Stanford football has released their depth chart in advance of Friday’s home opener against TCU. Below are some of my thoughts along with a PDF of the chart that you can look at.

PDF: Stanford Depth Chart vs. TCU

Starting with the offense, it obviously stands out that quarterbacks Ashton Daniels, Justin Lamson, and Elijah Brown are all listed as co-starters. This indicates that we very well might see all three guys. I do expect Daniels to be the primary starting quarterback with Lamson getting a look in running packages, but how does Brown fit in? That’s going to be interesting to see.

At running back, it really could any of the four guys mentioned that gets the most snaps: Sedrick Irvin Jr., Chris Davis Jr., Micah Ford, and Ryan Butler. I think all four of those guys will get a decent amount of snaps. It’ll just be interesting to see who gets the most. And then Cole Tabb, who is not listed could also see time along with his fellow freshmen Davis and Ford, so a lot of possibilities there.

At the offensive line spot, the only thing I’ll say is Jake Maikkula’s status going into the TCU game from my intel is questionable. I have more details on the message board, but there is a chance he doesn’t play. So, that’s something to be aware of.

No real surprises at wide receiver. That all looks pretty much as expected. Emmett Mosley V has been a bit limited in camp, so to see him on the depth chart is encouraging for Stanford. All the rest of the guys are guys who you would expect to be there. Elic Ayomanor and Tiger Bachmeier headlining the group.

At tight end, Sam Roush being the starter is expected as is Benjamin Blackburn being the number two guy. Roush going into the season was the expected starter, but who would emerge with Chico Holt out was a legit question. Blackburn has had a fantastic camp and shown why he’s worthy of being the number two guy in the room.

Moving onto defense, Wilfredo Aybar being the other starter at edge opposite of David Bailey stands out. Just because Teva Tafiti is a really good. The fact that Tafiti is not listed atop the depth chart at that spot speaks well of Aybar and the depth they have at the edge spot. And then Ernest Cooper can play, too. That’s a very exciting group and the depth chart bears that out.

Inside linebacker is pretty much what you would expect with Tristan Sinclair and Gaethan Bernadel as the top two guys. Matt Rose and Jahsiah Galvan being the number two guys behind them would be expected.

In the secondary, Collin Wright and Zahran Manley being the starting cornerbacks is expected. I think what stands out with the cornerbacks is true freshman Brandon Nicholson being so high on the chart as the number two guy. He’s had a fantastic camp and it’s neat to see him being rewarded with an important spot as a number two guy. And the same applies to true freshman Cam Richardson. It’s the two of them who are both number two guys alongside each other. Richardson has a great camp as well.

At safety, Scotty Edwards and Mitch Leigber being the top guys makes sense as does Jay Green being one of the number two guys. True freshman Jaylen’Dai Sumlin being a number two safety stands out. He’s had a great camp and is ready to contribute.

With respect to the defensive line, Braden Marceau-Olayinka being atop the depth chart speaks to the kind of fall camp he had. He’s been balling out. He’s arguably made the biggest leap of anyone on the defense from a season ago. I’m very excited to see what he does. The rest of the depth chart at defensive line is what I would expect. Tobin Phillips and Anthony Franklin being the other top guys. But it’s Marceau-Olayinka beating out Yale grad transfer Clay Patterson that stands out. Especially since Patterson by all accounts has been playing great as well. So there’s more depth up front than last year.

Ending with special teams, Emmett Kenney being the starting kicker was expected. No surprise there. Aidan Flintoft at punter also expected, but there was a bit of a competition there I think with him and Connor Weselman. Maybe we’ll see both punters, but in my opinion, Flintoft should be the guy and the depth chart does reflect that.

Bryce Farrell returning kicks and punts makes sense. David Kasemervisz being the other kick returning is interesting, though. He must be showing good speed to get that nod. And then Collin Wright being the other punt return option stands out as well. That speaks to his speed and also the importance of having a veteran guy out there fielding punts.

Just to touch quickly on long snapper and holder, Peyton Warford is listed atop the long snapping position. As for holder, the punters having that duty makes sense. That’s typical. And with Weselman being an older guy and being the number two punter, giving him the role of starting holder is nice. It gives him something to do if he isn’t punting and then also being a veteran guy, he should be more comfortable handling those duties. So everyone on the special teams unit truly does have a role to play on game day, which is great.

Just to wrap this all up, there’s a lot of interesting things with this depth chart that I’ve highlighted above. If you were following my fall camp coverage much of this would be expected, but there were still some interesting nuggets that we are able to learn now that the chart has been posted. It’ll be interesting to see how this chart translates onto the field.

CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook & X (Twitter): @StanfordRivals

Ben Parker on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, & X (Twitter): @slamdunk406

Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com

Join the conversation on CardinalSportsReport.com