Stanford:
Six key performers will miss the 13th-ranked Cardinal’s Friday night opener against San Diego State.
Although generally pleased with Stanford’s training camp, David Shaw was less sanguine Monday about the fact that six key performers will miss Friday night’s opening game against San Diego State.
The No. 13 Cardinal will be without starters Jesse Burkett (center) and Alijah Holder (cornerback) as well as cornerback Malik Antoine, safety and special-teams standout Brandon Simmons and linebackers Curtis Robinson and Jordan Perez, all because of injuries.
Asked if that was an inordinate number of injuries, Shaw said most teams “are battling something like that.”
Stanford issued its first depth chart of the season for the 6 p.m. game at Stanford Stadium, including the following developments:
Redshirt freshman Drew Dalman, a Salinas native, will start at center, handling the important role of calling the blocking signals. Burkett may miss the following week’s USC game, too, Shaw said. Brian Chaffin probably will handle the position in goalline and short-yardage situations, as he did last year.
The left-guard starting spot is still up in the air. Both Devery Hamilton and Foster Sarell will play, Shaw said, indicating that they’re a step ahead of fifth-year man Brandon Fanaika.
Reagan Williams gets the nod over Houston Heimuli as the replacement for the graduated Daniel Marx at fullback. “They’ll change week to week depending on what the game plan calls for,” Shaw said.
Redshirt freshman Paulson Adebo, one of the stars of spring practice and training camp, will start at cornerback. With Holder out, another fifth-year man, Alameen Murphy, will start on the other side.
In a revamped defensive line, tackle Michael Williams and end Jovan Swann will start, along with holdover Dylan Jackson. Three other players who missed at least part of camp — Dalyn WadePerry, Ryan Johnson and Bo Peek — will be part of the rotation.
In the prime backup roles behind safety starters Frank Buncom and Ben Edwards are redshirt freshmen Stuart Head and Noah Williams.
Another redshirt freshman, Davis Mills, is the No. 2 quarterback.
The true freshmen who are most likely to play this year, Shaw said, are defensive end Thomas Booker and wide receiver Michael Wilson.
The new NCAA rule allowing players to maintain their redshirt status as long as they don’t play more than four games has led the coaches to look at freshmen differently, Shaw said.
“If a guy’s ready at midseason, we can put him out there,” he said. “We’ve got four games to play with.”
In the past, freshmen might have tended to ease off in practice at midseason if they haven’t played, knowing they probably won’t get on the field at all, he said. Now “we keep pushing those guys all year. The last four games, that’s a great opportunity for a guy who’s continued to grow and prepare.”
Bryce Love will begin his Heisman Trophy pursuit against a Mountain West team that stunned the Cardinal 20-17 in San Diego last year.
Love, stronger and 10 pounds heavier, has improved his pass blocking, Shaw said, adding that he was good at it last season but is “markedly better this year.” He might be more involved as a pass catcher, but Shaw wasn’t about to give away anything more about Love’s role.
“While we want to feature one of the best players in college football, we don’t want to wear him out,” he said.