blue chip

Even the blue-chipper that I heard about early from one of my scouts - a Junction City kid with the palindrome-pure name of Abe Eba - proved to be a bust.

I think I'm going to go that route." Another linebacker the Ducks are thought to be considering is prep blue-chipper Rey Maualuga, and he recently told Scout.com he has eliminated Nebraska and will chose from between Oregon and Southern California.

That might never be more important than it will be with this young group, with the superstar from Detroit, and the blue-chipper in his own right from California (Bryce Taylor), and the highly regarded wing from Texas (Chamberlain Oguchi), and the all-stater from Oregon (Maarty Leunen), all needing to blend with each other and the guys already here.

Grinch quickly built a reputation for putting together competitive defenses without a bunch of blue-chippers at Washington State, then spent last year at Ohio State.

When blue-chippers like this lot choose China to launch and build their latest offerings, you know which way the wind is blowing.