Questions lack answers as spring drills begin
Oddly enough, Stanford’s basketball team has twice as many healthy former high school quarterbacks as the football team, and the baseball team has just as many.
Jack Richardson, a walk-on from Salinas, is apparently head coach David Shaw’s only healthy quarterback going into Tuesday’s start of spring practice.
Starter K.J. Costello has a hip injury — how or when he got it hasn’t been disclosed. Redshirt freshman Davis Mills also is rehabbing from an injury, and Keller Chryst is ready to head elsewhere to play as a graduate transfer.
One position that looks well stocked is tailback, although it’s doubtful that Bryce Love will receive a lot of action in the spring. The coaches don’t need to put their Heisman candidate at risk of an injury, especially with a tailback stable that includes Cameron Scarlett, Trevor Speights, Dorian Maddox and maybe receiver Connor Wedington.
Here are five key questions as the Cardinal enter spring drills: Might Richardson’s arm fall off by the end of the April 14 spring game?
Seriously, he could be the only quarterback standing for the two spring sessions unless Shaw enlists wide receiver Jay Tyler, a former high school quarterback, to play on an emergency basis.
Richardson seems to have been destined to be a Stanford athlete. His father, Kevin, was a Cardinal linebacker who led the team in tackles in 1987. His mother, the former Teresa Smith, was the Pac-10 volleyball Player of the Year for Stanford in 1986.
Meanwhile, the basketball team has two players who were high school quarterbacks, Reid Travis and Michael Humphrey.
At Sunken Diamond is freshman outfielder Tim Tawa, a two-time state football Player of the Year in Oregon as a record-setting passer at West Linn High. Where will Foster Sarell play?
Freshman Walker Little and A.T. Hall — who will be a fifth-year player — return as the starting tackles. Dev- ery Hamilton, who subbed ably last season as a redshirt freshman when Little was hurt, is also available.
Sarell, a native of Graham, Wash., rated the nation’s top prep offensive tackle and No. 2 overall recruit by Scout, would appear to be too good of a player to sit. So something will have to give.
The rest of the line is set, with center Jesse Burkett and guards Nate Herbig and Brandon Fanaika. Fanaika decided to come back as a fifth-year player and figures to replace the departed David Bright at left guard. Who will produce on the defensive line?
Stanford lost not only AllPac-12 tackle Harrison Phillips, the team’s leading tackler, but also starting end Eric Cotton. Tackle Michael Williams underwent heart surgery in January. The procedure probably won’t keep him from playing next season.
Others like tackle Dalyn Wade-Perry and ends Jovan Swann and Thomas Schaffer will try to land starting spots alongside incumbent end Dylan Jackson. Is Sean Barton all the way back?
He was promising as a starting inside linebacker until a season-ending knee injury in Week 3 at San Diego State. “Take it to the bank. I’ll be back,” he tweeted at the time.
If he’s fit, he could form a terrific tandem with Bobby Okereke.
The outside-backer positions should be in good hands, too, with Joey Alfieri (now free of the inside-backer experiment), Curtis Robinson, Casey Toohill and Jordan Fox returning, and Gabe Reid returning from a Mormom mission. Who will replace Justin Reid at free safety?
Frank Buncom IV, Ben Edwards and Brandon Simmons will be in the mix, as will redshirt freshman Stuart Head. Replacing Reid won’t be easy; he was one of the top safeties in the nation and frequently doubled as the nickel back. The latter job might go to Malik Antoine.
Stanford is strong at cornerback. Alijah Holder is back after having his two previous seasons cut short by injuries. He joins fifth-year man Alameen Murphy and up-and-comer Paulson Adebo. Terrence Alexander, who had been expected to return after missing almost all of last season with an arm injury, announced last week that he has opted to leave Stanford after graduation and play as a graduate transfer elsewhere.