I was watching the 2015 USC season game working out today. Martinez is just a tackling machine, as his stats showed (and show). And I started to think about the players of the Harbaugh/Shaw era that I enjoyed watching the most AND who are the most impactful, including their leadership qualities. And I came up with a list of five; AL is the obvious unanimous choice, and probably CMac too, so I left both of them off as gimmes. I chose an OL as representing the line more than his individual impact, which was considerable nevertheless. It pains me to leave out some of my all-time favorites, Ertz, Fleener and Trent Murphy. But here are mine, as recruits say, in no particular order:
1. Toby Gerhardt
2. Shane Skov
3. David DeCastro
4. Kevin Hogan
5. Blake Martinez
1. Toby Gerhardt
2. Shane Skov
3. David DeCastro
4. Kevin Hogan
5. Blake Martinez