Five players who could make a difference

Stanford may have lost its best player on each side of the ball when left tackle Walker Little and cornerback Paulson Adebo both opted out of the 2020 season to prepare for next year’s NFL draft.

But that still leaves plenty of talent on The Farm as the Cardinal tries to bounce back from its worst season in a decade.

On offense, Stanford features a highly recruited quarterback, an offensive line that is finally healthy, and perhaps the deepest receiving corps it has ever had under coach David Shaw.

Besides Adebo, the defense also lost two starting defensive lineman and two starting linebackers — leading tackler Andrew Pryts and Casey Toohill, who led the team in sacks. But while it’s not as experienced as the offense, the defense also has its share of playmakers.

Here are five players to watch for Stanfordthis season:

DAVIS MILLS, QB >> Is redshirt junior Davis Mills the next great Stanford quarterback?

The top-ranked quarterback in his class by Scout and Rivals, and the top-ranked pro- style quarterback by 247Sports, Mills already holds the school record for passing yards in a game. He threw for 504 yards last year against Washington State, completing 33 of 50 passes and breaking the 22-year- old mark of 450 yards set by Todd Husak.

That game against the Cougars was one of six starts Mills made in place of injured K.J. Costello, who transferred to Mississippi State in the offseason. Stanford went 2- 4 in those starts as Mills completed 65.6 percent of his passes for 1,960 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. Shaw described his form at the end of last season as “outstanding.”

“His play against Cal, his play against Notre Dame, I thought was borderline special,” Shaw said. “We could put a lot on him and it’s not too much for him. He can handle it all — protections, run game — very, very well. I think there’s a high ceiling out there and we’re going to try to push him to reach it.”

CONNOR WEDINGTON, WR/ KR >> Mills will benefit from a stacked group of receivers, including Connor Wedington (51 catches, 506 yards last season), Michael Wilson (56 catches, 672 yards, 5 TDs) and Simi Fehiko (6 TDs, 23.6 yards per catch).

“We have high expectations for ourselves and we definitely think we’re going to meet those expectations,” Wedington said. “We have a talented group, but beyond that we have a very hardworking group and a family environment in that receiver room.”

Wedington, a redshirt junior, went to Seattle over the summer. He trained with Seahawks players DK Metcalf, K. J. Wright, and Bobby Wagner, and matched up in drills with fellow Stanford alum Richard Sherman.

DREW DALMAN, OL >> The only lineman healthy enough to start every game last season, redshirt junior center Drew Dalman, will need to anchor a unit that will only have two upperclassmen starters, including senior tackle Foster Sarell.

The line will be counted on to rejuvenate a running game that was ranked 123rd out of 130 FBS teams in yards per game last year, an almost unbelievable number for a team that prides itself on having a balanced offense.

“Last year we were obviously really dissatisfied with the result so I think it always helps to have that extra motivation,” said Dalman, who was second-team all-conference last year. “We talked about a lot of young guys obviously and they were still figuring out what it takes to play at this level, and kind of the big challenge we issued to them was you’ve now played as freshmen, now you have to develop into a veteran.”

THOMAS BOOKER, DL >> Stanford defensive coordinator Lance Anderson said that the Cardinal needs more “disruptive” plays this year. Thomas Booker is the player most likely to deliver on that. The junior defensive end had 7.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss in his first two seasons.

“I think he’s really playing at a high level,” Anderson said. “(He’s a) very physical football player who has an opportunity to knock (offensive linemen) back and really create some disruption.” MALIK ANTOINE, DB >> Redshirt senior free safety Malik Antoine is a two-year captain who will be called on to organize the defense, a critical role considering Stanford’s abbreviated training camp.

“He has played a lot of snaps and he is extremely smart,” Anderson said. “I mean, he could coach most of the positions in this defense at this point. He is a high football IQ guy, does a great job of making the calls and getting lined up.”

Antoine started 20 games over the past two seasons, making 84 tackles. He intercepted passes on back-to-back defensive plays in against USC in 2018.