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Breaking Down Ryan Burns

Quarterback coach Mike Sanford talks about the newest Stanford quarterback, Ryan Burns.

Cardinal Class '13: Thomas Oser

The last time the Stanford coaching staff pulled a recruit out of the prestigious Harvard-Westlake School in North Hollywood, it was offensive tackle Jonathan Martin. That worked out pretty well, as Martin earned All-Pac-12 and All-America honors before being drafted into the NFL.

This year they've signed Thomas Oser, a 6'4" guard who earned a three-star rating from Rivals.com and turned down scholarship offers from Oregon, Colorado, Washington State, and Vanderbilt, amongst others. After last year's historic haul of offensive linemen, the Cardinal would appear to be stocked at that position, but that will give Oser time to develop. With that in mind, it will likely be at least three years before we know whether or not Oser has lived up to the standard set by Martin (or fellow H-W alums, Jaron and Jason Collins), but we'll be watching.

Cardinal Class '13: Francis Owusu

The name is definitely familiar, and most Stanford fans know that Francis Owusu is the younger brother of the recently graduated Chris Owusu, an All-Pac-10 performer and one of the most explosive receivers in Stanford history.

Because of this connection it had been widely assumed that Francis would be following in his brother's footsteps and signing with the Cardinal, but the younger Owusu maintained throughout the process that Stanford was simply one of the schools on his list. After a visit to campus last June during which he watched his brother Chris receive his Stanford diploma and listened to another former Cardinal receiver (Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey) give the commencement speech, the younger Owusu ended the suspense. Francis committed to Stanford the next day.

As always, I maintain that the list of schools offering scholarships to a player is probably the best barometer with which to judge that player's potential, and Owusu's list matches the four-star evaluations he's received from both Scout.com and Rivals.com. Owusu turned down schollies from fourteen other schools, including Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon State, UCLA, and Washington State from the Pac-12 and Florida, Nebraska, and Notre Dame from elsewhere around the country.

At 6'3" and 195 pounds, Owusu has the size necessary to compete physically with Pac-12 defensive backs, and enough speed to develop into a deep threat. Combined with fellow signee Ryan Burns, Owusu could stretch defenses significantly. Not surprisingly, Owusu's intelligence is listed as a strength, as he often outthinks defenders, but scouts saw him as something of a project physically entering his senior year, citing concerns about his route running. As you'll see in his 2012 highlight package, Owusu may still have some issues in this area, but he more than makes up for this with pure speed and athleticism. Don't be surprised if he makes an impact this fall.

 

Cardinal Class '13: Peter Kalambayi

Since the Stanford defense switched to a 3-4 scheme a few years ago, the team's defensive identity has been forged through the strength of some of the best linebackers in the conference. Shayne Skov, Jarek Lancaster, Trent Murphy, James Vaughters, and A.J. Tarpley will form the best linebacking unit in the country this fall, and we can probably expect to see sophomores Noor Davis and Blake Martínez in the rotation as well.

Building on this strength, the Cardinal have now signed one of the top linebackers in the nation, Peter Kalambayi.

Checking in at 6'3" and 229 pounds, Kalambayi has the size to play inside linebacker, but is also fast enough on the edges (4.6 in the 40) to chase down running backs or rush the quarterback as an outside linebacker. As usual, there is some disagreement amongst the various recruiting services as to where he ranks compared to other linebackers (Rivals #7, Scout #6, ESPN #17, 247 Sports #8), but the offer list tells you all you need to know. In committing to the Cardinal, Kalambayi turned down twenty-three scholarship offers from places like Florida, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, and Virginia Tech. That's a serious group.

As dominant as he's become on the gridiron, football was not Kalambayi's first love. His family hails from Trinidad, and he has grown up playing soccer. That overall athleticism will likely help him find the field relatively early in his Stanford career. For proof, check the video...

Cardinal Class '13: Sean Barton

When David Shaw and his coaching staff signed six elite offensive linemen last February, beneath the overwhelming chorus of approval was an undercurrent of quiet concern: How, some wondered, would all these players coexist? It's beginning to look like a similar question might apply to the Class of 2013, this time in reference to the linebackers.

Stanford already appears comfortably stocked with linebackers on the current roster, but now they've added Peter Kalambayi and Sean Barton, a freakish athlete from Woods Cross High School in Utah.

Barton measures out at 6'3" and 225 pounds with an impressive 4.48 forty time, and it's that speed that likely precipitated his move from linebacker to safety last season. When he suits up for the Cardinal, however, it will be at linebacker. Because of this position change, his ratings are a bit murky. Rivals.com measures him as a safety, and gives him four stars as the 22nd-ranked safety in the nation. Scout.com, however, correctly projects him as a linebacker, but gives him just three stars as their 48th-ranked outside linebacker.

Regardless of all that, Barton's commitment is significant. He fielded scholarship offers from Boise State and BYU, as well as PAC-12 schools Arizona State, Cal, Colorado, Oregon State, Utah, and Washington.

You'll have to wait a while before seeing Barton in Cardinal and White, however. It's been known throughout the recruiting process that Barton would embark on a two-year Mormon mission following high school graduation, and he recently learned that he'll be spending that time in Benin Cotonou, Africa. He won't set foot on the Stanford campus until the fall of 2015.

