Stanford faces high expectations as it opens fall camp this weekend. The defending Rose Bowl champions must replace quarterback Kevin Hogan and several key players on both sides of the ball, but they return the Heisman Trophy runner up and a number of talented offensive and defensive starters.

Stanford head coach David Shaw, receiver Michael Rector and outside linebacker Peter Kalambayi previewed several key position groups and players at last week's Bay Area college football media day. Here's a collection of the most newsworthy topics discussed.

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Stanford lost two of its top three defensive linemen from their 2015 team in Aziz Shittu and Brennan Scarlett, but the Cardinal will benefit from the return of a potential all-conference candidate in Harrison Phillips.

Phillips suffered a season-ending knee injury in Stanford's season-opener last season, but he's back to full health and primed for a productive 2016 campaign.

"Harrison Phillips is full go," Shaw said. "He's been excited - he's been full go pretty much since the beginning of the summer, right around the beginning of the summer. He feels great. He's so excited and as what typically happens, you have a young guy that plays early - because he played as a freshman and was just kind of into the mix. And then football was taken away from him for a year. And now his appreciation to be on the grass is as good as anybody on our football team. He misses it so much. He missed playing so much, even practicing, even the tough days. He's looking forward to those tough days that he missed throughout the year. I'm excited about him getting back and being with Solomon Thomas and the rest of that defensive line."

But while Phillips and Thomas are solidified as front-line players for the Cardinal, the rest of Stanford's defensive line rotation remains uncertain. There are no shortage of candidates - the Cardinal returns six scholarship linemen (plus Thomas and Phillips) and adds four freshmen - but the group is light on experience.

Shaw discussed some of the contenders:

"In spring Luke Kaumatule had a couple of good days," Shaw said. "Eric Cotton had a couple of good days. Eric is still doing the transition, learning what to do, but he's gotten bigger and stronger. Luke has actually lost a bit of weight. He was in the 290's, now he's down to 280. Both are moving really well, apparently. So we're excited about those two. Dylan Jackson, who redshirted a year ago, has really shown some signs. Wes Annan is going to be in the mix as an interior guy. And then we have a couple of freshmen coming in who have a chance.

"And then I'll say this, too. There's a guy that no one has talked about: Jordan Watkins, who's just kind of been a reserve defensive lineman for years, there's a reason why we brought him back for his fifth year. He's got the the ability and the length and the athleticism to play. I'm excited about him cracking the lineup."

The biggest storyline of Stanford's training camp will be the competition to replace quarterback Kevin Hogan. Ryan Burns and Keller Chryst are vying for that designation, and each will have a legitimate opportunity to earn it.

"(The reps will be) even, (split) right down the middle," Shaw said. "We want to see K.J. Costello, just because he's a young quarterback and by default he's our third quarterback. And I remind people all the time - I haven't been coaching forever, but I've been coaching long enough, and there are multiple times in my life and in this profession where you've had to play a third quarterback. So we're going to have two guys competing to be the starter, but we have to get K.J. Costello ready for an emergency role just in case. And he's a bright, athletic talented quarterback that I think will be ready for that.

"But the two guys that are going to be competing are going to be 50/50 right down the middle. We're going to evaluate everything that they do... and I'm going to remind them just like I did in spring: Their job is not to compete with the other guy. Their job is to play the best that they can play and let us make the decision beyond that. If we play two guys, great. If we play one guy, great. If we play one guy a lot and have a role for another guy, that's fine too. My job, though, is to evaluate what happens."

The good news for the Cardinal's quarterbacks is that they'll have plenty of help. Stanford is loaded with talent at the skill positions, which should remove some of the pressure from the quarterback position.

"What I do know is that we have playmakers around the quarterback," Shaw said. "The combination of Christian McCaffrey and Bryce Love, Dalton Schultz coming back will be one of the better tight ends in the nation this year. Michael Rector coming back for his fifth year. What Trent Irwin did as a freshman last year along with Francis Owusu coming back. We've got guys around whoever plays the quarterback to make their lives easier. I always go back to the Steve Young quote: The quarterback's job is to deal the cards. Don't make it any more complicated than that. How fast can I get the ball out of my hands into somebody else's hands? And the guy - or guys - who do that the best are the guys that are going to play."

Stanford's secondary possesses plenty of depth and talent, and there will be heated competitions for several vacant spots as a result.

There are two players who have an edge on the competition headed into camp, however: Alijah Holder for one cornerback spot and Dallas Lloyd at one safety position.

"Alijah Holder played so well for us last year," Shaw said. "There's going to be great competition. He's going to start off with a nose ahead - he's earned that. Dallas Lloyd played really well and really steady for us last year, and he's kind of the grandfather of the group after his mormon mission and being a fifth year guy. It seems like he's older than some of our coaches on staff now. Those two guys may be a cut above the rest, but we have such depth and such athleticism. Everybody forgets about Terrence Alexander. Terrence played as a true freshman, did some really nice things at nickel. Terrence can help at nickel, Terrence can help at corner.

"Buncom didn't play last year but was one of the best corners in the nation we saw last year coming out of high school. Ben Edwards didn't play a lot but did some nice things on special teams. Ben was one of the most exciting safeties coming out of high school, he and Reid. So we have a really good group of guys. We'll have starters, but we're going to have week-to-week matchups where I trust Coach Akina, I trust Lance Anderson to put those guys in great positions.

