12-16-2013, 08:20 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-16-2013, 09:30 AM by OutsiderFan.)
Given the first half of bowl practices are more about getting looks at the younger guys who haven't played much than about preparing for a bowl opponent, thought it would be a good time to talk about potential starters for the 2014 squad.
Let's assume Stanford will need to re-load (find new starters) at the following positions:Â RB, LG, RG, C, RDE, OLB, ILB, FS, and TE.
Who projects as the replacements? Who might be stepping up in bowl practices?Â
RB
The obvious candidates are Remound Wright and Barry Sanders, two guys who just haven't had as much PT as many expected. Ricky Seale might be another guy in the mix. To me the biggest issue is none of these RBs are north of 205 pounds. When you consider Gaffney is 225, Stanford might become more of a zone running team in 2014. Wright may not be 225, but at 5-9 205, he's got a stocky build and is probably best suited to the power style if Stanford doesn't change to offense much.
LG
Anyone think anything other than Josh Garnett plugging in here and not really missing Yankey all that much?
RG
Johnny Caspers would seem to be the guy here, but perhaps Dave Bright or Thomas Oser will make it a race. Anyone have any thoughts?
C
This could get interesting between Graham Schuler, Kevin Reihner, and Thomas Oser. Anyone have any thoughts on who might be the most likely to be making waves?
RDE
The question is does Lueders move back to OLB or does he stick at DE? If he stays at DE, he'll probably put on some more weight, and it will be a real battle for the RDE position through Spring and Summer, with Henry Anderson and David Parry as locks to start at LDE and NT. Then there are Shittu, Watkins, and Kaumatule, and Nwafor, who may or may not be able to get in some meaningful bowl practices, but seems more of a backup NT (though Stanford definitely moves DL around as even Parry has played DE this year). In their very brief time on the field at ASU last week, both Shittu and Watkins demonstrated some impressive wheels for guys their size. Would not be surprised to hear both of these guys have made some great strides in bowl practices.
OLB
It seems we're going to hear about Peter Kalambayi and Mike Tyler, as David Shaw singled them out in a Rivals story as guys who they are expecting to see make strides in these bowl practices. With Kevin Anderson and James Vaughters playing a lot, it would seem these two guys are pretty much the highest priority guys to get ready because they are Frosh who are redshirting. If Lueders goes back to OLB, then one of them will be at worst the 4th OLB. If Lueders stays at DE, both will have to be at worst the 3rd and 4th OLBs, unless Hemschoot stays ahead.
ILB
To me, it's all about Kevin Palma. But Blake Martinez will probably be getting a lot of PT in bowl practice too. If I had to guess Kalambayi and Palma are going to make big impressions and get Stanford coaches raving about who is going to be replacing Skov and Murphy in 2014.
It would be nice to hear Noor Davis is making some strides. Stanford could probably use him as a 4th ILB more than a 4th OLB, but with the 2014 LB class, who knows.
FS
This has to be the biggest question mark on the Stanford team going into 2014. Every other position seems to have an answer or several available answers. This position doesn't seem to have any now. Of the three guys on the roster as FS, all are leaving (assuming Reynolds does leave). We should expect to hear of a position switch during bowl practices to allow some non-starter who isn't leaving to play FS during early bowl practices. The question is does this come from a SS moving to FS or a CB moving to FS?
TE
Probably the most interesting position on the team, given the starter (Hopkins) would seem to be pretty easily replaceable given his paltry production. So it is time for Frkovic, Cotton, Hooper, and Taboada to show what they can do. Anyone have any guesses or have any reason to believe which ones of these guys might make some strong impressions these next couple weeks?
Though not a position needing replacements, I'm interested to hear about Taijuan Thomas at CB.Â
Let's assume Stanford will need to re-load (find new starters) at the following positions:Â RB, LG, RG, C, RDE, OLB, ILB, FS, and TE.
Who projects as the replacements? Who might be stepping up in bowl practices?Â
RB
The obvious candidates are Remound Wright and Barry Sanders, two guys who just haven't had as much PT as many expected. Ricky Seale might be another guy in the mix. To me the biggest issue is none of these RBs are north of 205 pounds. When you consider Gaffney is 225, Stanford might become more of a zone running team in 2014. Wright may not be 225, but at 5-9 205, he's got a stocky build and is probably best suited to the power style if Stanford doesn't change to offense much.
LG
Anyone think anything other than Josh Garnett plugging in here and not really missing Yankey all that much?
RG
Johnny Caspers would seem to be the guy here, but perhaps Dave Bright or Thomas Oser will make it a race. Anyone have any thoughts?
C
This could get interesting between Graham Schuler, Kevin Reihner, and Thomas Oser. Anyone have any thoughts on who might be the most likely to be making waves?
RDE
The question is does Lueders move back to OLB or does he stick at DE? If he stays at DE, he'll probably put on some more weight, and it will be a real battle for the RDE position through Spring and Summer, with Henry Anderson and David Parry as locks to start at LDE and NT. Then there are Shittu, Watkins, and Kaumatule, and Nwafor, who may or may not be able to get in some meaningful bowl practices, but seems more of a backup NT (though Stanford definitely moves DL around as even Parry has played DE this year). In their very brief time on the field at ASU last week, both Shittu and Watkins demonstrated some impressive wheels for guys their size. Would not be surprised to hear both of these guys have made some great strides in bowl practices.
OLB
It seems we're going to hear about Peter Kalambayi and Mike Tyler, as David Shaw singled them out in a Rivals story as guys who they are expecting to see make strides in these bowl practices. With Kevin Anderson and James Vaughters playing a lot, it would seem these two guys are pretty much the highest priority guys to get ready because they are Frosh who are redshirting. If Lueders goes back to OLB, then one of them will be at worst the 4th OLB. If Lueders stays at DE, both will have to be at worst the 3rd and 4th OLBs, unless Hemschoot stays ahead.
ILB
To me, it's all about Kevin Palma. But Blake Martinez will probably be getting a lot of PT in bowl practice too. If I had to guess Kalambayi and Palma are going to make big impressions and get Stanford coaches raving about who is going to be replacing Skov and Murphy in 2014.
It would be nice to hear Noor Davis is making some strides. Stanford could probably use him as a 4th ILB more than a 4th OLB, but with the 2014 LB class, who knows.
FS
This has to be the biggest question mark on the Stanford team going into 2014. Every other position seems to have an answer or several available answers. This position doesn't seem to have any now. Of the three guys on the roster as FS, all are leaving (assuming Reynolds does leave). We should expect to hear of a position switch during bowl practices to allow some non-starter who isn't leaving to play FS during early bowl practices. The question is does this come from a SS moving to FS or a CB moving to FS?
TE
Probably the most interesting position on the team, given the starter (Hopkins) would seem to be pretty easily replaceable given his paltry production. So it is time for Frkovic, Cotton, Hooper, and Taboada to show what they can do. Anyone have any guesses or have any reason to believe which ones of these guys might make some strong impressions these next couple weeks?
Though not a position needing replacements, I'm interested to hear about Taijuan Thomas at CB.Â
