[OutsiderFan]

This thread is silly if we don't lose a ton of guys to the draft and are able to replace some core leadership(Skov, Gardner and Yankey) there is absolutely no reason to think the 2014 team won't be better.

Agreed completely, but it's even silly if several guys leave early.  Recruiting, more than individual players, is the seed corn for a program's success.  Stanford's recruiting profile is now stronger than its ever been.  Stanford is a national brand for elite football players now.  David Shaw is considered one of the best head coaches in the country.  Even in the losses over the last couple seasons, Stanford has been in position to win each game late in the fourth quarter and hasn't lost a game by more than 7 points the last two season.  And Stanford has lost just seven games over four seasons. So in reality, "the dream" not only isn't dead, from a practical standpoint, it's really just starting, because Stanford no longer has to sell a dream.  It can now sell a pretty compelling reality.

[OutsiderFan]

This thread is silly if we don't lose a ton of guys to the draft and are able to replace some core leadership(Skov, Gardner and Yankey) there is absolutely no reason to think the 2014 team won't be better.

Agreed completely, but it's even silly if several guys leave early.  Recruiting, more than individual players, is the seed corn for a program's success.  Stanford's recruiting profile is now stronger than its ever been.  Stanford is a national brand for elite football players now.  David Shaw is considered one of the best head coaches in the country.  Even in the losses over the last couple seasons, Stanford has been in position to win each game late in the fourth quarter and hasn't lost a game by more than 7 points the last two season.  And Stanford has lost just seven games over four seasons. So in reality, "the dream" not only isn't dead, from a practical standpoint, it's really just starting, because Stanford no longer has to sell a dream.  It can now sell a pretty compelling reality.