First some randoms:
These guys really are clones. They both miss their share of throws. They both may be better runners than throwers (more so relative to Burns). They both take too much time from huddle to snap. And they both make winning plays at times. I would imagine Shaw's decision comes down to the meeting room where the film is evaluated as to what reads were missed and what checks out of the huddle were or were not made. KJ looks like a guy who is a couple years away but makes some really good throws. Not as physical as the other two has comparable arm talent all things considered.
Running Backs
Scarlett looks like he can be a complete back. Run in/out. Block. Catch it. Remains to be seen I guess if he can do any of those at a high level. The lazy comp would be Gaffney but that wouldn't be fair to Gaffney. Speights has not really flashed. Going to need to add some strength. Just have not seen Maddox much or at least nothing to comment on.
Fullbacks
Marx is moving around really well. Not getting any touches really the last 2 open practices. Hard to imagine Williams or Harrell playing much at all unless Marx goes down.
Tight Ends
Snyder does not look too bad for a second-year walk-on. Moves around and catches it well enough. Looks like the 3rd TE which would mean a role in the past but I can't see it this year but who knows. Taboada was the 3rd guy last year - extremely productive - and barely got reps. Harrington has not been mentioned much at all. It's hard to see him in a big role moving forward looking at the future depth chart. Has been playing the inline TE position.
Receivers
Rector and Irwin are both winning receivers. Any route. Anytime. They make the group very good. We all know what Owusu is at this point - considered more valuable as a blocker. Still has a chance to get schemed into some plays in the screen game and such. JJAW is an interesting guy. Big from the waist down. Hasn't been a factor at all during the open practices but he could project to a WR2 next year with a small role this fall. As I have mentioned, Stewart is a long, tough cover. Will shirt, I would think, unless he can get in a gunners way on punt return. Not sure about top end speed though. Thomas has really improved. He is your stereotypical slot receiver. Good job from the staff on the position switch. Could see him in a small package on a weekly basis. I like IBS. Not going to lie. I like being in the minority sometimes. I love the speed and opportunities it can present for the offense both directly and indirectly. I see Crane when I see Segina. I apologize I need to get better. ARROW UP!
Offensive Line
This is the best shape I have seen this position group. A lot of good, young players. A lot of bodies - heck, there were only like 7 healthy scholarship guys in the spring. Not all of them are ready to play but there is depth and talent. Tucker, Hall, Hamilton and Hattis are all going to be good/great college players. Inside guys like Bright, Fanaika, Burkett and Caspers are/will be solid. Not sure exactly what might come out of the '15 class - probably a group that adds depth to the position in the future - but Wilson looks to be in an ogre role this fall at the least. Maihen and Dreyer have really improved their bodies. And I hear we are recruiting the position pretty well. Let your brain wander for a minute.
2017 - Tucker, Bright, Burkett, Fanaika, Hall (Hamilton, Hattis, Wilson, Herbig, '17 class)
2018 - Hamilton, Hall, Burkett, Fanaika, Hattis (Wilson, Herbig, '17 class)
ARROW UP!
Defensive Line
Solly and Phillips are making things hard on this new OL unit. They are both excellent college players. I will stand by what I have mentioned previously re: Jackson as DL3. Going to be a good player and should be serviceable this year. I think Cotton is a legit Pac12 conference athlete and will continue to get better as that potential 4th DL. After that it is hard to see anyone else in the group making plays against good teams and good players. So hard to evaluate frosh DL because it's an extremely hard position group to have success in as a frosh. The body just is not ready.
Outside Backers
Toohill and Robinson make this such a deep/talented group. We all know about the other 3 and they are only going to have a better year in '16. I would not bet against Fox burning his shirt on teams.
ARROW UP!
Inside Backers
They all have their warts. No stiffs in the group but probably not any 1st or 2nd team conference guys either. I believe that I saw them all on the punt cover team that worked yesterday.
Corners
Holder, Meeks and Murphy appear to be the top 3 at the moment with Buncom and Alexander slightly behind them. Pretty sure you can win with those guys. Have not really seen enough of Antoine to comment other than he should be shirting. Eboh has been out.
