I am always shocked whenever Kal shows any form of competency, so this loss is indeed shocking to me.
The saddest thing is that the defensive talent--certainly along the front seven--will hit bottom next year with the expected departure of Booker (per today's telecast) and what I would call the likely departures of Gabe Reid, DWP and Tucker Fisk (each of whom has been at Stanford for five years).
There just aren't big bodies on the roster now to replace those guys, who, while not all-stars, have a level of strength and ability that makes them competitive with some of the guys at other conference schools (at least some of the time).
Keneley appears to me to be small, Phillips appears to my eyes to be a notch below the guys I mentioned above in terms of playmaking ability, though of course they could blossom.
The problem is more so that anyone else I could mention on the roster really has no shot at reaching the level of the guys I mentioned above in 2022. That's the way I feel, anyway.
Yes, the linebacker play is substandard, but I personally have some hope that new talent can step in and actually make some plays. The secondary is decent enough that the worry is guys transferring, but if that can be avoided I also have some hope for improvement next year.
EDIT: Very possible I confused Anthony Franklin with Keneley. Someone--I guess I'm not really sure who--got pancaked on one of the long Kal runs.
The saddest thing is that the defensive talent--certainly along the front seven--will hit bottom next year with the expected departure of Booker (per today's telecast) and what I would call the likely departures of Gabe Reid, DWP and Tucker Fisk (each of whom has been at Stanford for five years).
There just aren't big bodies on the roster now to replace those guys, who, while not all-stars, have a level of strength and ability that makes them competitive with some of the guys at other conference schools (at least some of the time).
Keneley appears to me to be small, Phillips appears to my eyes to be a notch below the guys I mentioned above in terms of playmaking ability, though of course they could blossom.
The problem is more so that anyone else I could mention on the roster really has no shot at reaching the level of the guys I mentioned above in 2022. That's the way I feel, anyway.
Yes, the linebacker play is substandard, but I personally have some hope that new talent can step in and actually make some plays. The secondary is decent enough that the worry is guys transferring, but if that can be avoided I also have some hope for improvement next year.
EDIT: Very possible I confused Anthony Franklin with Keneley. Someone--I guess I'm not really sure who--got pancaked on one of the long Kal runs.