[washingtonismoney]

So what can be done? In the short term, not sure how much. It's hard to scheme around being destroyed on both lines. So absent moving Sarrell and/or Little into the lineup with alacrity, I'm not sure what the solution is here. (Beyond hoping SC is *really* that good.)

In the long term, I think this should be a kick in the butt for Shaw and the staff to recruit better. A team's generally going to succeed or not with its older guys. In Stanford's case, the old guys are a tiny 2013 class and a pretty good 2014 class (which has been gutted a bit by McCaffrey's and Thomas's departures).

Of especial interest is the lines. The 2013 class had two linemen, Oser and Bright. Oser retired medically. The 2014 class had seven linemen, but its top-rated offensive linemen (Reilly Gibbons) left quickly. Thomas was, of course, a superstar. But both highly-rated linemen are now departed, meaning that between the 2013 and 2014 classes, no highly-ranked linemen survive.

What's the point here? That, if current trends continue, we'll be having a morose thread of this nature around 2022 or so. Why? The class of 2018 is both tiny and lacks highly-rated linemen.

EDIT: forgot Casey Tucker, which is the exception that proves the point, given he's sitting out for some odd reason.

[washingtonismoney]

So what can be done? In the short term, not sure how much. It's hard to scheme around being destroyed on both lines. So absent moving Sarrell and/or Little into the lineup with alacrity, I'm not sure what the solution is here. (Beyond hoping SC is *really* that good.)

In the long term, I think this should be a kick in the butt for Shaw and the staff to recruit better. A team's generally going to succeed or not with its older guys. In Stanford's case, the old guys are a tiny 2013 class and a pretty good 2014 class (which has been gutted a bit by McCaffrey's and Thomas's departures).

Of especial interest is the lines. The 2013 class had two linemen, Oser and Bright. Oser retired medically. The 2014 class had seven linemen, but its top-rated offensive linemen (Reilly Gibbons) left quickly. Thomas was, of course, a superstar. But both highly-rated linemen are now departed, meaning that between the 2013 and 2014 classes, no highly-ranked linemen survive.

What's the point here? That, if current trends continue, we'll be having a morose thread of this nature around 2022 or so. Why? The class of 2018 is both tiny and lacks highly-rated linemen.

EDIT: forgot Casey Tucker, which is the exception that proves the point, given he's sitting out for some odd reason.