Stanford's O-line: Was it Harbaugh, Drevno, or the players? What will it take..?

So in watching the Orange Bowl, two things caught my eye:

1.) Coach Harbaugh's playcalling was gorgeous. It was the type of football I like to see. It wasn't quite the aerial display that a Shanahan or Reid currently employs.. But it was more along the lines of what Mariucci would've done with the preference to run the ball. The thing I liked about it was the aggression. Yes, Harbaugh runs effectively like Mooch, but he also had the killer instinct to attack when they were up unlike Mooch.

2.) The thing that made Stanford GO was the OFFENSIVE LINE. The runningbacks had a lot of holes to run through against VT. Meanwhile, Andrew Luck had all day to throw the ball. When you have pass protection like that, an elite college playcaller, and a running game... it makes things SUPER EASY for Luck.

WHICH BRINGS ME TO MY DISCUSSION...
What is it about Stanford's offensive line that makes it so good, and could that be brought to the 49ers?

Was Harbaugh or their offensive line coach, Tim Drevno, the mastermind behind the line? Or was the offensive line made up of high-caliber players who are all going to the pros?

As we know, one of the major constants of the 49ers Dynasty during the '80s and '90s was Bobb McKittrick. Year in and year out, he took low-round draft picks and produced great offensive lines. Watching the Stanford offensive line made me wonder if such a mastermind existed in Harbaugh and/or Drevno.

With that in mind, it made me salivate to think what they could do with our offensive line. We have 3 first-round offensive linemen (Staley, Davis, Iupati), while Chilo and Baas are second-round linemen. They have the potential to be VERY GOOD, yet haven't been able to produce. (Of course, I wonder if we retain Baas and if Chilo will ever be anything more than the second-coming of Kwame Harris).

Thoughts?

[ Edited by Wubbie on Jan 8, 2011 at 23:02:17 ]

Hope they can make our offensive line more complete & aggressive!

Will it be Harbaugh, Drevno, or the players? What will it take to get Chilo Rachal out of the starting line-up?!

Yes, I would say Harbaugh's strengths are QB first and oline second.

Stanford played well as a unit, picked up pressure pretty well but Luck made them look pretty good too. Both are helped by good coaching and system so I think he will really get the Niners players potential fully realized.

Really the all the motion f**ked with my mind. then 2 guys move left, motion the fb. then the tight ends. And i one point i swear i shall the oline just switch sides and then someone motioned again!! I was like what the f is going on, the defense new it was a run but they couldn't figure out who had what!

Originally posted by ChaunceyGardner:
Yes, I would say Harbaugh's strengths are QB first and oline second.

Stanford played well as a unit, picked up pressure pretty well but Luck made them look pretty good too. Both are helped by good coaching and system so I think he will really get the Niners players potential fully realized.

It's a "chicken or the egg?" argument. Andrew Luck is an elite college QB and deserves to go #1, but I think the success of that offense was primarily the offensive line.

Originally posted by TheGoldDiggerrrr:
Really the all the motion f**ked with my mind. then 2 guys move left, motion the fb. then the tight ends. And i one point i swear i shall the oline just switch sides and then someone motioned again!! I was like what the f is going on, the defense new it was a run but they couldn't figure out who had what!

Yawp! I can't wait to see Iupati shufflin'.

I heard that Harbaugh runs the ball a lot. Hopefully he realizes that we aren't veery good at running, and decides to play to our strengths.

Hate to spam my own topic, but in watching that game and seeing what's possible, I'm so excited about what Harbaugh could possibly do to our offense.

We have a high-level QB, two athletic tight ends (with one of them being one of the best in the NFL), and an offensive line that needs to emerge. I think our wide receivers are overrated, but who knows? Our QB play and offensive coordinators have sucked the past few years.

When I look at other teams offenses throughout the league, I think it's exciting what we could possibly become. You see the Chiefs and Ravens tomorrow. They're two of the best running teams in the NFL, but they know how to balance the run with the pass. When you see Harbaugh's Stanford offense, you see that as well... but you also see a lot of play action involved. A lot of that is Andrew Luck (who is GREAT at the fake), but a large percentage of their passing plays were off play action. It's so awesome seeing defenders freeze due to indecisiveness.

Originally posted by Wubbie:
Hate to spam my own topic, but in watching that game and seeing what's possible, I'm so excited about what Harbaugh could possibly do to our offense.

We have a high-level QB, two athletic tight ends (with one of them being one of the best in the NFL), and an offensive line that needs to emerge. I think our wide receivers are overrated, but who knows? Our QB play and offensive coordinators have sucked the past few years.

