One of the few certainties in this Pac-12 football season — in any Pac-12 football season — is the impact made by newcomers.
The newbies could be players, either transfers or freshmen.
They could be assistants, coordinators or strength coaches.
They could even be conference executives.
The best recent example is former Washington State quarterback Gardner Minshew, who arrived in the spring of 2018 and became a sensation several months later.
Last year's collection didn't have a newcomer of such singular impact but, rather, an array of influential players and coaches, including Oregon defensive coordinator Andy Avalos and Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels.
With three days until the season openers — and working on little sleep (as are many readers, I'm sure) — we have compiled our list of the top newcomers for 2020.
First, a note on our framing:
— Only players who haven't set foot on the field for a Pac-12 program were considered (i.e., transfers, true freshmen and redshirt freshmen).
— We also considered assistant coaches, coordinators and staff members but not head coaches.
The projected impact level of each candidate was based on a subjective assessment of team needs and team potential, if those needs are filled.
