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How well did Harbaugh develop NFL players at Stanford?

jwinslow

A MAN OF BETRAYED JUSTICE
Staff member
Tourney Pick'em Champ
Given some of the draft picks by Harbaugh (and the hype about 2* gems), I thought I'd break down his recruiting efforts (per Scout.com) and how it translated to the draft.

TL;DR version - Harbaugh produced a small number of NFL players from low rankings but often did so from a pool of about 10+ guys.


Dec 2006 - Harbaugh hired.

April 2007 - Trent Edwards, Okwu, Brandon Edwards drafted. Not coached by Jim.

April 2008 - none

April 2009 - none

2010 - 3* #40 RB Toby Gerhart (2nd, 67 ovr)
...... 4* #17 TE Jim Dray (7th, 233 ovr)
...... 4* #08 TE Erik Lorig (7th, 253 ovr)

2011 - 2* #79 MLB Owen Marecic (4th, 124 ovr)
...... 4* #17 DT Sione Fua (3rd, 97th ovr)
...... 3* #61 WR Richard Sherman (5th, 154 ovr)
...... ?? ??? WR Ryan Whalen (6th, 167 ovr)

*** Harbaugh leaves for San Fran (Jan 2011). ***


2012 - 5* #04 QB Andrew Luck (1st, 1 ovr)
...... 4* #03 OC David DeCastro (1st, 24 ovr)
...... 3* #39 TE Coby Fleener (2nd, 34 ovr)
...... 3* #60 OT Jonathan Martin (2nd, 42 ovr)

2013 - 4* #04 TE Zach Ertz - 6th rd, #204 overall NFL Draft
...... 4* #06 TE Levine Toilolo - 4th rd, #133 overall NFL Draft
...... 4* #29 RB Stepfan Taylor - 5th rd, #140 overall NFL Draft

2014 - 3* #87 DE Trent Murphy - 2nd rd, #47 overall NFL Draft
...... 4* #03 FB Tyler Gaffney - 6th rd, #204 overall NFL Draft
...... 3* #44 OT Cameron Fleming 4th rd, #140 overall NFL Draft
...... 3* #52 OG David Yankey - 5th rd, #145 overall NFL draft
...... 2* #234 S DB Ed Reynolds - 5th rd, #162 overall NFL Draft
...... 2* #208 DE Ben Gardner - 7th rd, #231 overall NFL Draft

2015 - 4* #09 OT Andrus Peat - 1st rd, #13 overall NFL Draft (two 5* OL in his class)
...... 3* #75 WR Jordan Richards - 2nd rd, #64 overall NFL Draft as a SS
...... 3* #42 DE Henry Anderson - 3rd rd, #93 overall NFL Draft
...... 4* #09 S Alex Carter - 3rd rd, #80 overall NFL Draft
...... 4* #27 WR Ty Montgomery - 3rd rd, #94 overall NFL Draft
...... ?? ??? DT David Parry - 5th rd, #151 overall NFL Draft


Recruiting classes (drafted in bold)
2005 said:
**** #8 TE Erik Lorig - 7th rd, #253 overall NFL Draft
**** #10 DT Ekom Udofia
**** #17 TE James Dray - 7th rd, #233 overall NFL Draft
**** #22 DE Will Powers

*** Ladner, McGillicuddy, McAndrews, Pritchard, Kopa, Snyder, Campbell, Evans, Marinelli

** Carter, McNally, Hobbs, Johnson
2005 - 1 of 16 players drafted. NOT Jim's recruits.
2006 said:
**** #12 DE Levirt Griffin
*** #40 RB Gerhart - 4th rd, #67 overall NFL Draft
*** #40 S Rance
*** #61 WR Sherman - 5th rd, #154 overall NFL Draft

*** Hall, McBride, Macaluso, Phillips

** Loukas, Porras, Bulcke, Carr, Mueller, Kyed, McGraw, Weinberer, Yancy, Dembesky
2006 - 3 of 19 drafted overall.
.......... 3 of 09 Harbaugh verbals drafted (he was hired in Dec).
2007 said:
**** #1 K David Green
**** #21 DT Matthew Masifilo
**** #21 DT Kellen Kiilsgaard
*** #25 MLB Jonathan Frink
*** #39 TE Coby Fleener - 2nd rd, #34 overall NFL Draft

*** Crow, Amajoyi, Hallick, Halamandaris, Mabry, Baldwin, Wiser, Keiser, Gatewood

** #79 MLB Owen Marecic - 4th rd, #124 overall NFL Draft

** Beregn, Bentler, Skaufel, Stewart
?? WR Ryan Whalen - 6th rd, #167 overall NFL Draft
2007 - 3 of 20 drafted. Harbaugh's first true class. #43rd in team rankings.
......... 3 of 16 sleepers (3 or 2*) were drafted. 1 was a 2*. 1 was unknown.

***I can't find a ranking for Ryan Whalen or a listing in the class, though I believe he's a 2007 kid. I added him here.
2008 said:
***** #04 QB Andrew Luck - 1st rd, #1 overall NFL draft
**** #03 OC David DeCastro - 1st rd, #24 overall NFL draft

**** #02 TE Konrad Reuland
**** #17 RB Delano Howell
*** #60 OT Jonathan Martin - 2nd rd, #42 overall NFL Draft

*** Craig, Thomas, Evans, Schwartzstein, Owusu, Reuland, Bernard, Thomas, Turner, Zychlinski

** Debniak, Scott, Bademosi
2008 - 3 of 19 drafted. 44th overall class. Luck/DeCastro = blue chippers, not Martin.
.......... 1 of 13 sleepers (3 or 2*) were drafted, none were 2*.

Harbaugh's role diminishes a bit with this class (as it was on campus for 2 years with Jim), but it's still worth listing:
2009 said:
***** #1 MLB Shayne Skov
**** #04 TE Zach Ertz - 6th rd, #204 overall NFL Draft
**** #06 TE Levine Toilolo - 4th rd, #133 overall NFL Draft

**** #19 QB Josh Nunes
**** #22 RB Usua Amanam
**** #03 FB Tyler Gaffney - 6th rd, #204 overall NFL Draft
**** #19 DT Terrence Stephens
**** #27 WR Jamal Rashad Patterson
**** #29 WR Jemari Roberts
**** #29 RB Stepfan Taylor - 5th rd, #140 overall NFL Draft

*** #87 DE Trent Murphy - 2nd rd, #47 overall NFL Draft

*** Wilkes, Najvar, Hewitt, Hill, Terrell, Lancaster, Danser, Mauro, Meinken

** Brown, Gardner
2009 - 5 of 22 drafted. 16th overall class. 4 of 5 picks were 4*.
.......... 1 of 12 sleepers (3 or 2*) were drafted, none were 2*.

Trent Murphy was recruited by Harbaugh but barely played until Shaw took over.


Harbaugh left Stanford after the 2011 bowl game, after the 2010 class finished year one and before the 2011 class signed. As such, I'm not sure it's useful to analyze any further classes. To some degree, the 2009 class was only partially Harbaugh's development (see Murphy). The 2014 & 2015 drafts yielded a lot more picks for Stanford, though Harbaugh's development of most of them was minimal due to his coaching duties in San Francisco.
 
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