The Top 10 Recruits to Come out of the Bay Area During the Internet Age

We move to California in the next part of looking at the best recruits to come out of the Pac-12 states during the Internet recruiting coverage era and the Golden State gets a little tricky. Putting together the Top 10 recruits to ever come out of California would be a very impressive list, but since the state is so large in both geography and population, we have broken it up into five major regions/cities - greater Sacramento, Bay Area, Central Valley, greater Los Angeles and greater San Diego.

We are now moving to the greater Bay Area which we are pretty much grouping as anything in the general area even though we know some of the outlying cities are a stretch.

1. Jeff Schweiger Class of 2004 DE San Jose - Valley Christian - USC

Schweiger was seen as a can't miss prospect as a defensive end with a perfect body, athleticism and productivity as a pass-rushing defensive end. Schweiger considered a hit list of major programs and ultimately picked Pete Carroll and USC over Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Michigan. Schweiger looked like he might develop into a star early on with the Trojans but never really took off and ended up transferring to San Jose State.

2. Kyle Wright Class of 2003 QB Danville - Monte Vista - Miami

Among the top-rated quarterbacks in his class, Wright was a quarterback that was good at everything and had great athleticism. Wright ended up signing with Miami back when Miami was still maybe the best program in the nation and the Hurricanes beat out pretty much every program in the country. Wright ended up starting for the bulk of his career at Miami, but never quite turned into a great player and was benched at times his senior season.

3. Derek Landri Class of 2002 DT Concord - De La Salle - Notre Dame

A versatile and dominating defenstive tackle for one of the nation's best programs, Landri was touted as a future star almost his entire high school career and was a great pass rusher and run stuffer. Landri could have gone anywhere in the country and ended up choosing Notre Dame over Michigan. Landri was a standout for Notre Dame in his last two years with the Irish and has carved out an NFL career.

4. Cameron Colvin Class of 2004 WR Concord - De La Salle - Oregon

A flat out speedster that was one of the best deep threat receivers in the country, Colvin was a tall, track style guy that had a huge ceiling and was coveted by top programs all around the country. Colvin ended up choosing Oregon in a bit of a surprise over programs like USC that may have been more elite at the time. Colvin's career would be plagued with injuries and he didn't do much till his senior year and once he started to breakout he ended up having a season-ending injury.

5. Josh Tatum Class of 2006 LB Oakland - McClymonds - USC

A big, balanced linebacker with great tackling skills and pure athleticism, Tatum was rated as a five-star recruit by Scout and was one of the most coveted linebackers in the country. Tatum entertained top schools from all around the country, but ended up choosing USC over Cal, Miami, Michigan and Tennessee.

6. Zach Kline Class of 2012 QB Danville - San Ramon Valley - Cal

Kline made a big statement in the 2011 Elite 11 and had a big arm and strong leadership skills that made him one of the top-rated quarterbacks in the Class of 2012. Kline committed to Cal early and after a redshirt season in 2012, is projected to start the Sonny Dykes era in Berkeley as the starting quarterback.

7. Matt Gutierrez Class of 2002 QB Concord - De La Salle - Michigan

One of the top quarterbacks to ever come out of De La Salle, Gutierrez had the full package with size and skills and never lost a game during his entire high school career. Gutierrez had great offers from all over the country and ended up heading to Michigan over Oregon. Gutierrez suffered injuries and never made an impact and then transferred to Idaho State before carving out a brief NFL career.

8. Kyle Reed Class of 2005 QB Oakland - McClymonds - Cal

Reed was one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the Class of 2005 and had great precision for how athletic he was. Reed decided to stay local and committed to Cal early over a number of Pac-10 schools. Reed spent a couple of years at Cal but never played and ended up transferring to San Jose State.

9. Phillip Mbakogu Class of 2004 DE Hayward - Cal

A sack machine, Mbakogu looked like a college defensive end playing high school and was one of the best defensive linemen in the country in the Class of 2004. Mbakogu had an intense recruitment and became one of the biggest recruits ever signed by Cal when he signed with the Bears over LSU, Notre Dame and Oregon. Mbakagu looked like he was going to be a star early in his career but then had a string of knee injuries that eventually ended his career.

10. Maurice Drew Class of 2003 RB Concord - De La Salle - UCLA

MJD was just Maurice Drew in high school and put up huge numbers at De La Salle with his massive strength, balance and speed, which more than made up for his lack of size. Drew signed with UCLA over Cal and actually wasn't recruited by some of the big time schools due to his lack of height. As we all know, Drew because Jones-Drew and was a star at UCLA before going on to become one of the best players in the NFL.

Also considered

Amir Carlisle Class of 2011 RB Sunnyvale - The Kings Academy - USC

Dennis Dixon Class of 2003 QB San Leandro - Oregon

Derrick Hill Class of 2006 DT Oakland - McClymonds - Cal

Bart Houston Class of 2012 QB Concord - De La Salle - Wisconsin

Michael Hutchings Class of 2013 LB Concord - De La Salle - USC