[winflop]

Would we like to have Swann, Williams and Hamilton next year, for short-term success?  Absolutely - they all deserved to start on our current team and made strong contributions over the last two years, for which any fan is thankful.  

But does anyone believe they were above-average performers relative to the pool of Stanford starters at their positions over the last 10 years? If they’d stayed, they’d have to start, and they’d be taking time away from underclassmen. So we might as well move toward developing and giving experience to others that have a chance to reach a higher ceiling while earning their undergrad degrees.   This is especially true because those younger players won’t give us five years when their time comes, either, or they won’t have five years to give because we played so many of them already. In the new world of the one-way transfer portal (effectively, at Stanford), young players need to be developed and started even more rapidly. This can’t happen quickly enough when average players above them are hogging all the spots. 

I know some of you are thinking, which young DLs? Three-hundred pound nerds aren’t growing on trees - depth is a real concern. However, if we run out of linemen altogether, we can simply activate the discus thrower, who is like clay and can still be molded for offense, defense or perhaps even placekicking as required.

I'm not sure comparing them to players over the last 10 years is appropriate. The question is whether they would be better than the player who is going to take their spot. When it comes to Williams and Swann, I think that's an absolute yes. Both were starters this season. Same for Hamilton. Less sure about Powell & Hattis, but they were going to be part of the two-deep in an already-thin unit so their leaving will negatively impact the roster.

[winflop]

Would we like to have Swann, Williams and Hamilton next year, for short-term success?  Absolutely - they all deserved to start on our current team and made strong contributions over the last two years, for which any fan is thankful.  

But does anyone believe they were above-average performers relative to the pool of Stanford starters at their positions over the last 10 years? If they’d stayed, they’d have to start, and they’d be taking time away from underclassmen. So we might as well move toward developing and giving experience to others that have a chance to reach a higher ceiling while earning their undergrad degrees.   This is especially true because those younger players won’t give us five years when their time comes, either, or they won’t have five years to give because we played so many of them already. In the new world of the one-way transfer portal (effectively, at Stanford), young players need to be developed and started even more rapidly. This can’t happen quickly enough when average players above them are hogging all the spots. 

I know some of you are thinking, which young DLs? Three-hundred pound nerds aren’t growing on trees - depth is a real concern. However, if we run out of linemen altogether, we can simply activate the discus thrower, who is like clay and can still be molded for offense, defense or perhaps even placekicking as required.

I'm not sure comparing them to players over the last 10 years is appropriate. The question is whether they would be better than the player who is going to take their spot. When it comes to Williams and Swann, I think that's an absolute yes. Both were starters this season. Same for Hamilton. Less sure about Powell & Hattis, but they were going to be part of the two-deep in an already-thin unit so their leaving will negatively impact the roster.