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Breaking down the Stanford offensive line
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There are still three long months to go before the start of the Stanford football season but it’s never too early to start breaking down some of the position battles ahead. As a former offensive lineman, I say we start with the most important group on the field; the offensive line.
It was not too long ago, thanks to bad coaching, Stanford fans considered the offensive line a weakness. Just ask Trent Edwards and TC Ostrander how their bodies felt. But things have changed at Stanford the last couple of years. Once a weakness, Stanford’s offensive line could be one of the best in the conference this year. On top of that, they have something they have not had for years: depth.
C Alex Fletcher and T Ben Muth have both moved on and T Allen Smith continues to fight injuries. While Fletcher and Muth leave big shoes to fill, Stanford has three returning starters available on the line, T Matt Kopa, G Andrew Phillips and T/G Chris Marinelli and a number of capable players ready to step up. All three returnees have extensive playing experience and one would expect will be in the starting lineup at one place or another.
To replace Fletcher it appears to be a two way battle between Bert McBride and Chase Beeler. Both have experience playing guard as well to add more depth to the line. At this point the battle seems to close to call.
At guard, Phillips seems the likely starter on one side of the line. He made 11 starts at right guard last year but the Cardinal will give him a good look on the left side this year. The other guard position could go to newcomer David DeCastro. A 4-star recruit out of Bellingham, Bellevue, WA, the redshirt freshman has impressed his coaches enough that he could earn the job this fall. His competition in some ways will come from the tackle position. If Jonathan Martin wins a starting tackle spot, Marinelli could move inside to guard. If Beeler loses out to McBride at center, he also has a number of starts at guard that could add to the competition.
At tackle, pencil in Matt Kopa as one starter. Kopa was impressive last year taking over on the right side of the line. While he could switch to the left side, all indications appear that he will be Stanford’s starting right tackle. That will leave a very fierce and interesting battle for the left tackle between the senior Marinelli and the redshirt freshman Martin.
Often times experience will win out so you really could make the case that the battle is between Martin and DeCastro to see which rookie is ready to emerge, with Marinelli able to use his flexibility to play guard or tackle depending on the result.
My hunch is that because of Marinelli’s experience inside last year, the coaching staff would love to see Martin step up and win the left tackle position. Stanford could be looking at the first of a 4-year starter at left tackle, then have veterans across the line with Phillips at left guard, Beeler at center, Marinelli at right guard and Kopa at right tackle.
The best news for Stanford though is there will be spirited competition throughout the training camp which is sure to bring the best out of each player. The coaches want to have to make very tough choices. The Cardinal will benefit from that with what could be the best offensive line Stanford has seen in years.
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