There are two reasons why this is a good thing. First, Stanford has a limited number of scholarships this year, but Barton will technically be a part of the recruiting Class of 2015, allowing the Cardinal staff to bring in an extra player this year. Second, he'll be twenty-three years old when he's a junior, a fact that will bring with it an advantage in size, strength, maturity, and leadership. All of those are good qualities to have in a linebacker.

By the time Barton arrives, he will be stepping into a legacy that will include Thomas Keiser, Chase Thomas, Shayne Skov, Jarek Lancaster, James Vaughters, and Noor Davis. As he drives up Palm Drive he won't only be enrolling at Stanford University, he'll be coming to Linebacker U.

Recruiting Focus, Class of 2013: Sean Barton

Any discussion of 2013 recruits comes with the understanding that even those players who have committed to the Cardinal could change their minds or fail to gain admission to the University.  Nothing is official until national signing day on February 6, 2013, so recruiting news should be read through that filter.  It's an inexact science, but it's simply too much fun to ignore.

When David Shaw and his coaching staff signed six elite offensive linemen last February, beneath the overwhelming chorus of approval was an undercurrent of quiet concern: How, some wondered, would all these players coexist? It's beginning to look like a similar question might apply to the Class of 2013, this time in reference to the linebackers.

Stanford already appeared comfortably stocked with linebackers in this upcoming class with three of the best prospects in America already committed (Isaac Savai'inaea, Doug Randolph, and Peter Kalambayi), but on Sunday afternoon they learned of the commitments of a fourth, Sean Barton, from Woods Cross High School in Utah.

Recruiting Focus, Class of 2013: Eric Cotton

Any discussion of 2013 recruits comes with the understanding that even those players who have committed to the Cardinal could change their minds or fail to gain admission to the University.  Nothing is official until national signing day on February 6, 2013, so recruiting news should be read through that filter.  It's an inexact science, but it's simply too much fun to ignore.

For the past two years Stanford's on-field success has translated directly to success on the recruiting trail. Andrew Luck was the best quarterback in the country, so the top high school signal callers (including Ryan Burns) were suddenly interested in booking passage to Palo Alto. The offensive line has been one of the strongest units in the college game, so it was no surprise when the coaching staff signed what is perhaps the best group of offensive line recruits in history. Linebackers Shayne Skov and Chase Thomas have been the heart and soul of a resurgent Stanford defense, and their success is no doubt responsible for attracting star prospects like Noor Davis, Issac Savai'inaea, and Peter Kalambayi.

The one area of disconnect has been the tight end position. While Konrad Reuland, Coby Fleener, Zach Ertz, and Levine Toilolo have run roughshod through Pac-10/12 defenses, that success has not yielded any blue-chip tight ends in any of the recent highly-ranked recruiting classes.

Some Stanford fans who follow such things have been wringing their hands about this for more than a year, but we finally have an answer. Kind of.

Recruiting Focus, Class of 2013: Peter Kalambayi

Any discussion of 2013 recruits comes with the understanding that even those players who have committed to the Cardinal could change their minds or fail to gain admission to the University.  Nothing is official until national signing day on February 6, 2013, so recruiting news should be read through that filter.  It's an inexact science, but it's simply too much fun to ignore.

Since the Stanford defense switched to a 3-4 scheme a few years ago, the team's defensive identity has been forged through the strength of some of the best linebackers in the conference. Chase Thomas, Shayne Skov, Jarek Lancaster, Trent Murphy, James Vaughters, and A.J. Tarpley will form the best linebacking unit in the country this fall, and they'll be joined by incoming freshman Noor Davis and Blake Martínez.

Building on this strength, the Cardinal have garnered verbal commitments from three of the top linebacker prospects in the Class of 2013: Doug Randolph, Isaac Savai'inaea, and now Peter Kalambayi.

Recruiting Focus, Class of 2013: Francis Owusu

Any discussion of 2013 recruits comes with the understanding that even those players who have committed to the Cardinal could change their minds or fail to gain admission to the University.  Nothing is official until national signing day on February 6, 2013, so recruiting news should be read through that filter.  It's an inexact science, but it's simply too much fun to ignore.

If the name isn't familiar, I suppose that's because it's June and you've been focused on basketball or baseball for the past few months. Most of you, though, know that Francis is the younger brother of the recently graduated Chris Owusu, an All-Pac-10 performer and one of the most explosive receivers in Stanford history.

Recruiting Focus, Class of 2013: Ryan Burns

Any discussion of 2013 recruits comes with the understanding that even those players who have committed to the Cardinal could change their minds or fail to gain admission to the University.  Nothing is official until national signing day on February 6, 2013, so recruiting news should be read through that filter.  It's an inexact science, but it's simply too much fun to ignore.

When John Elway left Stanford in 1983, he left more than a legacy and a stack of school records. His departure created a void that his predecessors would never be able to fill. Sure, there would be other good quarterbacks, some of whom would even top a few of his records, but it took more than twenty-five years for someone to rise to Elway's level. 

It will probably take another quarter century for that comet to come back around the sun again, but if there's one thing we've learned over the past year or two, Palo Alto has become a desired destination for elite high school football players, so we can expect to see some talent at the quarterback position next year and beyond.

As good as Stanford's 2012 recruiting class was, there was no passer in the group. During his Signing Day press conference, head coach David Shaw made it clear that bringing in an elite quarterback would be a priority heading into the 2013 recruiting cycle. Less than a month later, Virginia quarterback Ryan Burns gave his verbal commitment.