[washingtonismoney]

I hesitate to get too excited about this until we know for sure that it was mostly good weight.  Damn near 40 pounds is an awful lot to put on in a year without a significant portion of it being jiggly.

If Phillips's vert really has increased, then I doubt he's adding bad weight.

(Lotta ifs in this discussion here.)

[washingtonismoney]

I hesitate to get too excited about this until we know for sure that it was mostly good weight.  Damn near 40 pounds is an awful lot to put on in a year without a significant portion of it being jiggly.

If Phillips's vert really has increased, then I doubt he's adding bad weight.

(Lotta ifs in this discussion here.)

[PrinceLightfoot]

If Phillips really is 286, he can basically be called 290, and with pads he probably is :)  If you do buy into the notion that a guy with a wrestling background, under the tutelage of Turley and his "move the opponent where he doesn't want to be" S&C approach, makes up for lack of weight, 286 probably is enough to be a NT and anchor a stout run defense.  Moreover, we need to remind ourselves that even at 248, Phillips held his own at NT as a True Frosh.

A DL 2-deep of Phillips, Shittu, Thomas, Scarlett, Watkins, and Lohn does seem like it could be adequate if Phillips can in fact produce on a level like David Parry, Henry Anderson (who played NT in addition to DE), Terrence Stephens, and Sione Fua.

Absolutely agree, OutsiderFan! I am very excited to see our DL in action. Hearing too many good things regarding Shittu and the younger and less experienced guys did exceptionally well in Spring Game.

[PrinceLightfoot]

If Phillips really is 286, he can basically be called 290, and with pads he probably is :)  If you do buy into the notion that a guy with a wrestling background, under the tutelage of Turley and his "move the opponent where he doesn't want to be" S&C approach, makes up for lack of weight, 286 probably is enough to be a NT and anchor a stout run defense.  Moreover, we need to remind ourselves that even at 248, Phillips held his own at NT as a True Frosh.

A DL 2-deep of Phillips, Shittu, Thomas, Scarlett, Watkins, and Lohn does seem like it could be adequate if Phillips can in fact produce on a level like David Parry, Henry Anderson (who played NT in addition to DE), Terrence Stephens, and Sione Fua.

Absolutely agree, OutsiderFan! I am very excited to see our DL in action. Hearing too many good things regarding Shittu and the younger and less experienced guys did exceptionally well in Spring Game.

[TrumpCard]

Luke seems to have no feel for football.  If you lack that feel, there's no position for you.

Stanford landed 9 DL recruits in 2011 and 2012 (and the 2012 crop was pretty solid in the recruiting rankings), yet potentially ended up with only 1 contributor.  When a talented player is criticized for a lack of "feel for football," I start to question whether the position coach is a good fit for the program.  Except that Hart has a tremendous track record from the 2009, 2010, and 2014 recruiting classes, so I don't think he's the issue.  Hulk, do you have any explanation for the whiffs?  If Kaumutule is hopeless, is there at least a decent chance that we'll see Lohn or Watkins emerge? 

[TrumpCard]

Luke seems to have no feel for football.  If you lack that feel, there's no position for you.

Stanford landed 9 DL recruits in 2011 and 2012 (and the 2012 crop was pretty solid in the recruiting rankings), yet potentially ended up with only 1 contributor.  When a talented player is criticized for a lack of "feel for football," I start to question whether the position coach is a good fit for the program.  Except that Hart has a tremendous track record from the 2009, 2010, and 2014 recruiting classes, so I don't think he's the issue.  Hulk, do you have any explanation for the whiffs?  If Kaumutule is hopeless, is there at least a decent chance that we'll see Lohn or Watkins emerge? 

[needle]

Here's a look at the 2012 DL recruits. Man, this team really, really misses Nwafor, who retired due to injury.

In case anybody forgot, Kaumatule had a serious knee injury in HS and didn't play his senior year. That's not necessarily a factor, but who knows?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84lVhIR9vOI

[needle]

Here's a look at the 2012 DL recruits. Man, this team really, really misses Nwafor, who retired due to injury.

In case anybody forgot, Kaumatule had a serious knee injury in HS and didn't play his senior year. That's not necessarily a factor, but who knows?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84lVhIR9vOI

[OutsiderFan]

Knowing how little those guys have contributed to date, it's kind of hard to ever watch a DL recruit's video and get too excited about it.  But I'll agree that losing Nwafor so early is the singular event that created the DL depth issues.  If he was a real NT option, few here would be at all concerned about the DL this season or next.  Amazing how depth can be a function of one guy's availability.

[OutsiderFan]

Knowing how little those guys have contributed to date, it's kind of hard to ever watch a DL recruit's video and get too excited about it.  But I'll agree that losing Nwafor so early is the singular event that created the DL depth issues.  If he was a real NT option, few here would be at all concerned about the DL this season or next.  Amazing how depth can be a function of one guy's availability.