ARROW UP!
Nickel
Pauir gets first crack. Kid was born for one purpose - to tackle people. I'm not sold on his coverage ability but we shall see. Meeks working with the 2's is an interesting move from Akina which could imply several different things. It's not like he needs the reps there. Buncom received some reps there. I thought Buncom was going to carry a little more momentum over from the spring, TBH.
Safety
Mentioned above how big Lloyd is. That is an NFL body easily. And he can run. Impressive looking athlete. The issue is cleaning up the open-field tackling. Reid has been solid and should hold off Pauir if he is tight in his assignments. Can really get from sideline to sideline. Edwards is progressing and should be right next to Reid in '17. Simmons and Franklin are the next tier of safeties and will earn their schollies on teams. Only thing noticeable about Butler right now is he is a little undersized. But hey, NOBODY was more surprised by seeing Drew Madhu line up to cover the opening kick a few years back so who knows?
- Before practice started, 4 injured were rehabbing - Schultz, Veach, Smith and Eboh. I would imagine Schultz is in pads no later than Monday. Eboh also looks close but a shirt is inevitable there. Smith is going to take a while longer as there is still a slight limp there. I wouldn't be surprised if Veach was not on the roster in '17.
- Every player walked past me on their way to the practice field. Some thoughts:
- Stewart is long and going to be a tough cover. The weight/strength is going to come very easily on that body.
- Fox looks the part right now. Might find himself on teams at some point this fall.
- Same goes for Robinson. Cant wait to see the transformation a year from now.
- Lloyd is listed at 6'3 213 but he looks like he could kidnap Barton, Okereke, Branch and Perez. Big guy.
- Meeks surprisingly has not added much weight all.
- Swann, like all frosh DL, is going to need a year. Less mass on him than the other 2 frosh DL.
- Toohill really looks great. Big transformation.
- Herbig does not look like your typical Stanford OL. He's going to be interesting.
- Phillips looks fabulous.
- Yarbrough walks like Elway. You don't see too many OL as pigeon-toed as he.
- Hamilton looks the part and it's only going to get better.
- Shout out to Dreyer. He has come a long way w/ strength/weight.
- Hattis is a huge man. And it's very good weight. His arms are going to be a weapon.
- Smith is a stud.
- Jackson looks great and still has room to carry another 20 lbs easy.
- I hated seeing Mac participate in contact last night even though I understand it to some level. But we are talking about a 2-3 win player w/ his backup in a boot.
- Stanford is tinkering with something schematically on defense which they have not done since moving to a 3-4 front several years ago. Instead of a DL coming off the field for a NB, the staff is subbing out either a ILB or OLB. Hard to imagine a better OLB group in the conference so it's fair to wonder why the staff would sub one out at ANY TIME. Well, the reality is, Lance drops an OLB in coverage more than people think. This was partly responsible for PK's "drop" in production.
- The music was lousy and I am down with hip hop as much as anybody.
These guys really are clones. They both miss their share of throws. They both may be better runners than throwers (more so relative to Burns). They both take too much time from huddle to snap. And they both make winning plays at times. I would imagine Shaw's decision comes down to the meeting room where the film is evaluated as to what reads were missed and what checks out of the huddle were or were not made. KJ looks like a guy who is a couple years away but makes some really good throws. Not as physical as the other two has comparable arm talent all things considered.
Running Backs
Scarlett looks like he can be a complete back. Run in/out. Block. Catch it. Remains to be seen I guess if he can do any of those at a high level. The lazy comp would be Gaffney but that wouldn't be fair to Gaffney. Speights has not really flashed. Going to need to add some strength. Just have not seen Maddox much or at least nothing to comment on.
Fullbacks
Marx is moving around really well. Not getting any touches really the last 2 open practices. Hard to imagine Williams or Harrell playing much at all unless Marx goes down.
