In addition to producing a number of NFL coaches over the past few years, Stanford has turned into quite the pipeline to the pros for players. There are a number of Cardinal players who will make the jump and get drafted in the spring, but none might be as intriguing to NFL scouts and front offices than wide receiver Ty Montgomery.
Cardinal head coach David Shaw recently jumped on the CFB 24/7 Podcast to discuss the team moving forward after a loss last week to USC, but ended up going into a lengthy discussion about his star offensive player. A veteran NFL assistant, Shaw reached into the history books to come up with a good comparison for Montgomery.
"I look at him and say this guy needs to touch the ball every single way humanly possible, just because he's that kind of an athlete, that kind of a dynamic football player," Shaw said. "I spent a year in Philadelphia with Irving Fryar and you're talking about a compact, physical, explosive receiver. Irving ran a 4.3 coming out of Nebraska and he would rather run over somebody than run around him.
"Sometimes Ty has that same mentality. He can make you miss or lower his shoulder."
Fryar was the first receiver ever taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1984 NFL Draft. He ended up making it to the Super Bowl with the New England Patriots and made it to the Pro Bowl five times in a 17-year career. Known as an all-purpose star, Fryar also returned kicks and doubled as a rushing threat at times, too.
In Stanford's offense, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Montgomery is used in a similar manner. He is seeing his workload increase even more in his final year on the Farm.
"He could play running back, he could play receiver," Shaw said of Montgomery. "There's a lot of different positions he could play. Irving Fryar was just like that and Ty is actually bigger to tell you the truth."
While nobody is projecting Montgomery to go No. 1 overall like Fryar, the Stanford receiver could end up being a first-round pick when all is said and done.
Either way, it's a lofty comparison for Shaw to make and Montgomery to live up to.
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
