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Barry Sanders on Amazon Prime - 82lsju - 11-27-2023

a couple of Stanford items

- a few John Lynch missed tackles...
- Barry J Sanders in a couple of scenes speaking about his Dad's retirement

RE: Barry Sanders on Amazon Prime - JJJ - 02-20-2024

I finally just watched this and am very happy that my time was well spent. A little bittersweet that both Barry’s and Emmitt’s sons were ours and didn’t make as big an impact, but that isn’t their fault.

RE: Barry Sanders on Amazon Prime - Langdude - 02-20-2024

(02-20-2024, 01:35 AM)JJJ Wrote:  I finally just watched this and am very happy that my time was well spent. A little bittersweet that both Barry’s and Emmitt’s sons were ours and didn’t make as big an impact, but that isn’t their fault.

I’ve been curious about this. Did we do poorly in developing those two, or was their lack of performance an indictment on our o-line, or were they over-rated recruiting-wise?

Thoughts anyone?

-m.

RE: Barry Sanders on Amazon Prime - msqueri - 02-20-2024

Sanders was overrated. Offensive line support was not an issue as few backs in America had better blocking Sanders’ years in college. A bigger issue for Sanders was being over-recruited by McCaffrey and, at the end, Love. But nothing Sanders did at Stanford or Oklahoma State suggested a top 100 overall player. 

It would have been interesting to see what Smith could have done in a better era/supporting cast for Stanford. His college story is still being written and I’ll want to see what he does at Texas A&M before proclaiming too much. But my sense is two other things held him back too. First, he had significant availability issues. If you can’t stay healthy you can’t be a feature back and if you can’t be a feature back it’s hard to live up to top 100 billing. Second, I never felt he was a feature back. From the moment we recruited him I felt he was what used to be called a third down back. As a hybrid RB/WR change of pace and/or versatility option I thought he was an attractive prospect. The comparison for me was always Connor Wedington and, if EJ Smith had been born EJ Smyth I bet his recruiting rankings - and maybe even his position usage - would have mirrored Wedington’s. All that said, Smith played in a uniquely bleak era for Stanford football and we really do need to see what he does with the Aggies before we close the book on him.

RE: Barry Sanders on Amazon Prime - Goose - 02-20-2024

(02-20-2024, 05:43 AM)msqueri Wrote:  Sanders was overrated. Offensive line support was not an issue as few backs in America had better blocking Sanders’ years in college. A bigger issue for Sanders was being over-recruited by McCaffrey and, at the end, Love. But nothing Sanders did at Stanford or Oklahoma State suggested a top 100 overall player. 

It would have been interesting to see what Smith could have done in a better era/supporting cast for Stanford. His college story is still being written and I’ll want to see what he does at Texas A&M before proclaiming too much. But my sense is two other things held him back too. First, he had significant availability issues. If you can’t stay healthy you can’t be a feature back and if you can’t be a feature back it’s hard to live up to top 100 billing. Second, I never felt he was a feature back. From the moment we recruited him I felt he was what used to be called a third down back. As a hybrid RB/WR change of pace and/or versatility option I thought he was an attractive prospect. The comparison for me was always Connor Wedington and, if EJ Smith had been born EJ Smyth I bet his recruiting rankings - and maybe even his position usage - would have mirrored Wedington’s. All that said, Smith played in a uniquely bleak era for Stanford football and we really do need to see what he does with the Aggies before we close the book on him.
IMO a great answer. As I recall, when he was initially recruited the theory was that he was a 'tweener and wouldn't be a featured back. As you point out, the aura of his pedigree may have pushed him and the coaches in the wrong direction.