It would make a lot more sense to wait until next year to consider an All-Decade team -- you know, since the decade will actually be over after this season. But when I look at this current era of Stanford football, I begin ten years ago in 2009. Yes, Jim Harbaugh's arrival in 2007 and the upset of USC that season were pivotal moments, but 2009 marked the first year that the program was consistently successful. In the ten years since, Stanford has posted winning records and played in a bowl game each year and featured a Heisman Trophy finalist in half of those seasons. Every program, I suppose, can point to a Golden Age, but given the prior history of Stanford football, no Golden Age would seem more improbable.
Since my All-Decade Team isn't really pinned to an actual decade -- and since it's my team -- I feel like I can make up rules as I go. First of all, this is not a career honor. I'm not looking for the best overall player at each position, I'm looking for the best individual seasons at each spot. Second, there will be no second team, though I'll mention some of the other names considered at each spot. Finally, although the Cardinal obviously plays with multiple formations, and typically with three wideouts, I'm using a standard lineup with two wide receivers, a tight end, a fullback, and a running back. Okay, here we go...
Quarterback -- Andrew Luck, 2011
Believe it or not, I didn't have to look at any numbers or make any comparisons before making my decision here. Andrew Luck is the best quarterback in school history, so he's obviously the best quarterback of this era, and his senior season was his finest. He completed 71.3% of his passes and accounted for 37 touchdowns against only ten interceptions while throwing for 3,517 yards. His completion percentage and touchdown total are Stanford records, and the yardage total is third best, but even those numbers don't tell the whole story. Luck was a maestro behind center that season, not just executing plays but calling them as well. The game which best demonstrated this was the one with the most pedestrian statistics. After completing 16 of 21 passes for just 169 yards against Washington on the fourth Saturday of October, Luck described it as perhaps the best game of his career. He was calling the plays in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage throughout the evening, and he always chose the right play. While his numbers suffered, the Cardinal piled up a school record 446 yards rushing that night. Andrew Luck was an artist, and 2011 was his masterpiece.
Also considered: Andrew Luck 2010, Kevin Hogan 2015, K.J. Costello 2018
Running Back -- Christian McCaffrey, 2015
I could've done something tricky here and installed McCaffrey as the all-purpose back so that I could also find a spot for Bryce Love's 2017 season, but that's not how I roll. Someone has to make the tough choices. In general, I'd say McCaffrey is the best player in Stanford history and Love is the best pure running back in Stanford history, but since this team has just one tailback spot, McCaffrey gets the nod because what he did in 2015 had never been done before and will likely never be matched. It was such an historic season that I could write pages about it, but instead I'll just give you a few highlights.
- He scored touchdowns five different ways: rushing (8), receiving (5), passing (2), kickoff return (1), and punt return (1).
- He rushed for a school-record 2,019 yards. (Later broken by Love.)
- He topped 200 yards rushing three times that season, and 100 yards receiving three times.
- He ran for 200 and caught for 100 against USC in the Pac-12 Championship Game.
- He totaled 3,864 all-purpose yards, breaking what most had assumed to be an unbreakable NCAA record.
- He single-handedly destroyed the Iowa Hawkeyes in perhaps the best individual performance in the long history of the Rose Bowl.
All of that is nice, but you can't appreciate the true greatness of Christian McCaffrey unless you were watching. Years from now I'll try to explain to my granddaughter or great grandson what it was like to be sitting in the stands that afternoon in the Rose Bowl, and I'll likely begin by shaking my head and end by shrugging my shoulders. In between I'll spin analogies and metaphors about lightning and leopards and cold-blooded assassins, but none of it will do justice to what happened that day. It was Christian being Christian, just a kid who was too good for the game.
Also considered: Bryce Love 2017, Toby Gerhart 2009
Fullback -- Owen Marecic, 2010
There aren't too many programs anymore with fullbacks on their rosters, but it's a position that's been critical to Stanford's offensive success in this era, and no one has been better in this spot than Owen Marecic in 2010. He only ran the ball 23 times and only caught nine passes, but he still managed five touchdowns. Those are forgettable numbers, but it doesn't account for his skill in run blocking and pass protection -- and he also gets extra credit because he was also Stanford's starting linebacker at the time and famously scored touchdowns against Notre Dame on consecutive plays, the first on a one-yard plunge, the next on a 20-yard pick six. Jim Harbaugh once described him as the "perfect football player." While that's perhaps a bit of an overstatement, he probably is the perfect fullback.
Also considered: None
Wide Receiver 1 -- J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, 2018
When you think back on the luminaries who've starred for the Stanford offense over the past decade, most of the players who come to mind are quarterbacks, running backs, and tight ends. Most fans might even list some offensive linemen and fullbacks before getting to a wide receiver. That makes this selection incredibly simple, but J.J. Arcega-Whiteside is more than just a placeholder; what he accomplished in 2018 ranks among the greatest receiving seasons in school history. He opened the year with 226 yards receiving against San Diego State, then topped a hundred yards four more times on his way to a total of 1,059, becoming the first Stanford receiver to hit quadruple digits this century. Even more than that, it was his scoring ability that truly separated Arcega-Whiteside from everyone else we saw at his position this decade. He was a matchup nightmare in the red zone, where it often appeared Coach Shaw could've selected a random freshman from the stands, asked him or her to throw the ball in JJ's general direction, and the 6'3" receiver still would've come down with the touchdown. He tied a Stanford mark with 14 receiving touchdowns and generally forced opposing coaches to scrap their standard methods in an often fruitless attempt at stopping him.
Wide Receiver 2 -- Ty Montgomery, 2013
Ty Montgomery earns this spot on the strength of 61 receptions for 958 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2013, but his performance during Big Game of that year was almost enough all on its own. He tied a school record with four receiving touchdowns and added a rushing touchdown to finish with five scores on the day as the Cardinal retained the Axe and clinched an unlikely spot on the Pac-12 Championship Game.
Also considered: Doug Baldwin 2010
Tight End -- Zach Ertz, 2012
In probably the most competitive spot on the roster, Zach Ertz gets the nod, not just because of his incredible production -- 69 receptions for 898 yards and six touchdowns -- but for becoming the standard by which all future tight ends would be measured at Tight End U. His signature moment that season was the fourth-quarter, game-tying touchdown in the 17-14 overtime upset of the Oregon Ducks, but he was great every single time he stepped on the field.
Also considered: Kaden Smith 2018, Coby Fleener 2011
Offensive Line -- 2010
Once again, I'm breaking with tradition. Because no unit on the football field has to work together as cohesively as an offensive line, I'm not looking for the best individual tackles, guards, and center. Instead, I'm considering the offensive line as a single group, and no group was better than the 2010 edition of the Tunnel Workers Union. From left to right the 2010 offensive line consisted of Jonathan Martin, Andrew Phillips, Chase Beeler, David DeCastro, and Derek Hall. They excelled both in pass blocking, allowing a national-best 0.4 sacks per game, and also in run blocking, as the team averaged 213.8 yards per game and 5.3 yards per carry. According to Bill Connelly's S&P+ ratings, that was the 15th best rushing team in America. This particular group was the best of a dominant run of offensive line units beginning in 2009 and stretching into the early years of the next decade as the Cardinal established its identity of Intellectual Brutality.
Also considered: 2009, 2011, 2012
