State
25. Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford
26. Tyson Alualu, DE, California
27. Devin Ross, CB, Arizona
28. Keaton Kristick, LB, Oregon State
29. Brooks Reed, DE, Arizona
30. Everson Griffen, DE, USC