[Goose]

Nobody has been frustrated by Stanford's lack of offensive dynamism more than me. I've many times been nonplussed by the scheme and execution.  But only when Andrew Luck was the QB in 2010 did I feel Stanford had a national championship contending team, that is, one that had the quality on offense and defense to win a national title.  That team had Luck, Sherman, Fleener, DeCastro, Ertz, Skov, Baldwin, M. Thomas, C. Thomas, S. Taylor, and other guys who have played in the NFL.  It's why I was so pissed off at that total nonsense OPI call on Doug Baldwin to start the second half of the 2010 game at Oregon, and incensed that the Owusu hit that caused him to fumble wasn't called a penalty.  Those two plays completely turned that game in Oregon's favor, took Stanford's best shot at a national title away, and Andrew Luck's    trophy too.  I felt Stanford was better equipped to beat Auburn and would have won had they played.

The defenses in 2012 and 2013 were elite, but the offenses weren't good enough, probably due to Hogan's limitations as a passer.  The 2015 offense was one of the best in the country, but the defense wasn't strong enough and didn't have enough depth up front to win a national championship.

Could a more dynamic offense got Stanford to a national championship contending level in 2012 and 2013?  Absolutely, but did Stanford have the personnel to be more dynamic?  In any case, it's all water under the bridge now, and time to think forward...

With this 2017 class, Stanford is bringing in some of the most talented offensive players its ever had in one year.  OT Little, QB Mills, TE Parkinson are the greatest talents at their position in the class.  Foster Sarell would give Stanford 4 of the Top 25 players in the country, and probably 4 of the top 12 offensive players in the country.  Then you have a truly dynamic WR in St. Brown, a beast RB in Lund, a possible game breaker RB in Wedington.  You add in the OL class from 2016, TE Kaden Smith, WRs Donald Stewart and Simi Fehoko (when back from his mission), and this team is going to be loaded on offense until the next Presidential election.  I am going to imagine having the best offensive personnel the program has ever had at one time is going to both make the execution of the current offense better, and allow a more dynamic offense than Stanford has had since Luck departed.

If Shaw can continue recruiting as he has of late on defense next year, and continue having a defense that yields about no more than 20 PPG, it is realistic to think Shaw could deliver Stanford to the playoff and possibly national title with another first round talent QB during that span.  Because Stanford isn't ever going to have the physically elite defense that lets you win a NC without an elite NFL prospect at QB.

I don't believe we've seen David Shaw's best team yet, and will see it over the next four seasons.  I didn't necessarily think this six months ago, but this recruiting class is making me recalibrate Stanford's future potential.

I absolutely agree. I think we will see better  teams in 2018 and beyond. Next year may be a little early. A lot of the guys will be young. We are all aware that the HS rankings "are no guarantee of future performance". That all said, I think we will have enough talent. I also think Shaw is the right guy to lead this talent. I also agree that probably we have seldom had quite enough to expect to get to the championship round. Even when you have all the horses, there is no lock that you will get there. Some good bounces are  probably necessary. However, we should have a shot!

[Goose]

Nobody has been frustrated by Stanford's lack of offensive dynamism more than me. I've many times been nonplussed by the scheme and execution.  But only when Andrew Luck was the QB in 2010 did I feel Stanford had a national championship contending team, that is, one that had the quality on offense and defense to win a national title.  That team had Luck, Sherman, Fleener, DeCastro, Ertz, Skov, Baldwin, M. Thomas, C. Thomas, S. Taylor, and other guys who have played in the NFL.  It's why I was so pissed off at that total nonsense OPI call on Doug Baldwin to start the second half of the 2010 game at Oregon, and incensed that the Owusu hit that caused him to fumble wasn't called a penalty.  Those two plays completely turned that game in Oregon's favor, took Stanford's best shot at a national title away, and Andrew Luck's    trophy too.  I felt Stanford was better equipped to beat Auburn and would have won had they played.

The defenses in 2012 and 2013 were elite, but the offenses weren't good enough, probably due to Hogan's limitations as a passer.  The 2015 offense was one of the best in the country, but the defense wasn't strong enough and didn't have enough depth up front to win a national championship.

Could a more dynamic offense got Stanford to a national championship contending level in 2012 and 2013?  Absolutely, but did Stanford have the personnel to be more dynamic?  In any case, it's all water under the bridge now, and time to think forward...

With this 2017 class, Stanford is bringing in some of the most talented offensive players its ever had in one year.  OT Little, QB Mills, TE Parkinson are the greatest talents at their position in the class.  Foster Sarell would give Stanford 4 of the Top 25 players in the country, and probably 4 of the top 12 offensive players in the country.  Then you have a truly dynamic WR in St. Brown, a beast RB in Lund, a possible game breaker RB in Wedington.  You add in the OL class from 2016, TE Kaden Smith, WRs Donald Stewart and Simi Fehoko (when back from his mission), and this team is going to be loaded on offense until the next Presidential election.  I am going to imagine having the best offensive personnel the program has ever had at one time is going to both make the execution of the current offense better, and allow a more dynamic offense than Stanford has had since Luck departed.

If Shaw can continue recruiting as he has of late on defense next year, and continue having a defense that yields about no more than 20 PPG, it is realistic to think Shaw could deliver Stanford to the playoff and possibly national title with another first round talent QB during that span.  Because Stanford isn't ever going to have the physically elite defense that lets you win a NC without an elite NFL prospect at QB.

I don't believe we've seen David Shaw's best team yet, and will see it over the next four seasons.  I didn't necessarily think this six months ago, but this recruiting class is making me recalibrate Stanford's future potential.

I absolutely agree. I think we will see better  teams in 2018 and beyond. Next year may be a little early. A lot of the guys will be young. We are all aware that the HS rankings "are no guarantee of future performance". That all said, I think we will have enough talent. I also think Shaw is the right guy to lead this talent. I also agree that probably we have seldom had quite enough to expect to get to the championship round. Even when you have all the horses, there is no lock that you will get there. Some good bounces are  probably necessary. However, we should have a shot!