The future is bright at the tight end position for Stanford after signing Lukas Ungar and Benjamin Yurosek Wednesday, but expectations for the position group in the 2020 season are murky after junior Colby Parkinson announced he will enter the NFL Draft.

On paper it seems obvious that Stanford's best "skill" players on the offense next season will be the receivers -- a position group that returns every major contributor and will add more talent to the competition -- and running backs Austin Jones and Nathaniel Peat. However, there always is a role for tight ends in David Shaw's offense and Ungar and Yurosek figure to compete against Bradley Archer, Scooter Harrington and Tucker Fisk.

Shaw has never played a true freshman tight end in a major role, which means that, barring a surprise, Ungar and Yurosek will redshirt and spend most of their freshman season doing their best to prepare the No. 1 defense by giving the Cardinal scout team offense a big boost in talent.

Stanford's tradition of using tight ends to great effect was a major draw for Ungar and Yurosek.

So much so that Ungar made the trip out from New Jersey before his junior year to camp for an offer. He got one later that summer and from that moment on Stanford was in the lead for the three sport athlete (basketball and lacrosse). He committed to Stanford over final five competitors Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State and Penn State.

Ungar's junior season was almost completely wiped out when he broke his wrist and his senior season never got off the ground because of a second injury. Shaw shared on signing day that Ungar's rehab is going well and he should be able to play lacrosse next spring.

Cardinal Sports Report was on hand to watch Ungar's performance at Stanford's camp and watching the limited Hudl available since then backs up the evaluation from Shaw at signing day: "He's an athlete. He's quick and explosive. There are a lot of different things he can do on a football field."

This is what Delbarton School head coach Brian Bowers had to say about Ungar after Stanford offered last year:

"Even though he plays three sports, he does have natural strength. He’s good in the weight room, but he really hasn’t parked himself in there for an extended period of time. You look at his upside, it’s tremendous.

In his 16 years as head coach, Bowers has called up maybe a "handful" of freshmen to play varsity. Ungar was one of those when the coaches realized he needed to be fast tracked because he was too good to keep at the lower levels.

"As a sophomore he really exploded onto the scene as a multi-faceted tight end who can really do it all. He can run routes, he can catch, he can block."

Yurosek was a classic two-way star for his high school team and he led Bakersfield Christian to a state championship this winter. He was recruited by several schools to play defense and Stanford defensive coordinator Lance Anderson believes that Yurosek would be a very effective edge defender.

But Stanford separated itself from likely its top recruiting rival (Notre Dame) for Yurosek because the Cardinal wanted him to play his preferred position, tight end.

Yurosek "told me in no uncertain terms that he's an offensive player," Shaw said. "What I love about him is he plays offensively with a defensive mentality. He's a tough guy, he's physical, he's strong, but has that athleticism and versatility."

Yurosek appears set to play the in-line, or blocking, tight end position but watching his Hudl shows he has the ability to do a lot more than block.