[teejers1]

I disagree that AYFKM plays are just part of the game for every team/coach, so you have to just live with it.  I think such plays are so out of the norm of responsible/clued in play calling that they are the rare exception.  And I separately think that even if you think the occasional one is unavoidable, Stanford has had it's share (and taken on some other teams' shares, too).

As for evaluating playing up to talent, I suspect NFL players is a better barometer than HS recruiting rankings, although even the former is not dispositive because you can have excellent college players who don't pan out in the pros.  Impossible to draw conclusions without some subjectivity, at least from this angle.

And just to be clear, my underperformance complaints have been limited to the O side of the ball.  The D under Shaw has by and large been terrific.

[teejers1]

I disagree that AYFKM plays are just part of the game for every team/coach, so you have to just live with it.  I think such plays are so out of the norm of responsible/clued in play calling that they are the rare exception.  And I separately think that even if you think the occasional one is unavoidable, Stanford has had it's share (and taken on some other teams' shares, too).

As for evaluating playing up to talent, I suspect NFL players is a better barometer than HS recruiting rankings, although even the former is not dispositive because you can have excellent college players who don't pan out in the pros.  Impossible to draw conclusions without some subjectivity, at least from this angle.

And just to be clear, my underperformance complaints have been limited to the O side of the ball.  The D under Shaw has by and large been terrific.