ESPN College Football

A look at what's been happening over the past week in the world of Stanford recruiting.

The Cardinal extended an offer to safety Kameron Miles (Mesquite, Texas) and the 6-2, 205-pound safety, who already has nine offers, told ESPN's Max Olson he's excited to be hearing from Stanford.

Said Miles:

That was a big one to me, and I have some interest in Stanford. I like the football program and they're a good academic school.

Miles also has offers within the conference from UCLA and Oregon State.

In other Stanford recruiting news:

• Durham Smythe, a 6-6, 230-pound tight end from Belton, Texas, is scheduled to make a trip to Stanford early next month, reports ESPN's William Wilkerson.
• Two-sport quarterback Joshua Dobbs (Alpharetta, Ga.) told ESPN's Jaimie Newberg that he has some interest in Stanford.
• Johnny Caspers, a commit from the 2012 class, got a late start in the recruiting process with Stanford.
• Stanford had been targeting receiver Michael Rector since Junior Day.
• Probably a little too early on in the 2013 recruiting process to be worrying about poaching, but worth noting that OLB Doug Randolph, the lone 2013 commit, is taking a trip to UVa.

Stanford head coach David Shaw announced that running backs coach Mike Sanford will take over the recruiting coordinator responsibilities for the Cardinal.

Sanford, now in his second season with the program, fills the void left by special teams coach/recruiting coordinator Brian Polian, who left last month to take a similar position on Kevin Sumlin’s staff at Texas A&M.

Sanford’s new role takes effect immediately.

“Mike Sanford is a proven recruiter who truly loves and understands Stanford University,” Shaw said in a statement. “He works extremely hard and develops great relationships.”

Sanford played an instrumental role in Stanford landing one of the top recruiting classes in the country, which included six players on the 2012 ESPNU 150 list.

In his first year as the Cardinal’s running backs coach in 2011, Sanford oversaw a rushing attack that ranked 18th nationally with an average of 210.6 yards per game.

The move comes on the heels of running game coordinator/offensive line coach Mike Bloomgren being named one of the top recruiters in the country and the No. 1 recruiter in the Pac-12. To round out his staff, Shaw still has to find a special teams replacement for Polian and someone to replace co-defensive coordinator/inside linebackers coach Jason Tarver, who was hired earlier this month as the defensive coordinator of the Oakland Raiders.

Sanford, a 2005 graduate of Boise State, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at UNLV. He served at Stanford as an offensive assistant from 2007-2008 before moving to Yale in 2009 (tight ends, fullbacks, recruiting coordinator) and Western Kentucky in 2010 (passing game coordinator, running backs).

Scott in Redwood City, Calif., writes: Stanford's high admissions standards for the footballers is under-appreciated, I don't think you'll dispute. Especially remarkable to me is the fact that Stanford imposes the exact same labor-intensive admissions process (essays, recommendations, etc.) on football players as any other applicant. Comparing any school in D-I to Stanford in regards to academics is laughable, in my opinion. This used to be merely an interesting side-note (and a handy explanation/excuse). But now, with all this program is accomplishing, I find it remarkable that this topic doesn't get more "run." What gives?

Kevin Gemmell: No doubt, the admissions process is brutal. Just ask some of the commits who didn't end up gaining admission and were left scrambling to find a spot days before signing day. I asked head coach David Shaw about that specifically in our post-recruiting day Q&A and he gave, I thought, was a pretty candid answer. But I'm not sure how much more "run" you can give it. Stanford is a great academic institution. It's tough to get into. Now the Cardinal play good football to boot. What more is there to say?

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Jorge in San Francisco writes: With the hoopla and depth surrounding next season's crew of Tunnel Workers O-lineman, could Stanford be a better running team than last year? We lose top talent in Moose [Jonathan Martin] and [David] DeCastro, but perhaps we may be able to run 7 or even 8 (!) lineman formations? The RBs are probably improved too. Going out on a limb, we may even match up better with Oregon next year with an increased focus on the running game. On the other hand, the O-line will be young and we lose Andrew Luck's pre-snap run-audibles and passing threat.

