[Goose]

Nathaniel Peat is also in the portal. Both guys would have been seniors.  This is the “anti 40-year decision” by guys that had previously made the 40-year decision and that were getting close to their degrees. They could have stayed and grad-transferred after next season with the degree in hand.  

Unless these guys were told straight-up that Smith and Filkins would be leapfrogging them on the depth chart (which they almost certainly were not), this is an extreme vote of no-confidence.

It is an extreme vote of no-confidence whatever the reason. It could be that both players just don't believe that the OL is actually going to be materially better. If that is the case, 3-9 or worse here we come. It also could be that they were told that Stanford intends to continue de-emphasizing the running game. If that is indeed the case, it is certainly bad news for Jones and Peat. It could be that the coaches believe the OL can pass block but not run block. There is some reason to believe this may be so based on last year. Again, not good news but at least a rational plan given where we appeared to be last year. Shaw has said that the OL will get "fixed". Perhaps after further review that is deemed not possible and we are going with plan B. Yikes!

However, I don’t think it really makes much difference on the field for next season.  The only thing that will make a difference is if the OL gels and improves tremendously in the off-season. Even CMac, Toby, and Bryce could not have been effective behind last year’s line.

Basically agree. One important change that occurred with CMac and Bryce was that the back was expected to be patient and pick the hole as it was actually created as opposed to a pre-defined point of attack that Toby would hit as quickly as possible. Definitely a different running style adopted to exploit different skill sets of both the backs and the OL. When no hole opens up, which has been far to frequently the case of late, Bryce and his successors end up getting hit in the backfield. Bryce was so skilled that he would get enough big plays to in large measure compensate for those TFLs. His successors have not been so fortunate. I think many of the fans believe this style isn't working, but as the OP says, if the OL doesn't massively improve no style will work.

[Goose]

Nathaniel Peat is also in the portal. Both guys would have been seniors.  This is the “anti 40-year decision” by guys that had previously made the 40-year decision and that were getting close to their degrees. They could have stayed and grad-transferred after next season with the degree in hand.  

Unless these guys were told straight-up that Smith and Filkins would be leapfrogging them on the depth chart (which they almost certainly were not), this is an extreme vote of no-confidence.

It is an extreme vote of no-confidence whatever the reason. It could be that both players just don't believe that the OL is actually going to be materially better. If that is the case, 3-9 or worse here we come. It also could be that they were told that Stanford intends to continue de-emphasizing the running game. If that is indeed the case, it is certainly bad news for Jones and Peat. It could be that the coaches believe the OL can pass block but not run block. There is some reason to believe this may be so based on last year. Again, not good news but at least a rational plan given where we appeared to be last year. Shaw has said that the OL will get "fixed". Perhaps after further review that is deemed not possible and we are going with plan B. Yikes!

However, I don’t think it really makes much difference on the field for next season.  The only thing that will make a difference is if the OL gels and improves tremendously in the off-season. Even CMac, Toby, and Bryce could not have been effective behind last year’s line.

Basically agree. One important change that occurred with CMac and Bryce was that the back was expected to be patient and pick the hole as it was actually created as opposed to a pre-defined point of attack that Toby would hit as quickly as possible. Definitely a different running style adopted to exploit different skill sets of both the backs and the OL. When no hole opens up, which has been far to frequently the case of late, Bryce and his successors end up getting hit in the backfield. Bryce was so skilled that he would get enough big plays to in large measure compensate for those TFLs. His successors have not been so fortunate. I think many of the fans believe this style isn't working, but as the OP says, if the OL doesn't massively improve no style will work.