Stanford football begins fall camp on Monday. With it being year one of the Troy Taylor era and all, there are a lot of interesting questions and storylines. Below are five questions that I think are most important to ask as Stanford enters this phase. Enjoy!
RELATED: Five takeaways from Stanford’s Pac-12 Media Day
#1. Who will win the starting quarterback job? Stanford has four candidates for the starting quarterback position: Syracuse transfer Justin Lamson, Ashton Daniels, Ari Patu, and Myles Jackson. Lamson was a redshirt sophomore last season for the Orange, Daniels is a rising sophomore, Patu is a rising junior, and Jackson is an incoming 4-star freshman. Given if it is a whole new coaching staff and system, there isn’t really an advantage to having been in last year’s system other than familiarity with the personnel who are returning. This truly makes it an open competition.
At Pac-12 Media Day, Taylor didn’t give any indication on where he was leaning, so I guess we’ll have to just wait and see who ends up winning the job. My money at the moment would be on Lamson since he appeared to be on a track to start at Syracuse before he transferred out, but this really is a case where I wouldn’t shut the door on anyone. This is about as open of a quarterback battle as you can have. It’ll be interesting to see how it all shakes out.
#2. How will the offensive line come together? Stanford’s offensive line is one of the more interesting position groups on the entire team. Maybe the most interesting outside of quarterback. When you look at the roster, it’s clear that there are many different possible combinations that Stanford can roll with. Rising sophomore offensive tackle Fisher Anderson appears to be in line to start, rising senior Levi Rogers started 11 games last year, and Penn transfer Trevor Mayberry, a rising junior, appears likely to factor into the rotation as well. But beyond that, the lineup could go in any number of different directions.
#3. Who takes command of the secondary? Stanford is losing some key faces to their secondary in Kendall Williamson, Kyu Blu Kelly, and Jonathan McGill. And to a lesser extent only because he was on The Farm for just one season: Patrick Fields. With all those guys gone, there’s a huge void and need for someone to fill those shoes. The return of cornerback Zahran Manley should help while safeties Jimmy Wyrick and Alaka’i Gilman should get a lot of snaps as well. But outside of them, much like the offensive line, there are a number of different directions this unit can go. It’ll be fun to see how it all comes together.
#4. Who becomes the leader of the offense? While the starting quarterback by default becomes the leader of the offense, Brycen Tremayne, Michael Wilson, and Tanner McKee leaving for the NFL creates an opportunity for someone else to take that mantle and be the new face and leader of the offense. Running backs E.J. Smith and Casey Filkins along with tight end Benjamin Yurosek and wide receiver John Humphreys are the ones projected to take on that role along with whoever wins the starting quarterback job, but they’re still going to have to earn it.
#5. How healthy is E.J. Smith?
If Stanford wants to surprise people this season, running back E.J. Smith is going to need to have a big season. After Smith missed almost all of last season due to injury, a big thing to look for in camp is where he’s at in his recovery. He was participating in parts of spring practice, so we know he’s on his way back. The question is what hurdles (if any) remain.
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