KG: First, great question. Second, I think you answered it with the last sentence. No matter how much Shaw tried to stress how important Luck was to the running game, I don't think it was ever really appreciated outside of the Pac-12. Now, that's not to say that Shaw and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton can't call plays -- because they can and they're very good at it. When you look at the line, you love having Sam Schwartzstein back at center. No one understands the offense better than him -- except for Luck. And now he's gone. Cameron Fleming and David Yankey should be even better next year. I'd imagine we'll see more of Kevin Danser on the line and I'm really curious to see which of the new linemen can contribute right away. Guards traditionally see playing time sooner than tackles, but there is nothing traditional about this group coming in. I think we'll continue to see Stepfan Taylor and Tyler Gaffney get better. You lose the goal-line back in Jeremy Stewart, though fullback Ryan Hewitt was equally effective in short-yardage situations last year. And then there's the question of Barry Sanders and whether he sees time. As for the Oregon question, hang on, because you're about to fall off that limb. No matter how you slice it, losing Andrew Luck never helps you match up better against anyone.

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Amber in Saratoga, Calif., writes: I was shocked at your statement: "Skov has neither the history nor the offense to warrant that severe of a punishment." How could you consider a DUI not that serious of an offense?

KG: Amber, first, I was in no way was downplaying the severity of a DUI. The point was that Shayne Skov didn't have a history of misconduct and that as far as we know this was his first slip-up. And I still don't think he should be kicked off the team, as opposed to Washington State linebacker C.J. Mizell, which is where the comparison came from. I certainly don't condone his actions and clearly neither does Shaw. Punishment is warranted. But blackballing him from the team would be too severe. Others disagree and think he should be booted. I don't buy that. And neither do I buy the "it could have been worse" argument. Of course it could have been worse. But it wasn't. So let this be a lesson to Skov, his teammates and valuable teaching moment for Shaw. I expect Skov to be a model citizen for the rest of his days at Stanford and Shaw to handle the situation justly and without prejudice.

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Tony in Fresno, Calif., writes: Does David Shaw hire someone to be another co-defensive coordinator, or does Derek Mason take the job all to himself?

KG: Personally, I like the idea of one coordinator handling the pass defense and another handling the front end -- which was Jason Tarver's job. It probably happens more than we think on other teams, it's just that one guy usually gets the title. Whether the new coach gets the title or not, it was clear that Stanford's weekly defensive scheme was built on a collaborative effort and that won't change. More important I think is finding a coach well-versed in the 3-4. Tarver's knowledge was beyond vast. That's why he's now an NFL coordinator.

Israel Gutierrez, Bomani Jones and Michael Smith discuss how good Andrew Luck will be in the NFL compared to Cam Newton.

The ongoing deck-shuffling that is NFL draft projections continued this week with ESPN's Mel Kiper and Todd McShay both releasing their latest respective projections.

They both agree on quarterback Andrew Luck as the No. 1 pick. No real shock there.

But taking a look at Kiper's latest Big Board, you see a pretty significant drop for offensive tackle Jonathan Martin, who slips from No. 13 last week to No. 19 this week.

Kiper isn't alone in his thinking. McShay's latest ranking of the top 32 players has Martin down to No. 24 after being at No. 17 last week.

McShay on Martin:

Martin continues to fall as other linemen emerge and his 2011 film shows him to be less dominant than expected. However, he still has the physical tools to become and NFL starter.

Kiper also dropped guard David DeCastro on his Big Board from No. 10 to 14. But DeCastro is where Kiper and McShay disagree. McShay actually moves DeCastro up one spot, from No. 14 to 13.

McShay also ranks tight end Coby Fleener at No. 29 (Kipers' Big Board only goes through his top 25).

Finally, Kiper released his Mock Draft 2.0.

Kiper on Luck and the No. 1 pick:

While the public relations drama continues between Jim Irsay and Peyton Manning, there's little drama surrounding whom the Colts will take with the No. 1 pick. I doubt Luck throws next week at the NFL combine, but his status among evaluators really isn't in question. Arm talent, strength, size, smarts, leadership, intangibles -- it's all there. The only question is whether he'll be serving an apprenticeship under Manning, but my guess right now would be that he won't have to.

Kiper has Martin headed to Arizona at No. 13 and DeCastro to the Bengals at No. 21.

Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay discuss the quarterbacks in the 2012 NFL draft.

Has everyone exhaled following an epic signing day? Good, now it's time to start looking ahead to the 2013 recruiting class.

