In advance of Friday’s season opener at Hawaii, Stanford football has released their depth chart. Below is the chart along with some thoughts.
When looking at the depth chart, the first thing that obviously jumps out is the quarterback situation. Ashton Daniels, Justin Lamson, and Ari Patu all are considered to be on equal footing on the depth chart. Latest intel I’ve received is that Daniels has gotten more first team reps as of late, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be the starter.
I will say that of the three, Patu is the one who feels like the least likely to start. It does seem to be a Daniels/Lamson race, but as of this depth chart, Patu is still in the running. This could be a case where head coach Troy Taylor wants to give each guy a chance to run the offense and see how it looks against a different team. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how that part shakes out.
At running back, seeing all four backs listed as “OR” stands out to me. While E.J. Smith and Casey Filkins are the top two backs, this depth chart indicates that Sedrick Irvin and Ryan Butler are in line for some snaps as well. Taylor has been happy with Irvin so far and feels like he has a chance to make an immediate impact on their team.
The wide receiver spot is pretty much as expected. Tiger Bachmeier making the two-deep is impressive as a true freshman. He’s one who Adam Gorney thinks has a chance to make a real impact for the Cardinal this year. There does seem to be a lot of balance in this group with many different guys who could end up being the top receiver. Who of that group emerges as the top dog will be important and Friday’s game will give us a window into who that will be.
No surprise at tight end. That’s exactly how I would have pegged it. Benjamin Yurosek and Sam Roush. Both guys obviously project to be very integral to Troy Taylor’s offense.
The offensive line is interesting because that’s a group that could have gone any number of directions. True freshman Simione Pale starting at right guard is notable. He’s one who could make a real impact out of the gates. And then Fisher Anderson is one who has been hoping to get a starting job but is currently behind James Pogorelc at left tackle. Whether or not he’ll leapfrog Pogorelc later on in the season will be something to watch for.
And then Penn transfer Trevor Mayberry starting is encouraging. He’s one who they were hoping would make an immediate impact on the group. As for the other two spots, Levi Rogers starting at center we knew would be the case and then Connor McLaughlin starting at right tackle is not surprising when you consider that Jack Leyrer is unavailable. Leyrer hopefully will be back for the USC game.
With the offensive line, it’s really important to keep in mind that the lineup will likely change as the season goes on. I do think Anderson will start at some point and it's also going to be interesting to see if Pale has any freshman growing pains that cause some change at the right guard spot. This is definitely the most fluid group on offense in terms of potential combinations.
Switching to defense, the starters are pretty much who we would expect. I guess a couple of things that stand out are Zahran Manley starting in his return after taking a year off. His presence in the secondary will be very important. And then Collin Wright starting as a redshirt freshman is big as well. Two young bucks who made the two-deep that stand out are Scotty Edwards at safety and Matt Rose at linebacker. Edwards I think is one who we would expect to see here, but Rose is a pleasant surprise. Rose had a nice interception in fall camp, so he’s been playing well.
Finally, special teams is not surprising at all. Joshua Karty at kicker and Connor Weselman at punter is expected. The only real question with this group is the returners. Bryce Farrell and Casey Filkins handling the kick and punt return duties collectively makes sense, but there are other guys who I think could also have filled those roles as well. So, it’s nice to get confirmation on that.
In conclusion, this depth chart as a whole has a few surprises, but for the most part, I would say this has gone in the direction we would expect it to. It will certainly be interesting to see how the team performs, who ends up winning the starting quarterback job, and what if any other changes to the depth chart are made for next week.
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