(05-16-2017, 11:34 AM)OutsiderFan link Wrote:I don't need ESPN's blog to give me the questions that are most important.
1. Will Chryst be back healthy in time to start?
2. Will the OL improve its pass blocking?
3. How is Solomon Thomas replaced?
Anyone who asks "how will they replace McCaffrey?" just isn't very informed about Stanford football.
(05-16-2017, 12:05 PM)fullmetal link Wrote:Also, one of his questions is whether Foster Sarell or Walker Little play from day 1--maybe an ice cube's chance in hell. David Shaw wants to see his freshmen absorb the legendarily large playbook before they see the field. Also, the frosh will need to settle into the daily grind of Stanford life a bit before adding the pressures and burdens that being a starter (and thus team leader?) entail. I mean, I'd love to see them excel on the field if they earn that position, but they're still going to be raw freshmen in the college game.
I didn't think that article was so bad - outside of the trip up on the name of the bowl game we played. Though perhaps I just have low expectations. I don't think it is reasonable to expect that a national writer not uniquely focussed on Stanford would be as up to date on the minutiae of Stanford's situation as our best fans (i.e. us). Nevertheless, the article discussed three significant issues for the team, I would say probably three of the four most important.
For OF - Bonagura basically had two of your three issues. Chryst exactly, though he framed the OL issues in terms of the incoming frosh. That wouldn't be my choice, but it's a distinction without much difference. Then of the two stars we lost, he focused on the RB rather than the DL. Probably not where the team is most vulnerable, but it is not unreasonable.
Finally, I think it is more likely than not that Sarell and Little will play from day one, certainly at least one of them. As noted by Bonagura (correctly) we have had several OL play from day one and the current situation is both that the returnees have been more shaky and the new guys are more highly touted than these past cases. Despite common wisdom, Shaw seems to play a reasonable number of true frosh, and these are two likely candidates. For the most part Bonagura did not suggest these two would be starters, writing quite a bit about Stanford's extra linemen formations and the number of past frosh who have taken that role. He did finish off with the thought that both may be in the mix to start as well, which again doesn't seem unreasonable given the state of the OL and their reputation - after all Herbig started as a true frosh and he was a three star.
