After three weeks away from the practice field the Cardinal went back to work Tuesday night; head coach David Shaw said afterward that spring would be a success if they had a better tackling team and made progress to "perfect" technique.
"A lot of our individual work has to do with what we didn't do at a high level last year," Shaw said. "We're doing more tackling drills. Even though we didn't do a live session with the full team (today) we did individual tackling drills and we'll continue those in the second session. By the end of spring for this to be a success we need to be a better tackling team. We need to be a more assignment and technique perfect team, not just good enough. That's what we're pushing for to reach our potential as a team."
According to PFF grades, Stanford was the No. 10 tackling team last season in the Pac-12 with a score of 69.1. The Cardinal were ahead of only Arizona State and Oregon State; that's not the company they want to keep.
The top tackling teams were Utah (91) and Washington (90.8). Those two teams met in the conference title game. Obviously a lot more went into their success than that stat, but it's a telling grade about a unit's discipline.
Just how far have the Cardinal fallen as a tackling team? Stanford last won the conference in 2015 and that defense had an 87.2 tackling grade, or a difference of 18.1 from last year.
Stanford lost two of its best individual tacklers from last season -- Sean Barton (82.3) and Joey Alfieri (76.7) -- and the Cardinal need to find a new pair of inside linebackers. Also, proper tackling technique and angles were a major problem in the defensive backfield, where there are several competitions this offseason.
"The good thing was we were able to do some live tackling drills one-on-one," said defensive coordinator Lance Anderson. "That was an area we needed improvement. We had some really good tackling sessions in the first half. We learned a lot from it. It wasn't all good, but it's good to get that on film so guys can learn from the mistakes they're making that showed up a lot in games last year.
"We're putting them in tough situations where it's one-on-one tackling where the offense is working just as hard to break that tackle or make a guy miss. You're putting guys in a situation they're going to be at in a game. Can they make that tackle? There aren't as many bodies around and things like that. There is less chance guys are going to get hurt. It's just one-on-one tackling.
"We look for guys who are stopping their feet, lunging, rather than bringing their feet and rolling their hips through. You saw guys get better in those areas. But you still see some guys lunging and reaching instead of bringing their feet, playing with a good base. There is a lot of feedback there they can learn from."
The Cardinal have to rely on one-on-one drills because they're in a similar boat as TCU, which announced that it will not have a spring game because the injuries that hindered the team all of last season remain a problem. Stanford plans to hold a spring game April 13 despite having fewer than 40 players available for each of the practices before they stopped for finals and spring break.
There are more players available now -- most notably Dylan Powell is full-go at guard, which gives Stanford five healthy linemen -- but Shaw told media after practice Tuesday that there were no other "significant changes" to the list of available players. (Cardinal Sports Report will provide an account of who is participating after the open practice Saturday.)
The Cardinal held fewer full-contact team periods in the first seven practices than they typically do because of the injuries. For example, tight end Tucker Fisk was the right tackle when they played 11 vs. 11 (and he did well, actually) and there were more walk-on wide receivers available (three) than scholarship players (Michael Wilson and Connor Wedington).
Don't expect there to be much more team contact as players get back on the field.
"I can never completely abandon live work and team work, because it's football," Shaw said. "This is our chance to try to get better as a team. We'll do that but it's not going to be our main emphasis. Our emphasis is still going to be our individual drills, small group work and really work on technique. I think we've made some strides since the beginning of spring.
"We cut down on scheme so in all three phases there were fewer mistakes. I think when guys make fewer mistakes they play faster. They play with more confidence, especially the younger guys who you have. You don't inundate their brain with a lot of new information, so they can play fast and physical. We saw that a lot. It was pretty competitive. When we did have team, guys did well, they kept each other up, guys didn't hit the ground. This session we'll do some more live work and be able to tackle guys and be pretty physical. I anticipate that going well."
There have not been many opportunities so far for individuals to shine in true football situations, but Shaw pointed to several players who had good first sessions: running back Dorian Maddox, cornerbacks Paulson Adebo and Obi Eboh, and quarterback KJ Costello.
"Two springs ago he (Maddox) had a knee injury. He came back and was able to help us this year in special teams and on offense. He now looks like he did two springs ago -- quicker, taking a lot of reps and doing a really good job. KJ (Costello) is back and looks like KJ.
"I think Paulson Adebo is doing really well. Obi (Eboh) has taken huge strides, I believe. That's just a few names. I think as a group guys are practicing well and practicing hard and getting better. It sounds such a cliche, but we have to. We can't just go out there and run around and hit each other. We have to improve on our skills and techniques to be a better team."
Like almost every other position group, the defensive backfield is a skeleton crew because of injuries. Safeties Stuart Head and Kendall Williamson still aren't practicing; their return to action and the arrival of the freshmen in June will change the competition level. Also, Anderson praised JJ Parson for stepping up this year.
"He has not really played and is a walk-on. He did really well in our winter workouts and that's continued over to the football field. It's great to see a guy who gets some opportunity because of injuries and he has responded. Hopefully he can work his way into a role."
