OT: Stanford's offensive line recruiting

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dpodoll68

dpodoll68

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Mods, feel free to move this if you want, but I wanted to see what the board thought of the 2012 OL class that Stanford is bringing in. It just blows my mind, and I doubt that anyone has ever brought in this level of talent in one OL class in the Rivals era (all rankings according to Rivals):

Kyle Murphy - San Clemente, CA 5-star, #3 OT, #19 overall, #2 CA
Andrus Peat - Tempe, AZ 5-star, #6 OT, #32 overall, #1 AZ
Joshua Garnett - Puyallup, WA 4-star, #2 OG, #33 overall, #2 WA
Brandon Fanaika - Pleasant Grove, UT 4-star, #9 OG, #201 overall, #1 UT
Graham Shuler - Brentwood, TN 4-star, #21 OT, #207 overall, #5 TN
Nick Davidson - Eden Prairie, MN, 4-star, #34 OT, #1 MN
Johnny Caspers - Glen Ellyn, IL, 3-star, offers from AZ and most of the MAC

Let all of that sink in for a moment. This is Stanford we're talking about. Not USC, Texas, Alabama, or Florida. Any of us would kill to have Nick Davidson as a Gopher, and he's the 6th-highest rated OL recruit for Stanford...in this class alone. They took the #2 overall prospect in both CA and WA, and went out and got the #1 in Utah, Arizona, and Minnesota. Further, this coaching staff has produced 2 departing OL who are both projected to be 1st round draft picks. Neither of them were very highly-regarded recruits. Imagine what they'll be able to do with this much raw talent, all in one class. It's just phenomenal and absolutely mind-blowing. Five Rivals 250 OL in one class. I just can't stop raving about it.
 

I'm not surprised with their style of play. They are practically in a goal-line set on 1st and 2nd down.
 


That's how you build a squad to dominate in the run game, that's for sure. Good gracious that's a ridiculous O-line class.
 




Unregistered User said:
Not Gopher related :)
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Well, Nick Davidson went to high school in MN for one year, so we're supposed to care about Stanford forever now. Even more than we do about the Gophers. Also, David Shaw's dad is Willie Shaw, former Vikings assistant. So there.
 

That is an OL class worthy of drooling over.

What I found equally amazing is the fact that they signed 21 kids in this class from 14 different states. And only 2 are from the state of California. Those coaches really racked up the frequent flier miles!
 




Crazy where that program has gone in the last few years. Jim Harbaugh turned that program around and put in position to not skip a beat once he left.
 

Am I correct in assuming that Stanford is like Northwestern, in that they don't lower their standards for football recruits? If so, their recruiting success has been all the more amazing.

Imagine NW landing classes like that. The Wildcats should be scouring the land for these egghead olinemen.
 

13 Lined Ground Squirrel said:
Am I correct in assuming that Stanford is like Northwestern, in that they don't lower their standards for football recruits? If so, their recruiting success has been all the more amazing.

Imagine NW landing classes like that. The Wildcats should be scouring the land for these egghead olinemen.
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I believe you are correct.
 

Stanford is the new Notre Dame. A friend of my family played there when I was young and I've always been a fan.
 



That's a sick group but how do they play 7 offensive lineman?
 



When you have that many stud recruits at one position, you know 2 or 3 will turn out to be actual big time studs. If I were a stud RB or QB, I'd give Stanford serious consideration
 


A few years ago, Stanford was similar to the Gophers.
People said it couldn't be done there. How could they compete with USC in the same conference? How could they keep up with Oregon's money or even Cal, which looked like a growing power. How could they get the best players admitted with their academic standards? Was the university even committed to it? They remodeled their stadium to have FEWER seats! A few years ago, they were 46 point underdogs at USC.
The right coach and a QB can turn a program around real fast.
Praying it happens to us soon.
 

I am going to be quite honest, if my child had the athletic and academic abilities to go to Stanford; I would 100% encourage them to attend that institution. A fantastic institution academically with a solid football program. I love the Gophers, but good for these kids.

I also would rather have Stanford with the Pac-12 the next 156 years then USC and Lame Kiffin win it once.
 

gophervet said:
I am going to be quite honest, if my child had the athletic and academic abilities to go to Stanford; I would 100% encourage them to attend that institution. A fantastic institution academically with a solid football program. I love the Gophers, but good for these kids.

I aso would rather have Stanford with the Pac-12 the next 156 years then USC and Lame Kiffin win it once.
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+1
 

drinks at Northpoint said:
A few years ago, Stanford was similar to the Gophers.
People said it couldn't be done there. How could they compete with USC in the same conference? How could they keep up with Oregon's money or even Cal, which looked like a growing power. How could they get the best players admitted with their academic standards? Was the university even committed to it? They remodeled their stadium to have FEWER seats! A few years ago, they were 46 point underdogs at USC.
The right coach and a QB can turn a program around real fast.
Praying it happens to us soon.
Click to expand...

I would say the 25 or so years before Harbaugh they were pretty similar to us. In fact, since 1980 we have just as many above .500 seasons and more bowl appearances than Stanford.

It can be done, believe!
 

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