Even before Isaac Savaiinaea (Honolulu, Ha.) had a breakout performance at the Nike Football SPARQ Combine in Honolulu last month, the 6-3, 231-pound inside linebacker already had a Stanford offer, writes ESPN's Mitch Sherman. Said Savaiinaea:

I’ve been getting more [media] attention, but it’s been pretty much the same with attention from the schools. They’re all great schools. Stanford is really the one that stands out for me, but I’m going to wait for more offers to come in.

To go with his Stanford offer, Savaiinaea has offers from Arizona, Colorado and Hawaii. He attends the Punahou School, the same school as 2012 Stanford commit, defensive end Luke Kaumatule.

In other Stanford recruiting news:

• Stanford and USC might be headed for another signing day showdown like they had earlier this month. The Trojans offered cornerback Johnny Johnson (Fresno, Calif.) to go with a Stanford offer, writes ESPN's Erik McKinney.
  
• Tight end Durham Smythe (Belton, Texas) has scheduled a trip to Stanford, according to ESPN's William Wilkerson.
  
• Head coach David Shaw said it was "safe to assume" that quarterback would be a priority for the 2013 class. ESPN's Damon Sayles reports that Stanford has shown some "major" interest
  in Kansas City, Mo., quarterback Trent Hosick.
• Here's a nice read on Doug Randolph (Woodberry Forest, Va.), Stanford's lone commit so far from the 2013 class.

With six Stanford players headed to the NFL Combine later this month, I thought it would be fun to check in with an old acquaintance who is an NFL scout and see what his take is.

Like most scouts, he prefers to stay off the record and keep his name out of it. So it's a rare treat when one actually talks on the record -- even if the name has been left out to protect the innocent.

Here are are his direct quotes on the Stanford six:

David DeCastro: "Good kid. Should be a good pro. I see the potential. How can I put this, he's supposed to be [one of the best interior linemen]. But it's all in the eye of the beholder. Everyone has their own opinion. I think the kid will be OK. But will he be an All-Pro? I don't know. He should be, if he works hard enough. He has to get his technique down. He just needs to stay on his feet a little more when he pulls. That's about it."

Coby Fleener: "He's supposed to be real fast. In my opinion, he dropped some easy passes at times. If he just keeps on improving catching the ball, that's about it. He should be pretty good. He's a guy that can split out and run against corner. He should be fine."

Delano Howell : "Delano needs to stay healthy. That's all. He stays healthy, he's fine."

Andrew Luck : "He'll be fine. I think he's as advertised. As a matter of fact, he might be better than advertised if he ever gets some wide receivers. We'll see. That's the whole thing. You look at Stanford, Stanford never had that."

Jonathan Martin: "Right now he's a right tackle. I don't think he's strong enough to be a left tackle. That's just my opinion. I've been hearing people say he's the best they've seen, but I think he needs a lot of work."

Chris Owusu: "Chris has a lot to prove. They need to see if his head is OK. That's the whole thing right there."

Some good news for fans of Stanford wide receiver Chris Owusu. Evan Silva of NBC sports reported yesterday that Owusu has been medically cleared to continue his football career.

For many, the lasting image of Owusu's Stanford career will be a thumbs up as he was carted into an ambulance on the field at Oregon State. It was his second concussion of the season, his third in a 13-month span and one of the most chilling sights of the 2011 college football season.

Others, at least those who noticed, watched him play the final snap of the regular season finale against Notre Dame after missing the previous two games -- a subtle, yet classy gesture by head coach David Shaw to get Owusu on the field one last time on Senior Night.

But it now appears that Owusu is moving forward. No doubt, he's received the best medical advice -- the article states Owusu was looked over by an NFL doctor. And in this concussion-conscious world, chances are a doctor wouldn't clear a potential player if he didn't pass the strict tests with flying colors.

From the article:

Per [Owusu's agent], Owusu has been symptom free since November 6 of 2011, one day after his last concussion. A doctor with the NFL Head, Neck, and Spine Committee has diagnosed Owusu as “perfectly normal” and cleared Owusu “to play football now.” The doctor also determined that Owusu is not at greater risk of concussions due to his history.

Up until his injuries, Owusu had been having an average season at best. On several occasions, Shaw stated that he had hoped Owusu would be more productive. He finished the 2011 season with 35 catches for 376 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a couple of drops that led to interceptions.

In 2010, he saw action in only seven games because of assorted injuries.

