But this I conceived was to be the least of my misfortunes: for as human creatures are observed to be more cruel in proportion to their bulk, what could I expect but to be a morsel in the mouth of the first among these enormous barbarians that should happen to seize me?
~ Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels (1726)
The world of offensive linemen is no different than what Swift describes -- mountainous men whose size and strength exceeds comprehension. "These enormous barbarians" wreak havoc in the most violent cauldron in a most violent game, but they do so with an under appreciated athleticism that is just as impressive as the so-called "skill players" who normally handle the ball or chase after it. Considering their physical and intellectual gifts, Stanford offensive linemen are perhaps the most unique athletes in college football.
Let's look at some numbers. During the 1998-99 school year, roughly two million baby boys were born in the United States. Most of those boys grew up healthy and strong, but 960 of them grew beyond all reasonable expectations and reached six feet seven inches tall1. Now let's imagine that, say, ten percent of those boys became stellar students and filled out applications for Stanford University in the fall of 2017. How many of those 96 applicants would be admitted? That fall the University's acceptance rate was a microscopic 4.65%, so let's say five of those boys got the thick envelope. (I know acceptance letters no longer come in envelopes, but it makes for a better story.)
But what if those boys also had wanted to play football? What if they wanted to parley excellence in the classroom with dominance on the gridiron? What if they were intellectual enough to earn an Ivy League education, but also brutal enough to play college football at an elite level? How rare is that?
2,000,000 --> 960 --> 96 --> 5 --> 2. Two in two million.
If we reduce that fraction, sophomores Walker Little and Foster Sarell are each one in a million, the rarest of the rare. They aren't unicorns, they're albino unicorns. When they arrived on campus a year ago, they entered as the consensus top two offensive line recruits in the nation (some said they were the top two players in the nation), eager to add to the already rich tradition of Stanford offensive linemen.
Players and coaches everywhere are fond of reminding us that high school film and recruiting ratings mean nothing; it's the on-field production that truly matters. If that's the case -- and it obviously is -- we're getting closer to that moment when we find out what these two albino unicorns truly have to offer. Last fall we got a good look at Little, who started five games at left tackle and was named co-Offensive Freshman of the Year in the Pac-12 and landed on multiple Freshman All-America lists. Sarell hasn't yet started, but he played in all fourteen games and will challenge for increased playing time this fall.
Walker and Sarell will be anchors of the Stanford offensive line for the next two or three years, but what will we see this fall? There are few spots on the field where health and consistency are more important than in the trenches, but already the Cardinal is facing concerns in this regard. Fifth-year senior Jesse Burkett has captained the line while starting 27 consecutive game at center, but he was out for much of training camp recovering from an injury. He's returned to action in recent days, but he still won't play in the opener against San Diego State. Burkett should hopefully be healthy and ready to reclaim his starting spot for Week 2 against USC, but sophomore Drew Dalman will get the nod this week. If that name sounds familiar, it's because his father, Chris, was an offensive linemen for the Cardinal from 1988-92, then returned as offensive line coach under Jim Harbaugh in 2007. (Shaw has said that his biggest problem with Drew is that he has to fight the urge to call him Chris.)
Aside from Dalman, there will be nothing but talent and experience along the line. Little will start the next 28 or 30 games at left tackle, win lots of awards, and eventually hear his name within the first fifteen called whenever he chooses to enter the NFL Draft. Do yourself a favor and spend at least a few plays each game with your eyes locked on #72. He may not be as flashy or electric as Bryce Love, but in his own way, Little will be just as dominant and just as impressive. He will stifle pass rushers while protecting K.J. Costello's blind side, and destroy would-be tacklers when Costello hands the ball to Love. He's already special; this year the nation will realize it.
The other certainty here is at the opposite end of the line. Fifth-year senior A.T. Hall started the last twelve games at right tackle in 2017, and he'll be there again.
The intrigue for the 2018 offensive line lies in the guard spots. David Bright, the only linemen not returning from last season, started the last nine games at left guard, leaving that position up for grabs, and although junior Nate Herbig started eleven games at right guard, there was still an open competition for that spot during the spring and summer.
The problem, of course, is that Stanford has an embarrassment of riches on the offensive line depth chart. Junior Devery Hamilton, another 6'7" albino unicorn like Little and Sarell, started the last five games at left tackle after Little was injured, but this year he's in the mix for one of the guard spots.
Fifth-year senior Brandon Fanaika started two games at right guard and another at left guard, but he's been limited a bit by injuries this summer and dropped some on the depth chart.
With the season opener so close, there isn't much need for speculation. The depth chart for the San Diego State game lists Herbig as the starter at right guard, but there's still an -or- between Hamilton and Sarell over on the left side. One of them will start, but both will likely play a lot. That's the beauty of the Stanford system. There may be five starters, but at least seven or eight linemen will play -- sometimes all at the same time.
Even though the personnel is largely the same as it was last year, there is one significant change. Offensive line coach (and offensive coordinator) Mike Bloomgren left to become the head coach at Rice University, and Kevin Carberry was hired in his place. (Quarterback coach Tavita Pritchard has now added "offensive coordinator" to his responsibilities.)
When I spoke with Coach Shaw about Carberry and asked what changes he might bring, Shaw pointed out that they're both West Coast Offense disciples, having both worked under Bill Callahan. Even though Carberry is coming from outside the program, everyone in the room will still be speaking the same language. Shaw emphasized the potential benefits of having a different voice preaching the same ideas, as well as a different perspective. As an example, Shaw explained that rather than introducing new schemes, Carberry might point out a specific play and suggest adding a small wrinkle that he's used in the past. Probably the most significant aspect of the hire, however, will be a narrowing of responsibilities. Some observers wondered if perhaps Coach Bloomgren had too much on his plate as attempted to coach the offensive line while overseeing the entire offense, but Carberry won't have that concern. He'll be able to focus on his linemen.
Like any football team anywhere, a great deal of Stanford's success on offense will be directly traced to the performance of this group. Sure, there will be times when Bryce Love does something spectacular and runs around the entire defense, but when he's running through wide open spaces in the middle of the line, it will almost always be because the giants in front of him opened up a gaping hole. And yes, your eyes will follow K.J. Costello's spirals as they find the arms of one receiver or another, but never forget that it's the offensive line that makes those throws possible.
The giants of this team, the Stanford members of the Tunnel Workers Union, toiling in the trenches as they do, will be the key to what could be one of the greatest offenses in school history. If they can remain healthy and consistent, there is no limit to where this team might go.
And who knows but that even this prodigious race of mortals might be equally overmatched in some distant part of the world, whereof we have yet no discovery?
~ Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels (1726)
Not bloody likely.
~ Jerry Seinfeld, Seinfeld (1991)
- If you'd like to see where you stack up, here's a Height Percentile Calculator you can play with.
- The box score for the Utah game did not list the offensive line starters by position, so this is just my best guess based on how the spots had been shuffling before and after that game.
