[washingtonismoney]

Not sure speed was really the problem. Stanford can keep up with Huskies, Ducks, blah blah blah. We've heard this idea before and it's been pretty silly whenever it's been raised. Check the 40 times of Skov or Chase Thomas and get back to me on speed. The problem is and was:
1) Not enough good linemen
2) Subpar tackling


If 1) isn't corrected by 2019 or so, there are big problems. Stanford started recruiting good linemen, in bulk, starting with Swann's class and things should work themselves out at that position by then. Usually linemen need time to mature so I wouldn't expect early miracles. But the pipeline is, theoretically, in fine shape.

2), on the other hand, is confounding. The defensive backs are capable of playing better than we've seen. Roughly the same crew was really good (when healthy) in 2016. They're a year older, but not a year better. Sometimes these things happen and I suppose they might progress to the mean. The linebackers were victimized by the poor coaching decision to shift Alfieri from outside linebacker, where he was very productive, to inside linebacker, where apparently he couldn't beat out Jordan Perez. (I know Alfieri was injured today, but still.) Add to that Sean Barton's injury and things became inconvenient.

So I expect some things will be better about the 2018 defense, and some things worse. My guess is that the improvements and declines will roughly even out and the unit will be mediocre again in 2018, at which point we'll blame David Shaw's handling of the offense all over again.

[washingtonismoney]

Not sure speed was really the problem. Stanford can keep up with Huskies, Ducks, blah blah blah. We've heard this idea before and it's been pretty silly whenever it's been raised. Check the 40 times of Skov or Chase Thomas and get back to me on speed. The problem is and was:
1) Not enough good linemen
2) Subpar tackling


If 1) isn't corrected by 2019 or so, there are big problems. Stanford started recruiting good linemen, in bulk, starting with Swann's class and things should work themselves out at that position by then. Usually linemen need time to mature so I wouldn't expect early miracles. But the pipeline is, theoretically, in fine shape.

2), on the other hand, is confounding. The defensive backs are capable of playing better than we've seen. Roughly the same crew was really good (when healthy) in 2016. They're a year older, but not a year better. Sometimes these things happen and I suppose they might progress to the mean. The linebackers were victimized by the poor coaching decision to shift Alfieri from outside linebacker, where he was very productive, to inside linebacker, where apparently he couldn't beat out Jordan Perez. (I know Alfieri was injured today, but still.) Add to that Sean Barton's injury and things became inconvenient.

So I expect some things will be better about the 2018 defense, and some things worse. My guess is that the improvements and declines will roughly even out and the unit will be mediocre again in 2018, at which point we'll blame David Shaw's handling of the offense all over again.