[Austroturf]

I think the OL situation has been exacerbated by program losses.

Casey Tucker - grad transfer to ASU
Jack Dreyer - medical retirement
Austin Maihen - medical retirement
Clark Yarborough - medical retirement
Reilly Gibbons - signed but never enrolled; transferred to South Florida

But this is particularly telling:
In 2015, Stanford signed 4 O Linemen - Nick Wilson, Dreyer, Maihen and Brian Chaffin. I don't think any of them have started a game for Stanford (though Chaffin does play on short yardage situations).
In 2016, Stanford signed 5 O Linemen. Out of that group, we find one solid starter (Herbig) and a part-time player (Hamilton). No game contribution from Yarborough, Henry Hattis or Dylan Powell.

That's 9 players across two recruiting classes with one starter and one contributor. Leaves a big hole.

Excellent analysis.  That really does explain a great deal of our challenges on the O-line.  If you recruit 9 O-linemen and only one becomes a starter and another is active in a back-up role, your depth is bound to be hurting.  I wonder if there are similar analyses for other positions (and other teams).  Is this par for the course?  Seems to be a low return on "scholarship investment".

[Austroturf]

I think the OL situation has been exacerbated by program losses.

Casey Tucker - grad transfer to ASU
Jack Dreyer - medical retirement
Austin Maihen - medical retirement
Clark Yarborough - medical retirement
Reilly Gibbons - signed but never enrolled; transferred to South Florida

But this is particularly telling:
In 2015, Stanford signed 4 O Linemen - Nick Wilson, Dreyer, Maihen and Brian Chaffin. I don't think any of them have started a game for Stanford (though Chaffin does play on short yardage situations).
In 2016, Stanford signed 5 O Linemen. Out of that group, we find one solid starter (Herbig) and a part-time player (Hamilton). No game contribution from Yarborough, Henry Hattis or Dylan Powell.

That's 9 players across two recruiting classes with one starter and one contributor. Leaves a big hole.

Excellent analysis.  That really does explain a great deal of our challenges on the O-line.  If you recruit 9 O-linemen and only one becomes a starter and another is active in a back-up role, your depth is bound to be hurting.  I wonder if there are similar analyses for other positions (and other teams).  Is this par for the course?  Seems to be a low return on "scholarship investment".