One of the last mile markers before reaching the start of a football season is the first depth chart. Stanford quietly posted the list that serves at least as an indicator of who will first step onto the field at a given position two days from now against Rice.

But as head coach David Shaw has said in the past, what is a more important than who starts a game is how many snaps an athlete plays. And against Rice it's fair to expect more players will see the field than in games later this season.

There are a number of reasons for this, starting with the fact that Stanford is considered a 31-point favorite against an over-matched Rice squad. Although, Cardinal fans know more than most that even more unlikely underdogs can prevail.

The other major reason is managing the health of the roster. Shaw said on several occasions during training camp that Stanford was being cautious with anyone who was banged up. This is an understandable mindset given how devastating injuries were to the team's effectiveness last season and that a critical game at USC is a little more than two weeks away.

With that said, there are some things to take away from the depth chart.

According to Shaw, Stanford never had every scholarship wide receiver healthy on a given practice day during training camp. And it isn't a big group with only seven such players on the roster.

Freshman Osiris St. Brown missed most of camp after offering a teaser of his ability that drew praise from junior cornerback Quenton Meeks. How long St. Brown's college debut will be delayed is unknown. Also, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside won't play against Rice due to injury.

Sophomore Donald Stewart missed practices in camp with an injury as well and he's listed on the depth chart behind junior Jay Tyler. Freshman Connor Wedington was an all-state running back at Summer High in Washington, but he will start his college career as Stanford's No. 4 wide receiver.

The result is that only junior Trent Irwin (49 career catches) and Stewart (two) have caught passes in college among the four players listed.

There are four tight ends listed on the depth chart: redshirt junior Dalton Schultz, redshirt freshman Kaden Smith, redshirt freshman Scooter Harrington and freshman Colby Parkinson. That suggests what has long been assumed that Parkinson's receiving ability is more valuable than any concern about his ability to block college defenders.

While no athlete wants their opportunity for success to occur because of injury to teammates, the tight end group stands to potentially get more targets because of the current health of the receivers.

Stanford's starting five against Rice is expected to be, from left to right: fifth year Dave Bright, sophomore Nate Herbig, redshirt junior Jesse Burkett, redshirt junior Brandon Fanaika and redshirt freshman Devery Hamilton.

There are two names that jump off the list and the first is backup left guard Casey Tucker. The former right tackle started every game in the 2015 Rose Bowl season but was sidetracked by injuries last season. Tucker enters his senior season in a backup role, which puts the spotlight on Fanaika, who started five games last season.

Another significant development is the improvement of Hamilton after a very inconsistent spring. Offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren said Hamilton's great camp was the young lineman's best stretch of play since arriving on The Farm. Hamilton steps into the starting right tackle spot due to an injury to redshirt junior AT Hall, who did not make the trip to Sydney.

Star freshmen Foster Sarell and Walker Little are listed as backups at left and right tackles, respectively, but that order is unlikely to indicate that either one is truly set at a position. Bloomgren has indicated he wants each of them to gets snaps at both tackle spots.

The quality depth among the linebackers and defensive backs on Stanford's roster always made it likely that someone of starter quality wasn't going to be listed as one. That is the case with redshirt junior Joey Alfieri and fifth year Kevin Palma at inside linebacker.

Palma has more than 100 career tackles to his name and a Rose Bowl start. Alfieri was moved inside from outside linebacker, where he was on track to be recognized as one of the best in the conference, if not nationally. Their position coach, Peter Hansen, said about two weeks ago that Alfieri had nearly caught up to the rest of the pack in terms of understanding his new position.

It seems likely that Alfieri is a close No. 3 behind redshirt junior Bobby Okereke and redshirt sophomore Sean Barton, who described Alfieri as the most athletic linebacker on the team. Okereke has developed into someone who defensive coordinator Lance Anderson has called a "playmaker" and someone the staff is reluctant to take off the field.

Barton's athletic "freakiness", to borrow Hansen's word, combined with his maturing knowledge of the game makes him an exciting player to have on the field as well.

Even at outside linebacker the sidelining of redshirt senior Mike Tyler due to injury means that redshirt sophomore Casey Toohill -- who Anderson said did very well in camp -- and sophomore Curtis Robinson will get more snaps. Anderson said that Tyler's play warranted him being named the starter against Rice if he was healthy.

At cornerback there are two experienced players who are second at each spot: senior Terrence Alexander and redshirt junior Alameen Murphy. Both have started games and went through trials on the field after junior Quenton Meeks and redshirt junior Alijah Holder were injured last season.

Redshirt freshman Malik Antoine appears set to get snaps at nickel, but Anderson has said they may rotate in Meeks and junior Justin Reid at times to have either three cornerbacks or three safeties on the field. And there are enough good options at cornerback that one of the players on the rise during training camp, redshirt freshman Obi Eboh, isn't even shown on the list.

The Saturday (in the U.S.) game promises to be an exciting moment for several young men who will take the field for the first time as college football players.

The depth chart suggests that freshmen Wedington, Parkinson, Little and Sarell will play. Will any other freshmen? The two most likely possibilities are running back Sione Lund and nose tackle Dalyn Wade-Perry, but there may not be a pressing need for either to be committed to playing their freshman season just yet.

Jordan Fox improved enough during training camp that Anderson said the New Jersey native earned playing time. Fox's arrival at Stanford was delayed a year as he stayed back home to finish some academic work. He redshirted last season. Fox stuck with his commitment to become a Stanford athlete and could be in his first box score this weekend.

If Thomas Schaffer plays it will be another interesting chapter in his athletic career. The Vienna, Austria, native attended Illinois boarding school Lake Forest Academy, committed to Stanford and could play his first game in Australia.

Other redshirt freshmen expected to play their first college snaps include defensive linemen Mike Williams and Jovan Swann; running backs Dorian Maddox and Trevor Speights (if healthy); and tight ends Scooter Harrington and Kaden Smith.