Owusu has been training at the Stanford campus along with Michael Thomas, Coby Fleener, Johnson Bademosi and Griff Whalen. He'll join Fleener, Jonathan Martin, Delano Howell, Andrew Luck and David DeCastro at the NFL combine in Indianapolis later this month.

You can guarantee when he gets there, he's going to have a massive "Fragile" stigma that he's going to have to work off. Owusu has the speed to impress and his return skills make him more marketable. But just because a doctor says his melon isn't busted, doesn't mean that some teams won't be wary about taking a flyer on him. And that could hurt his draft stock.

The few times I spoke with Owusu this year, I really enjoyed them. He was charismatic, funny and always had something good to say about someone else on the team, even when the story was about him. There's something to be said for not letting anything get in the way of following a dream. Here's hoping the doctors -- and Owusu -- are making the right call.

Mel Kiper Jr. discusses how confident he is that Andrew Luck will be picked first in the draft, who could trade up to draft Robert Griffin III, and what the Patriots will do with their picks.

Mel Kiper's weekly Big Board has been updated again , with no change in the top two spots. The Pac-12 owns them both with Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck locked in to the No. 1 spot and USC tackle Matt Kalil holding steady at No. 2

But a third Pac-12 player cracked the top 10 this week with Stanford guard David DeCastro climbing from the No. 12 to the No. 10 spot.

Here's Kiper on DeCastro:

Extremely consistent, plus athletic and powerful in the run game. A rare guard who could get some looks in the first round. In fact, this is as high as we've seen an interior lineman in a while.

Stanford tackle Jonathan Martin and ASU linebacker Vontaze Burfict also appear in Kiper's latest top 25.

As a refresher, here's how Kiper rated the top five players at each position.

Steve Young, Trent Dilfer and Ron Jaworski evaluate Andrew Luck as the projected No. 1 overall pick to the Indianapolis Colts.

It takes a quarterback to know when a quarterback will be missed. So it's no surprise that when looking at the teams with the biggest voids to fill, ESPN's Brock Huard started with schools losing elite quarterbacks. Stanford is among the top five schools that Huard examined as having the biggest offseason holes .

Huard on Stanford:

Stanford might be losing the most prolific quarterback in the program's history in Andrew Luck -- which is saying something, given that John Elway and Jim Plunkett once grazed on The Farm -- but the Cardinal clearly are not losing their ground-and-pound identity. Signing three of the top offensive line prospects in the country will pay dividends in the long term, but filling the enormous shoes of Luck and three other probable first-round picks in this year's draft (OG David DeCastro, OT Jonathan Martin and TE Coby Fleener) will be a mighty task for coach David Shaw.

As a fan, player and now analyst who has been immersed in the Pac-10, now Pac-12, for more than three decades, watching what Jim Harbaugh did to reverse the fortunes of the Stanford program was remarkable. He changed the culture, provided an edge and energy desperately needed on the gridiron, and did so with the help of a once-in-a-generation quarterback who was both brainiac and maniac.

Huard is right on by identifying more than just Luck who is gone. And I'll go a step further and say that losing Delano Howell and Michael Thomas at the safety positions could be just as difficult to overcome. The Cardinal have a lot of good athletes who could step in at the safety spots -- Jordan Richards and Devon Carrington both saw extended action this season. But both are still very raw and lack the experience the outgoing duo possessed.

Having that outstanding front seven should give the secondary a little cover -- at least in the first couple of games -- for the new starters to get acclimated.

I'm also curious -- and sort of excited -- to see who plays the Fleener role in the three-tight-end formations. Zach Ertz and Levine Toilolo both bring different skill sets to the position, but neither has the burst of speed that Fleener brought going over the middle on those deep routes. Following the Notre Dame victory, Shaw said that he and his staff have been searching the country for a tight end who can do what Fleener can do. Not surprising, he said they haven't found anyone. I'm expecting Ertz and Toilolo to have very productive seasons -- particularly since they are the veterans of the receiving corps.

Perhaps with the ongoing development of Ty Montgomery and some of the incoming talent at wide receiver, the Cardinal won't have to rely as much on a tight end for a deep-threat option. But knowing Shaw's penchant for tight ends, you have to figure they'll continue to play a major role in the receiving game.

We've seen David Shaw the offensive coordinator; David Shaw the head coach, recruiter and motivator. We've seen the David Shaw who gets perturbed when his strategies are questioned and the David Shaw who is humbled by praise and deflects kudos onto his assistants and players.

