The linebacker legacy is strong at Stanford. Since the transformation of the defense from a longtime liability to one of the best in the nation, the heart of the defense has been the linebacker corps, a unit that has produced at least one first- or second-team all-conference performer in every year since 2011, including two All-Americas. Older fans will remember that even when Stanford teams had success in the past, they were never able to shed the reputation of being soft. The Tunnel Workers Union has gotten much of the credit for dispelling that myth, of course, but the linebackers have helped shatter that idea as well.
Year | Player, All-Conference Team |
2015 | Blake Martinez, first |
2014 | A.J. Tarpley, second |
2013 | Trent Murphy*, first; Shayne Skov, first |
2012 | Trent Murphy, first; Chase Thomas, first |
2011 | Chase Thomas*, first |
*All-America |
That's an impressive list. In fact, it's so impressive that it makes you wonder if maybe Stanford has become the Pac-12's version of Linebacker U. Because tables are awesome, here's another one that answers this important question -- which conference school has produced the best linebackers over the past five years? Each school gets two points for a first-teamer and one point for a second-teamer. The results aren't close.
School | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | Points |
Stanford | 1st | 2nd | 1st, 1st | 1st, 1st | 1st | 13 |
UCLA | 2nd | 2nd, 2nd | 1st, 2nd | 1st | 8 | |
Washington | 2nd | 1st, 1st | 2nd | 6 | ||
Oregon | 2nd, 2nd | 1st | 4 | |||
USC | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 4 | ||
Utah | 1st, 2nd | 2nd | 4 | |||
Arizona | 1st | 2 | ||||
Arizona St. | 2nd | 2nd | 2 | |||
Cal | 1st | 2 | ||||
Wash. State | 2nd | 1 |
So it's established that no other program in the conference can compare to Stanford's linebacker production over the past half decade, but what about this season? Team captain Blake Martinez carried that Stanford linebacker tradition forward during 2015, earning first-team All-Pac-12 honors and becoming the first player in school history to log more than a hundred tackles in consecutive seasons. A native of Tucson, Arizona, Martinez had designs on playing for his hometown Arizona Wildcats, but Mike Stoops, the defensive coordinator at the time, famously told Martinez that he was "not good enough" to play linebacker in the Pac-12. As it turned out, he was the best linebacker in the conference.
Not far behind Martinez was fellow team captain Kevin Anderson, an outside linebacker who's racked up twenty total tackles for loss over the past two seasons, including 7.5 sacks. Speed rusher Peter Kalambayi didn't have as many sacks as he did last season, but he was still a disruptive force at the line of scrimmage and tallied a career-high 48 tackles.
Inside linebackers Kevin Palma, Noor Davis, and Joey Alfieri were also regular contributors, making the unit as deep as the defensive line was thin. Oh, and don't forget about reserve outside linebacker Mike Tyler. He might only have made 16 total tackles in his limited playing time, but he managed to tie for the team lead with 4.5 quarterback sacks. (Raise your hand if knew the answer to that trivia question!)
The strength of this unit lies in the individual brilliance of Martinez combined with the consistency of the group. For years the linebackers have been the heart of the Stanford defense, and that was true again in 2015.
Overall Grade: A-