"Zach Hoffpauir gives us a comfort level for a guy that can play so many different positions - either safety position, nickel or dime, and be a guy that's made plays for us in all of those positions and is willing to say hey, where do you want me this week? More special teams this week? Less defense? More defense? Do we need to start? Do we need to come off the bench and play nickel? And he's just like, 'I want to contribute.' To have that mentality and attitude in the older guys, it's a great example for the younger guys."

Stanford will be without its leading tackler and perhaps best defensive player from 2015 now that Blake Martinez has graduated to the NFL. Like defensive back, inside linebacker will be a competitive spot that could cycle through multiple players in the course of a game.

"The closest thing to a frontrunner is Kevin Palma," Shaw said. "He's got the most experience. He got the most playing time. But it's going to be fun to see it - they're all in the mix, every single one of them. I think Bobby Okereke had a really good spring. I thought Sean Barton had a really good spring. Noor Davis has worked his tail off this summer to put himself in position to play. Jordan Perez played in spots really for us last year. So we have a bunch of guys, and I don't know how it's going to work out. I don't want to guarantee a job to anybody, but at the same time we might get back to where we were a few years ago to where we're rolling guys by series. In particular with some up-tempo offenses. I'd love to be able to say, OK, this series is going to be Perez and Bobby, or this series is going to be these two guys.

"And they're all going to help on special teams. I think we're trying to do a good job of helping these guys feel like they're a group as opposed to competing against each other to just be on the field. I think they can work as a unit against the people that we play."

Stanford's long-term pipeline at tight end is in great shape. The position might encounter a few challenges early in the 2016 season, however. True freshman Kaden Smith and redshirt junior Greg Taboada are working through injuries, which leaves only Dalton Schultz and true freshman Scooter Harrington as the position's only healthy scholarship players heading into fall practice.

"Both (Smith and Taboada) will be a little hampered early in camp," Shaw said. "We'll see who's ready for early in the season. If Kaden is not ready to go early enough after the first couple of games I have no issue redshirting him. He knows that and he's ready for that as a possibility. If he comes back before we think and is ready go go, i have no problem playing him as a freshman. The same thing with Scooter Harrington - if Scooter develops a role on special teams and on offense, hey, I have no problem playing freshmen. I do anticipate Dalton Schultz being one of the better tight ends in the nation over the next couple of years, but what I love about our group, as we've had before, it's a varied group with multiple abilities and skill sets. So I'm excited about the ability to mix and match, much like what we did with Levine and Zach Ertz and Coby Fleener and morphing into the guys that we've had recently. It's an exciting group."

Stanford will have to replace three starters - including the Outland Trophy winner - from its 2015 offensive line, but the Cardinal's 2016 group is already somewhat solidified. Four of the five starters have essentially been identified.

Stanford will use its training camp practices to determine a) the fifth starter (A.T. Hall and Brandon Fanaika probably hold the edge at this point) and b) where, exactly, its starters will play along the line.

"Capsers is locked in at right guard," Shaw said. "I think we're locked in at center. Jesse's done so well in the spring. I'd be surprised if he doesn't continue with that. Casey Tucker showed us in the spring he has some versatility - he can play either tackle. Dave Bright has showed versatility throughout his career - he can play tackle or guard.

"So the question is Fanaika, Hall, we have a couple of young guys coming up, a couple of guys that didn't play last year looking for roles. So it will be interesting once we put the pads on, because I refuse to evaluate anybody on the line until we put pads on. Once we put pads on, do we have five guys? Do we have six? Do we have seven? And then those six and seven guys, what are they? Are they tackles, are they tight ends, are they wings? Who's going to develop in those roles? I'm excited to look at a couple of the freshmen. I'm excited to look at a couple of the guys that redshirted last year, because we're going to need a lot of those guys to step up and play."

-Outside linebacker Joey Alfieri will be on the mend from an earlier injury in the beginning of training camp, but Shaw anticipates he will be ready by the start of the season.

-Defensive back Alameen Murphy, who was also limited in spring ball, should be ready for camp.

-There will be competition at punter, kickoff, long snapper.

-Shaw's current estimate is that Stanford will sign between 13-15 players in the 2017 class.

On continuing to expand his game... "It's been a progression for me. It's been a constant progression... I think the next step as a player is honing in on the details, the little things, the minute details that will help elevate my game and then just putting it all together. You're not just going to see a Michael Rector that's running a deep route, you're not just going to see a Michael Rector running an intermediate route. You're going to see it all this year, and I think that's going to be good for myself and I think think it's going to be good for the team."

On the offense's focus this offseason... "Obviously we're losing Kevin Hogan, and that's huge for us. So I think the majority of it has been trying to help our two quarterbacks come along, which they have very well. They're probably farther along than I'd expect them to be. I think they're father along than the competition I saw my very first year between Josh and Brett. So I think it's been trying to get the timing down with these two. Everyone is trying to see how one plays and feel everybody out. I think it's going well. I think we showed during spring ball how they can come and command the offense."

On his emphasis this season... "For me it's personally it's becoming more physical in the run game, it's playing fast. At this point I know the defense very well... now it's just go fast. There's a bit of a learning curve in the younger years, so pretty much play physical against the run and play fast.

On the defense's emphasis this offseason... "The emphasis has been last year wasn't good enough. So we're trying to be the top-tier defense that we were when I was a redshirt freshman, when I was a true freshman as well. Just last year wasn't good enough."