If we're ranking the greatest Stanford football players of the past 50 years, three obvious names come to mind -- Bryce Love, Andrew Luck, and Christian McCaffrey. (Personally, I hedge a bit. I've got Luck as the best quarterback in program history and Love as the greatest pure running back, which allows me to choose McCaffrey as the best all-around player.)
But if we're talking about the most important players, there's a fourth name that has to be included with those three. In fact, I'd argue that along with Luck, Richard Sherman is one to the two most important players in program history.
First consider what he did on the field. In the legendary upset over USC in 2007, then-wide receiver Sherman didn't score the winning touchdown, but he did make an amazing play to convert a 4th and 21 on the game-winning drive. (I encourage you to follow that link at some point; it's always a fun game to relive, and there's some great commentary from Sherman and his quarterback, current Stanford offensive coordinator Tavita Pritchard.)
Also, there was this play from 2009.
It was big at the time, as it essentially sealed another upset win over the Trojans in the Coliseum, but looking back at it now I'd say it was the moment when all of the Pac-12 -- Stanford included -- realized that the Cardinal was for real.
But even after making that play, I don't think anyone outside of Sherman's head knew what was coming. Long cornerbacks weren't as coveted then as they are now (that's another thing Sherman helped to change), so he wasn't drafted until the Seattle Seahawks selected him in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL draft. That was an admittedly loaded draft, but it's still stunning that a future Hall of Famer was available that late.
Sherman arrived in the NFL and completely changed how the position was perceived. He had the physical skills to do the job, but all of the guys playing on Sundays have the physical skills. What separated Sherman from all the rest, what allowed him to become the best cornerback in the game and one of the best ever to play the position, was his intellectual approach to his job. "I feel like I'm a decent athlete," he says in the clip below, "but my tape study and my meticulous attention to detail are what make me a good ballplayer."
As he was rising in the ranks and gaining national attention, his influence on the Stanford football program began to grow. Like many Stanford alums, he frequently returned to the Farm during off-seasons to work with current players, and recruits noticed. The possibility of learning from and working out with one of the biggest stars in the NFL led directly to the greatest sustained run of defensive back talent in school history. Over and over, as one cornerback after another donned a Stanford cap on National Signing Day, we'd hear some variation of the same thing: "I'm choosing Stanford because I want to be like Richard Sherman."
Even today, that connection still remains, and Sherman isn't the only famous alum who's still influencing the defensive back room. When I spoke to senior cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly last month, I asked him about whom he looked up to, and he immediately named Sherman along with another alum, Paulson Adebo of the New Orleans Saints, and he talked about how much they all learn when these players come back to campus. Specifically, he spoke about how he's followed Sherman's example and embraced film study, and he also credited defensive backs coach Duane Akina.
(Side note: Kelly is nice. I tried to get him to crow a bit about the job he did on Drake London last September, but he would have none of it. He didn't deny that he had played well against the best receiver in the country, but he wouldn't boast about it either.)
Even with all this talent in the defensive backfield, there were still problems. Most significantly, it seemed that at least a few times a game there would be a communication breakdown that would lead to a wide open receiver streaking downfield for a long touchdown. The image of two Stanford defensive backs looking at each other with arms outspread and palms turned upwards is still seared into my retinas, as if I've been staring too long at the sun.
When I asked Kelly about this, he started nodding in agreement before I had finished the question. As he explained it, the problems arise when two players watch a play developing but see different things. So much of what defensive backs do on the field is based on anticipation and the result of hours of film study. If the offense lines up in a certain formation, that triggers the defense to react based on tendencies that have shown up on film. When a defense is in sync it's because everyone sees the same thing and anticipates the same route. So when we see two Stanford defenders stand like statues and let a receiver run between them into a wide open space, it isn't because neither saw him. What happened, according to Kelly, is that each man was reading and reacting to the play differently.
So how do you address that, I asked? Kelly explained that the question is always the same: "What did you see?" When we see those defensive backs looking at each other in those first heartbreaking moments as the other team is celebrating in the end zone, that's what they're asking. Coach Akina then asks the same thing when they get to the sidelines. Kelly had nothing but praise for Akina, citing not just his teaching and energetic coaching style, but also his willingness to listen to his players. (This is a theme on the Stanford coaching staff; several years ago Harrison Phillips told me the same thing about defensive coordinator Lance Anderson.)
One of Kelly's strengths is his versatility, and we'll certainly see that on display this season. Even though he's the team's best cornerback, there are times when he'll slide over to nickelback to defend a receiver in the slot. He relishes that challenge, explaining that "at corner, you've got the sideline to help you out, but in the slot, it's just you and the receiver."
One of the interesting things that came out this week was Coach Shaw's revelation that when Kelly isn't at nickel, graduate transfer Patrick Fields will log time there in addition to his anticipated role at safety. Along with Kelly, Fields is the defensive back that I'm most looking forward to watching. After starting for three seasons at Oklahoma and finishing his Sooner career by being named Defensive MVP of the Alamo Bowl, Fields, who earned his bachelors and master's degrees from Oklahoma, applied to and was accepted at Stanford as a graduate student. Not until his admission was official did he contact the football offices to let them know that he was an incoming Stanford student with a year of football eligibility remaining.
That probably tells you all you need to know about him, but we'll learn a lot more when he takes the field for the first time tonight against Colgate. If there has been a weakness in the secondary over the past few seasons it's been at safety, and Fields seems poised to fill that need. The hope is that the combination of his talent and experience will elevate the Stanford defensive backs, not just as they defend the pass but in run support as well.
Senior Jonathan McGill will also be back at safety, and fifth-year senior Ethan Bonner will start at corner opposite Kelly. Both players lost significant time to injury last season, so it will be a huge bonus to have them back and healthy. If there was a silver lining to all of the injuries last fall, it's that sophomore Jimmy Wyrick, an unknown freshman pushed into duty, emerged as a future stalwart. We can expect to see him in the rotation this season, as well as senior Salim Turner-Muhammad. Fifth-year senior Kendall Williamson is currently sitting one line above Fields on the depth chart at safety, but I think we can expect to see all of these players shuffling from spot to spot throughout the season, certainly on this opening weekend.
There can be no question that this is an experienced and incredibly talented group. Unfortunately, their level of success and the degree to which they impact each game will largely depend on forces out of their control. If there is no improvement in the production of the front seven, all of that talent and experience won't matter. If the defense is consistently looking at 2nd and 4 and 3rd and 1, nothing I've written here will matter. Here's hoping that it does.
