Big shoes to fill, experience to do it
matter if the inexperienced depth behind those starters flounders when given opportunities.
It starts with the offensive and defensive lines, historically two of Stanford’s strongest positional groups. This season, they could be the weak spots.
The Cardinal like to go twodeep on the defensive line, meaning they will be counting on three redshirt freshmen — Jovann Swan, Mike Williams and Thomas Schaffer — to earn significant playing time. The starters in front of them are fifth-year senior Eric Cotton and redshirt sophomore Dylan Jackson at end and senior Harrison Phillips at tackle. Phillips put up big numbers playing next to Thomas last season but will need to manufacture his own pressure for this group to succeed.
“It’s a bit of a group project,” Stanford coach David Shaw said in training camp. “Harrison Phillips has taken the reins of the room, which is awesome. He’s playing his best football, and he’s emerging as a leader on this team, not just defensively but as a whole.”
While A.T. Hall, the expected starter at right tackle, didn’t make the trip to Australia, the Cardinal could be starting four seniors at points during the season. Normally this would be a good sign, but this is a line that, although it blocked well for the run, was among the worst in the conference in pass protection last season. Stanford has a glut of young blockers waiting in the wings, including highly touted freshman tackles Walker Little and Foster Sarell, who could be pressed into action early if the older starting unit struggles.
They’ll be protecting quarterback Keller Chryst, who went 6-0 as a starter last season and has fully recovered from a right knee ligament injury in the Sun Bowl. The senior returns to an offense loaded with weapons at his disposal, most notably running back Bryce Love. The junior isn’t a McCaffrey clone, but he averaged more than 7 yards per carry last season and is fast and shifty enough to potentially have a monster season as a firsttime starter.
Chryst also has the benefit of one of the deepest tight end groups in the country. Redshirt junior Dalton Schultz will line up all over the field and will frequently be joined by massive redshirt freshmen Kaden Smith and Scooter Harrington and true freshman Colby Parkinson.
Chryst won games, but he didn’t complete many deep balls downfield. Excluding the bowl game, he averaged just over 150 passing yards per game as a starter, a number that will need to rise dramatically if Stanford wants to have flexibility on offense.
“He’s asking all the right questions and seeing things really well,” Shaw said. “He’s got a comfort about him right now. He just feels good about all the things that we’re doing. The biggest problem he has right now is that we’re really good in the secondary.”
Gone are the days when Stanford was forced to convert wide receivers to get enough bodies into the defensive backfield. This is the deepest positional group on the roster, capable of throwing a wrench into the seasons of the many talented Pac-12 quarterbacks Stanford will be facing.
The big name is junior strong safety Justin Reid, who could feasibly be playing in the same league as his brother, 49ers safety Eric Reid, next season. The competition for the spot next to Reid at free safety, won by redshirt junior Brandon Simmons, was a highlight of training camp, and junior Quenton Meeks and redshirt junior Alijah Holder are about as good a cornerback duo as there is in college football. Both are 6foot-2 and potential high draft picks.
There’s no shortage of talent behind them. Redshirt junior Alameeen Murphy and senior cornerback Terrence Alexander would start on most teams in the Pac-12 and could see a lot of time in the nickel defense, and safety Ben Edwards played in 13 games last season and will frequently be on the field. Redshirt freshmen Obi Eboh and Malik Antoine are among those pushing for playing time.
“We can take it game by game, who starts at safety, who starts at nickel,” Shaw said. “It’s a great competition there.”
Being able to mix and match in the defensive backfield is a huge advantage in a conference becoming more pass-heavy by the season. If Stanford’s other positional groups prove to have as much depth as the secondary, the Cardinal could take home their fourth Pac-12 championship in six seasons.