The success of the offense the past three games has been exciting and encouraging. There have been a number of developments since the first six quarters of the season that have made many Stanford fans happy. One of the important questions before the season was whether the offensive line would play at/approach the level of excellence of past Cardinal front lines. I am not an expert of offensive line play but there seems to be a lot of positives coming from that group.
Before I focus on the linemen, I think some other players deserve mentions. Christian McCaffrey is such a talented running back that he makes the offensive line better. His ability to read the flow of a play is impressive and he consistently makes the best decision to maximize the effort of the linemen. It doesn't matter how well blockers do their job if the ball carrier makes bad decisions choosing running lanes or tries to get cute to make a big play.
Also, Kevin Hogan has been better managing the pocket the past three games than I can remember seeing from him before. How well a quarterback moves behind the line of scrimmage, adjusts plays/protections and quickly identifies open receivers is critical to an offensive line's effectiveness.
Because I'm no expert I'd like others to offer their views about the individual offensive line play. But, to my eyes, Kyle Murphy and Joshua Garnett are playing to the level of their preseason hype. Johnny Caspers appears improved from last season and Graham Shuler is doing well enough. I think Casey Tucker has had a couple rough moments, like the sack against UA, but overall not bad for a sophomore. David Bright and Brandon Fanaika appear to be doing an excellent job as well in the extra linemen formations. Bright also looks like he could challenge for the left tackle spot next season and Fanaika may be the early leader to take over for Garnett.
The rest of Stanford's schedule isn't burdened with many great defenses. I think Washington could prove to be an unexpected challenge for this group. Cal's defense seems to be playing fairly well and Notre Dame has a lot of talent on its defense.
So, has the Tunnel Worker's Union returned to previous glory? Thoughts?
Before I focus on the linemen, I think some other players deserve mentions. Christian McCaffrey is such a talented running back that he makes the offensive line better. His ability to read the flow of a play is impressive and he consistently makes the best decision to maximize the effort of the linemen. It doesn't matter how well blockers do their job if the ball carrier makes bad decisions choosing running lanes or tries to get cute to make a big play.
Also, Kevin Hogan has been better managing the pocket the past three games than I can remember seeing from him before. How well a quarterback moves behind the line of scrimmage, adjusts plays/protections and quickly identifies open receivers is critical to an offensive line's effectiveness.
Because I'm no expert I'd like others to offer their views about the individual offensive line play. But, to my eyes, Kyle Murphy and Joshua Garnett are playing to the level of their preseason hype. Johnny Caspers appears improved from last season and Graham Shuler is doing well enough. I think Casey Tucker has had a couple rough moments, like the sack against UA, but overall not bad for a sophomore. David Bright and Brandon Fanaika appear to be doing an excellent job as well in the extra linemen formations. Bright also looks like he could challenge for the left tackle spot next season and Fanaika may be the early leader to take over for Garnett.
The rest of Stanford's schedule isn't burdened with many great defenses. I think Washington could prove to be an unexpected challenge for this group. Cal's defense seems to be playing fairly well and Notre Dame has a lot of talent on its defense.
So, has the Tunnel Worker's Union returned to previous glory? Thoughts?
