Stanford football has released their depth chart in advance of Saturday’s home game against Arizona, which will kick off at 4:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks and KNBR 1050 AM radio. The full depth chart is here. My notes on it are below.
Admittedly, there’s not really a whole lot to breakdown in this depth chart relative to previous weeks, but still as with every week, there are some things to still address. The first thing to address is the quarterback situation. Ashton Daniels is still atop the depth chart at quarterback while Justin Lamson is listed as the backup. Given that both played equally last week along with what head coach Troy Taylor said in his weekly press conference, it might be completely arbitrary that Daniels is first on the chart, but nonetheless it should be noted that going into this game, Daniels is the listed starter. It’ll be interested to see how the snaps get divvied up between the two of them.
The running back position just looks weird with E.J. Smith, Casey Filkins, Ryan Butler, and Sedrick Irvin all appearing to be on equal footing. Smith and Filkins are clearly the top two backs while Butler and Irvin are clearly third and fourth. Obviously, Taylor wants to give all four guys touches, but it’s still a little strange that it doesn’t list Smith and Filkins as the top running backs though I guess the fact that they are the first two listed indicates some hierarchy in and of itself. Bottom line is all four should get snaps. It’ll be interesting to see who gets the most touches at the end of the day.
At wide receiver, John Humphreys is listed as the starter. Health-wise, he appears to be questionable coming in. So that’s obviously something to watch for. The same with Simione Pale on the offensive line. He appears to be questionable coming into this game as well from what I’ve gathered.
On defense, nickel back Jaden Slocum is listed as starting, but it’s unclear what his status is after missing last week’s game against Sac State. Troy Taylor did give a hint about him at his presser, but it only seemed to be along the lines of hoping he’d be back. Nothing beyond that. And then the same with safety Jimmy Wyrick. He is listed as starting, but once again, not sure if he’ll be a go or not. It would be huge for Stanford to have both of those guys back and in the lineup and at a minimum one of them. Just because once you go beyond them, it does start to get a little thin.
I guess I should also mention outside linebacker David Bailey. He’s the star of the defense but was limited last week against Sac State due to injury. It sounds like the Cardinal are hopeful he’ll be closer to full strength this week than he was last week. If he’s able to be at full strength or a lot closer to it, that would really help the defense. Especially in the pass rush, which is where Bailey really excels.
Finally, nothing new to report on special teams. It’s the same as before. In case you aren’t familiar with what everyone’s roles are, scan the chart. It’s all there. Only thing I will say is kicker Joshua Karty is truly amazing. One of the best kicking talents the Pac-12 has ever seen if not THE best. He’s that good.
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