But there's one David Shaw we're yet to see: David Shaw the disciplinarian.

While so much of the attention heading into next season's opener against San Jose State was going to focus on who would start at quarterback, now we must also turn our attention to the defensive side of the ball and wonder who will be starting at inside linebacker. And for all the wrong reasons.

If memory serves, there were no players suspended or forced to miss time for violating team rules in the 2011 season. If there were, it wasn't made public and they weren't starters. But Shayne Skov is one of the best linebackers in the country, a poster boy for hard work and probably the most visible player on the 2012 roster. Whatever course of action Shaw takes in dealing with Skov's reported DUI will serve as a precedent for how all other disciplinary actions are taken.

I think it's safe to assume he's not going to dismiss Skov from the team -- as Mike Leach did yesterday with Washington State linebacker C.J. Mizell. Skov has neither the history nor the offense to warrant that severe of a punishment. He's a good teammate, a good student -- and if you work in the media -- a pretty good quote. All in all, he's a good guy who made a beyond-idiotic mistake.

But Shaw can't let this slide with a couple extra laps after practice and a stern talking-to, either. Skov put his life and the lives of others in jeopardy when he decided to knock back x-amount of cocktails and then turn the key.

Shaw hasn't made any comments about the incident other than an official statement issued through the school. But if David Shaw the disciplinarian is anything like the head coach, he'll approach it in the same, cool and even-tempered demeanor in which he approaches most things. But if anyone saw how distressed Shaw was when talking about Skov's injury back in Tucson, or the way he exploded in Pullman following an illegal hit on Chris Owusu, it's clear he loves his players and he's going to have their back. That makes whatever decision to come that much harder.

A suspension is certainly in order. How many games is the question. Clouding the issue is Skov's health. He's still recovering from a knee injury and we won't know if he'll be 100 percent to start the season. If he is fully healthy -- and he's suspended for the San Jose State and Duke games -- that seems fair.

But if he's still a couple of weeks away from being healthy when the season starts -- and he's suspended for both of those games -- is it really a just punishment? Suspending him for games he might have not played in -- or only played a minor role -- seems like doling out discipline with a dust pan rather than an iron fist.

Which brings us to the third game of the season: USC. This is one of the marquee games on Stanford's 2012 schedule and a true measuring stick for the Cardinal in the post-Andrew Luck era. Stanford doesn't need Skov to beat USC. Stanford doesn't need Skov at all -- for that matter. But they are a better team with him.

Whatever punishment Skov is to serve should begin when he's ready to play football. If that's the third game of the season, so be it. Using Skov's injury as a subterfuge for suspension would be letting him off the hook and a disservice to the position Shaw holds.

Shaw is, above all, a Stanford man. Now it's up to him -- David Shaw the disciplinarian -- to back up the ideals he so frequently preaches.

Going to Stanford doesn't prevent you from doing stupid things. So we have Cardinal linebacker Shayne Skov, who was arrested and jailed last weekend for driving under the influence.

The Stanford Daily, which first reported the arrest, said Skov "was transported to the San Jose main jail and booked for driving under the influence at 2 a.m. Sunday." He was pulled over in the parking lot of his dormitory.

It will be interesting to see how Stanford handles this. It seems like a serious but isolated incident. Skov is a good student, NFL prospect and a great team leader. If healthy, he likely would rate as the top returning inside linebacker in the Pac-12.

But he's not irreplaceable. Stanford knows this because it played solid defense even after he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the season's third game at Arizona. Skov is still not 100 percent and is not expected to see much action in spring practice.

Of course, with Skov, the Cardinal's 3-4 defense is much better than without him, even with plenty of depth at the position.

"We have an expected standard of excellence and conduct for our players and Shayne failed to adhere to those standards," Stanford coach David Shaw said in a statement released through a team spokesman. "It's a matter we are taking very seriously. Shayne will be responsible to adhere to any legal responsibilities regarding this event along with ramifications which will be determined by the program."

That means the ice under Skov's cleats is thin. The Cardinal open the 2012 season against San Jose State and then play host to Duke. They won't need Skov to win those games, if Shaw opts to suspend him.

But USC comes a-calling in Week 3. Skov's presence would certainly come in handy against Matt Barkley & Co.