Tight Ends
Snyder does not look too bad for a second-year walk-on. Moves around and catches it well enough. Looks like the 3rd TE which would mean a role in the past but I can't see it this year but who knows. Taboada was the 3rd guy last year - extremely productive - and barely got reps. Harrington has not been mentioned much at all. It's hard to see him in a big role moving forward looking at the future depth chart. Has been playing the inline TE position.
Receivers
Rector and Irwin are both winning receivers. Any route. Anytime. They make the group very good. We all know what Owusu is at this point - considered more valuable as a blocker. Still has a chance to get schemed into some plays in the screen game and such. JJAW is an interesting guy. Big from the waist down. Hasn't been a factor at all during the open practices but he could project to a WR2 next year with a small role this fall. As I have mentioned, Stewart is a long, tough cover. Will shirt, I would think, unless he can get in a gunners way on punt return. Not sure about top end speed though. Thomas has really improved. He is your stereotypical slot receiver. Good job from the staff on the position switch. Could see him in a small package on a weekly basis. I like IBS. Not going to lie. I like being in the minority sometimes. I love the speed and opportunities it can present for the offense both directly and indirectly. I see Crane when I see Segina. I apologize I need to get better. ARROW UP!
Offensive Line
This is the best shape I have seen this position group. A lot of good, young players. A lot of bodies - heck, there were only like 7 healthy scholarship guys in the spring. Not all of them are ready to play but there is depth and talent. Tucker, Hall, Hamilton and Hattis are all going to be good/great college players. Inside guys like Bright, Fanaika, Burkett and Caspers are/will be solid. Not sure exactly what might come out of the '15 class - probably a group that adds depth to the position in the future - but Wilson looks to be in an ogre role this fall at the least. Maihen and Dreyer have really improved their bodies. And I hear we are recruiting the position pretty well. Let your brain wander for a minute.
2017 - Tucker, Bright, Burkett, Fanaika, Hall (Hamilton, Hattis, Wilson, Herbig, '17 class)
2018 - Hamilton, Hall, Burkett, Fanaika, Hattis (Wilson, Herbig, '17 class)
ARROW UP!
Defensive Line
Solly and Phillips are making things hard on this new OL unit. They are both excellent college players. I will stand by what I have mentioned previously re: Jackson as DL3. Going to be a good player and should be serviceable this year. I think Cotton is a legit Pac12 conference athlete and will continue to get better as that potential 4th DL. After that it is hard to see anyone else in the group making plays against good teams and good players. So hard to evaluate frosh DL because it's an extremely hard position group to have success in as a frosh. The body just is not ready.
Outside Backers
Toohill and Robinson make this such a deep/talented group. We all know about the other 3 and they are only going to have a better year in '16. I would not bet against Fox burning his shirt on teams.
ARROW UP!
Inside Backers
They all have their warts. No stiffs in the group but probably not any 1st or 2nd team conference guys either. I believe that I saw them all on the punt cover team that worked yesterday.
Corners
Holder, Meeks and Murphy appear to be the top 3 at the moment with Buncom and Alexander slightly behind them. Pretty sure you can win with those guys. Have not really seen enough of Antoine to comment other than he should be shirting. Eboh has been out.
ARROW UP!
Nickel
Pauir gets first crack. Kid was born for one purpose - to tackle people. I'm not sold on his coverage ability but we shall see. Meeks working with the 2's is an interesting move from Akina which could imply several different things. It's not like he needs the reps there. Buncom received some reps there. I thought Buncom was going to carry a little more momentum over from the spring, TBH.
Safety
Mentioned above how big Lloyd is. That is an NFL body easily. And he can run. Impressive looking athlete. The issue is cleaning up the open-field tackling. Reid has been solid and should hold off Pauir if he is tight in his assignments. Can really get from sideline to sideline. Edwards is progressing and should be right next to Reid in '17. Simmons and Franklin are the next tier of safeties and will earn their schollies on teams. Only thing noticeable about Butler right now is he is a little undersized. But hey, NOBODY was more surprised by seeing Drew Madhu line up to cover the opening kick a few years back so who knows?
