Evaluating recruits is an inexact science. Every year, many five-stars become busts while two-stars blossom into All-Americans.
But as an exercise, we've compiled what an All-Big 12 team would look like based solely on the ESPN recruiting rankings of the players that signed into the conference Wednesday.
This is not a personal prediction of how these recruits will pan out, nor a guess at what the all-Big 12 team might look like three years from now. It's simply a reflection of the top-rated players at each position from ESPN's recruiting rankings (junior-college transfers were not included).
OFFENSE
QB: Austin Kendall, Oklahoma (No. 7 QB-PP)
RB: Kyle Porter, Texas (No. 15 RB)
RB: Kameron Martin, Baylor (No. 17 RB)
WR: Devin Duvernay, Baylor (No. 3 WR)
WR: Isaiah Graham, TCU (No. 13 WR)
WR: Tren'Davian Dickson, Baylor (No. 27 WR)
TE: Chase Allen, Iowa State (No. 12 TE-Y)
OT: Tramonda Moore, Oklahoma State (No. 7 OT)
OG: Patrick Hudson, Baylor (No. 1 OG)
C: Kellton Hollins, TCU (No. 9 C)
OG: Denzel Okafor, Texas (No. 16 OG)
OT: Austin Myers, TCU (No. 9 OT)
AP: Sewo Olonilua, TCU (No. 13 ATH)
DEFENSE
DE: Isaiah Chambers, TCU (No. 22 DE)
DT: Jordan Elliott, Texas (No. 12 DT)
DT: Chris Daniels, Texas (No. 14 DT)
DE: Mark Jackson, Oklahoma (No. 24 ATH)
OLB: Jeffrey McCulloch, Texas (No. 2 OLB)
ILB: Brendan Ferns, West Virginia (No. 7 ILB)
ILB: Jimmy McKinney, Kansas State (No. 17 ILB)
OLB: Caleb Kelly, Oklahoma (No. 7 OLB)
CB: Eric Cuffee, Texas (No. 11 CB)
CB: Jordan Parker, Oklahoma (No. 22 CB)
S: Brandon Jones, Texas (No. 2 S)
S: Kenan Ivy, Baylor (No. 14 S)
The top-rated players at each position who didn't make the cut:
QB: Zach Smith, Baylor (No. 10 QB-PP)
RB: Martell Pettaway, West Virginia (No. 19 RB)
WR: Jared Atkinson, Baylor (No. 38 WR)
TE: Peyton Aucoin, Texas (No. 17 TE-Y)
OT: Jean Delance, Texas (No. 13 OT)
OG: Tyler Brown, Oklahoma State (No. 27 OG)
C: Hunter Harris, Kansas (No. 17 C)
AP: Tyrell Alexander, Oklahoma State (No. 26 ATH)
DE: Amani Bledsoe, Oklahoma (No. 44 DE)
DT: Marcel Southall, Texas (No. 24 DT)
OLB: Erick Fowler, Texas (No. 17 OLB)
ILB: Demarco Boyd, Texas (No. 19 ILB)
CB: Parrish Cobb, Baylor (No. 31 CB)
S: Chanse Sylvie, Oklahoma (No. 18 S)
A few observations:
* Collectively, this was a much stronger class for the Big 12 in the trenches than last year. Neither Jean Delance nor Tyler Brown made the cut. Last year, they would have. That's a good sign for a conference that, outside Baylor, didn't fare well in the trenches in the bowl season.
* A couple areas that underscore just how strong this class was for Texas relative to the rest of the Big 12: by themselves, the Longhorns signed the top three DTs in Elliott, Daniels and Southall. They also inked the two highest-rated defensive backs in Jones and Cuffee. Charlie Strong has now put together a pair of impressive classes back-to-back.
* Kansas and Texas Tech were the only two schools not to have a player on the first team. It should be noted, though, that Tech's two top-rated players, Derrick Willies and De'Quan Bowman, are jucos, who were both on the ESPN JC50.
* If it weren't for TCU's Isaiah Graham, Baylor would've signed the top three wideouts in the league. Baylor's WR recruiting these last couple of years has been insane.
* Everyone can now relax. Some of these rankings will turn out to be on point. Some won't.