08-15-2019, 06:54 AM
After synthesizing what I have gathered about the football team, here is my take for the rest of y'all to chew on, agree on or tear apart as the case may be...
First of all, my overwhelming sense is this team is going to be better than most people have assumed. I see Stanford being improved at every position in 2019 over 2018 except TE. But even TE has an All-American level talent. Now some may scoff at the notion Stanford could be better without Love, JJAW, K. Smith, and Bobby Okereke, but as I always say, all teams change from year-to-year. Everybody loses players and must replace them. Some return more than others, but we also tend to lose sight of the fact new starters can actually lead to better teams than previous ostensibly superior starters had. Just two examples are Tee Martin leading Tennessee to National Title the year AFTER Peyton Manning left, and Kevin Hogan leading Stanford to Rose Bowl the year AFTER Andrew Luck left.
I'm not going to put down the contributions of JJAW and Trent Irwin, but I see the current WR group as deeper, with more better athletes than last year. The starting OL will be better if the projected starters stay intact. This will give a now veteran QB the opportunity to continue being a stalwart in the passing game. Love wasn't healthy or running behind a sound OL in 2018. Scarlett has been improving every year, and the True Frosh are great athletes. Most important, the playbook is being simplified to allow the best talents on the field faster.
The Defense is where I see the biggest strides will be made. It seems to me Stanford has the most Front Seven depth it has had since the Gardner/Mauro/Murphy years. Swann, Williams, and Booker are backed by guys who have played and been in the program for a few years. To my surprise, Stanford was actually middle of the Pac in run D in 2018, and was just a tad under 4 YPC. I see them improving on this mark, not only because the DL is better and more experienced, but also because contrary to what was assumed, the ILBs might not actually be the weakness people have been fearing, and the pass rush looks to be improved as well, with so much depth at OLB.
Everyone knows about Paulson Adebo, but Obi Eboh has been receiving a lot of acclaim, not just in these August practices. I saw an interview with JJAW in April in which he said Eboh was the guy to watch for in the secondary. I will admit the Safety position seems to be the weak link, but with two very good CBs and what looks like a strong front seven that will get pressure on opposing QBs, that weakness is mitigated a bit. That said, I really liked what I saw from Kendall Williamson as a Frosh, and he looks to be having a much expanded role this season.
The other reason to believe this team will be better than people are assuming is the high end talent on the roster. Stanford has three players on pre-season All-America lists in Little, Adebo, and Parkinson. Costello is projected as the #4 ranked NFL Draft QB. Yes, the schedule is brutal, almost unfair to the players, but that also means Stanford will likely play its first four games on national TV, which could inspire the team. I don't think it likely they can win 9+ games because the schedule is so tough, but I do think 8-4 against this schedule will prove the 2019 team was better than the 2018 versions, and all things considered, such a record will constitute a successful season.
The biggest concern is the fact the 2nd team OL is 4/5 True Frosh. How the hell was THAT allowed to happen?
First of all, my overwhelming sense is this team is going to be better than most people have assumed. I see Stanford being improved at every position in 2019 over 2018 except TE. But even TE has an All-American level talent. Now some may scoff at the notion Stanford could be better without Love, JJAW, K. Smith, and Bobby Okereke, but as I always say, all teams change from year-to-year. Everybody loses players and must replace them. Some return more than others, but we also tend to lose sight of the fact new starters can actually lead to better teams than previous ostensibly superior starters had. Just two examples are Tee Martin leading Tennessee to National Title the year AFTER Peyton Manning left, and Kevin Hogan leading Stanford to Rose Bowl the year AFTER Andrew Luck left.
I'm not going to put down the contributions of JJAW and Trent Irwin, but I see the current WR group as deeper, with more better athletes than last year. The starting OL will be better if the projected starters stay intact. This will give a now veteran QB the opportunity to continue being a stalwart in the passing game. Love wasn't healthy or running behind a sound OL in 2018. Scarlett has been improving every year, and the True Frosh are great athletes. Most important, the playbook is being simplified to allow the best talents on the field faster.
The Defense is where I see the biggest strides will be made. It seems to me Stanford has the most Front Seven depth it has had since the Gardner/Mauro/Murphy years. Swann, Williams, and Booker are backed by guys who have played and been in the program for a few years. To my surprise, Stanford was actually middle of the Pac in run D in 2018, and was just a tad under 4 YPC. I see them improving on this mark, not only because the DL is better and more experienced, but also because contrary to what was assumed, the ILBs might not actually be the weakness people have been fearing, and the pass rush looks to be improved as well, with so much depth at OLB.
Everyone knows about Paulson Adebo, but Obi Eboh has been receiving a lot of acclaim, not just in these August practices. I saw an interview with JJAW in April in which he said Eboh was the guy to watch for in the secondary. I will admit the Safety position seems to be the weak link, but with two very good CBs and what looks like a strong front seven that will get pressure on opposing QBs, that weakness is mitigated a bit. That said, I really liked what I saw from Kendall Williamson as a Frosh, and he looks to be having a much expanded role this season.
The other reason to believe this team will be better than people are assuming is the high end talent on the roster. Stanford has three players on pre-season All-America lists in Little, Adebo, and Parkinson. Costello is projected as the #4 ranked NFL Draft QB. Yes, the schedule is brutal, almost unfair to the players, but that also means Stanford will likely play its first four games on national TV, which could inspire the team. I don't think it likely they can win 9+ games because the schedule is so tough, but I do think 8-4 against this schedule will prove the 2019 team was better than the 2018 versions, and all things considered, such a record will constitute a successful season.
The biggest concern is the fact the 2nd team OL is 4/5 True Frosh. How the hell was THAT allowed to happen?