[DC 86]

Talking to a ןɐɔ buddy today, he asked me the following question:  Since Stanford recruits so many highly rated OL, how come they don't move some to the DL given their lack of depth?

This got me thinking about Brandon Fanaika.  Given he hasn't exactly taken a vice-grip hold as a starting OG for Stanford, and given the DL depth issues, might it have been possible for him to have played NT for Stanford?  But even aside from Fanaika, might it be possible for Stanford to switch some OL to DL, and in particular, NT?

Historically (at both the college and NFL level) the success rate for DL switching to OL is much higher than for OL to DL.

The other issue is getting buy-in from the player, which might work if a player has been on the bench for three years - at which point you question his ability to contribute any any position, but is harder to obtain when the player has been recruited for a position and is actually playing at his preferred spot. Part of the implicit bargain in recruiting is that a player will receive a fair shot at playing the position that he is recruited for. Fanaika hasn't become a star but he is a player, I don't think he would have enthusiastically switched to DL unless it became evident that he had no chance to play OL at all, which is not the case.

[DC 86]

Talking to a ןɐɔ buddy today, he asked me the following question:  Since Stanford recruits so many highly rated OL, how come they don't move some to the DL given their lack of depth?

This got me thinking about Brandon Fanaika.  Given he hasn't exactly taken a vice-grip hold as a starting OG for Stanford, and given the DL depth issues, might it have been possible for him to have played NT for Stanford?  But even aside from Fanaika, might it be possible for Stanford to switch some OL to DL, and in particular, NT?

Historically (at both the college and NFL level) the success rate for DL switching to OL is much higher than for OL to DL.

The other issue is getting buy-in from the player, which might work if a player has been on the bench for three years - at which point you question his ability to contribute any any position, but is harder to obtain when the player has been recruited for a position and is actually playing at his preferred spot. Part of the implicit bargain in recruiting is that a player will receive a fair shot at playing the position that he is recruited for. Fanaika hasn't become a star but he is a player, I don't think he would have enthusiastically switched to DL unless it became evident that he had no chance to play OL at all, which is not the case.