When I look at other teams offenses throughout the league, I think it's exciting what we could possibly become. You see the Chiefs and Ravens tomorrow. They're two of the best running teams in the NFL, but they know how to balance the run with the pass. When you see Harbaugh's Stanford offense, you see that as well... but you also see a lot of play action involved. A lot of that is Andrew Luck (who is GREAT at the fake), but a large percentage of their passing plays were off play action. It's so awesome seeing defenders freeze due to indecisiveness.

High level QB? I'm sure we don't have that- yet anyway. If I had to guess I would say that you meant high level RB. Is that the case?

Originally posted by GorefullBore:

Originally posted by Wubbie:
Hate to spam my own topic, but in watching that game and seeing what's possible, I'm so excited about what Harbaugh could possibly do to our offense.

We have a high-level QB, two athletic tight ends (with one of them being one of the best in the NFL), and an offensive line that needs to emerge. I think our wide receivers are overrated, but who knows? Our QB play and offensive coordinators have sucked the past few years.

When I look at other teams offenses throughout the league, I think it's exciting what we could possibly become. You see the Chiefs and Ravens tomorrow. They're two of the best running teams in the NFL, but they know how to balance the run with the pass. When you see Harbaugh's Stanford offense, you see that as well... but you also see a lot of play action involved. A lot of that is Andrew Luck (who is GREAT at the fake), but a large percentage of their passing plays were off play action. It's so awesome seeing defenders freeze due to indecisiveness.

High level QB? I'm sure we don't have that- yet anyway. If I had to guess I would say that you meant high level RB. Is that the case?

WHOOPS!!!

Haha, yes, I meant high-level RB.

As cool as those shifts were in the game, i think that they would be procedural penalties in the no fun league.

Originally posted by darkknight49:
As cool as those shifts were in the game, i think that they would be procedural penalties in the no fun league.

i didn't get to see it. but if only 1 person was motionig at a time it is legal.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=rivals-1130148

Average weight of Stanford OL 300.8 lbs. not the largest line in college ball.


Leverage, positioning and Red Bull to get the adrenaline going will do it all the time.

Gatorade ain't go to keep you pumped up for 60 minutes of football. Red Bull - it's legal, gives you a long lasting buzz, plus your threshold for pain skyrockets.

Originally posted by Wubbie:
So in watching the Orange Bowl, two things caught my eye:

1.) Coach Harbaugh's playcalling was gorgeous. It was the type of football I like to see. It wasn't quite the aerial display that a Shanahan or Reid currently employs.. But it was more along the lines of what Mariucci would've done with the preference to run the ball. The thing I liked about it was the aggression. Yes, Harbaugh runs effectively like Mooch, but he also had the killer instinct to attack when they were up unlike Mooch.

2.) The thing that made Stanford GO was the OFFENSIVE LINE. The runningbacks had a lot of holes to run through against VT. Meanwhile, Andrew Luck had all day to throw the ball. When you have pass protection like that, an elite college playcaller, and a running game... it makes things SUPER EASY for Luck.

WHICH BRINGS ME TO MY DISCUSSION...
What is it about Stanford's offensive line that makes it so good, and could that be brought to the 49ers?

Was Harbaugh or their offensive line coach, Tim Drevno, the mastermind behind the line? Or was the offensive line made up of high-caliber players who are all going to the pros?

As we know, one of the major constants of the 49ers Dynasty during the '80s and '90s was Bobb McKittrick. Year in and year out, he took low-round draft picks and produced great offensive lines. Watching the Stanford offensive line made me wonder if such a mastermind existed in Harbaugh and/or Drevno.

With that in mind, it made me salivate to think what they could do with our offensive line. We have 3 first-round offensive linemen (Staley, Davis, Iupati), while Chilo and Baas are second-round linemen. They have the potential to be VERY GOOD, yet haven't been able to produce. (Of course, I wonder if we retain Baas and if Chilo will ever be anything more than the second-coming of Kwame Harris).

Thoughts?

I believe it was continuity on the OL. We have a young talented OL and with another year with the same 5 they could really become a special group. Only Chilo Rachal should be competing to remain a starter but the other 4 are sure to be in place for next year.

The question is should Solari be their coach or should Jim bring in his OL from Stanford.

Originally posted by niner4life21:
I heard that Harbaugh runs the ball a lot. Hopefully he realizes that we aren't veery good at running, and decides to play to our strengths.

6,414 yards in 6 seasons. 4.7 yards per carry average. 76.4 yards per game average.

Frank Gore does not agree with you.