From the Hotline’s corner of the galaxy, look-ahead series such as this serve two purposes: Content for readers and research opportunities for me.

Digging into projected depth charts, even eight months out, provides insight into developing conference-wide trends.

Could the balance of power be poised to shift to one division, or one region?

Is there a surplus or deficiency of proven talent at any position?

That last topic (position-specific talent) is relevant here and now.

After researching the returnees on all 12 rosters and compiling two teams of all-conference projections — there are 48 players named below, not including specialists — it’s clear the Pac-12 will have a dearth of proven, high-end receivers when the 2018 season begins.

Which, it seems, could be viewed as an emerging trend.

There are numerous ways to judge talent. For our purposes, the NFL Draft will play the role of judge and jury.

The number of Pac-12 receivers selected in the past five drafts:

2013: 4

2014: 5

2015: 5

2016: 5

2017: 3

2018 projection: 3-4

Washington’s Dante Pettis, USC’s Deontay Burnett and Utah’s Darren Carrington seem like safe calls for selection in April.

Beyond that trio, the possible picks are the likes or Bryce Bobo and Jordan Lasley.

Maybe four or five get picked. But the numbers could be again limited to three.

(From five draft picks per year to three is hardly conclusive evidence of a marked drop in the overall talent at the position, but it’s not to be ignored, either.)

As we cast an eye to the fall, the pool of proven wideouts is somewhat shallow.

I had more trouble picking second-team receivers, for instance, than second-team defensive linemen.

Please note:

To best reflect the personnel groupings we see most often, I selected three receivers for each team, plus a tight end.

On defense, we’re using a 3-4 alignment with an extra defensive back because so many teams have a nickel on the field for at least 50 percent of the snaps.

FIRST TEAM

Offense

QB: Oregon’s Justin Herbert

TB: Washington’s Myles Gaskin

TB: Stanford’s Bryce Love

WR: Arizona State’s N’Keal Harry

WR: Oregon’s Dillon Mitchell

WR: Washington’s Chico McClatcher

TE: Stanford’s Kaden Smith

OL: Washington’s Trey Adams

OL: Stanford’s Nate Herbig

OL: USC’s Toa Lobendahn

OL: Washington’s Kaleb McGary

OL: Oregon’s Jake Hanson

Defense

DL: UCLA’s Jaelan Phillips

DL: Washington’s Greg Gaines

DL: Oregon’s Jalen Jelks

LB: Arizona’s Colin Schooler

LB: USC’s Cameron Smith

LB: Oregon’s Troy Dye

LB: Stanford’s Bobby Okereke

CB: Washington’s Byron Murphy

CB: Utah’s Julian Blackmon

NB: Washington’s Myles Bryant

S: USC’s Marvell Tell

S: Washington’s Taylor Rapp

SECOND TEAM

Offense

QB: Arizona’s Khalil Tate

TB: Utah’s Zack Moss

TB: Arizona’s J.J. Taylor

WR: Cal’s Kanawai Noa

WR: Stanford’s JJ Arcegame-Whiteside

WR: USC’s Tyler Vaughns

TE: UCLA’s Caleb Wilson

OL: USC’s Chuma Edoga

OL: Oregon’s Calvin Throckmorton

OL: Stanford’s Walker Little

OL: Cal’s Patrick Mekari

OL: USC’s Chris Brown

Defense

DL: USC’s Christian Rector

DL: Utah’s Bradlee Anae

DL: Arizona’s Kylan Wilborn

LB: Washington’s Ben Burr-Kirven

LB: Colorado’s Rick Gamboa

LB: Washington’s Tevis Bartlett

LB: Washington State’s Peyton Pelluer (assuming NCAA approves 6th year)

CB: USC’s Iman Marshall

CB: Arizona State’s Chase Lucas

NB: Colorado’s Evan Worthington

S: Washington’s JoJo McIntosh

S: Oregon’s Ugo Amadi Related Articles Never too early: Pac-12 schedule analysis for 2018 (best of luck to UCLA and Arizona State)

Never too early: Projecting the Pac-12 division races in 2018 (could this be Arizona’s year?)

Podcast with SI’s Bruce Feldman: On USC ‘fearing’ Chip Kelly, ASU’s ‘dud’ hire, plus Sumlin, Cristobal and much more

SPECIALISTS

First team

K: Utah’s Matt Gay

P: Stanford’s Jake Bailey

PR: Arizona’s Shun Brown

KOR: Stanford’s Cameron Scarlett

Second team

K: Stanford’s Jet Toner

P: Utah’s Mitch Wishnowsky

PR: UCLA’s Adarius Pickett

KOR: Cal’s Ashtyn Davis Get Pac-12 Conference news in your inbox with the Pac-12 Hotline newsletter Sign Up

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