Stanford football has released their depth chart in advance of their Week 0 opener at Hawaii on Saturday, August 23rd. First of all, as has been previously reported, grad transfer Ben Gulbranson is the starting quarterback with redshirt freshman Elijah Brown as the backup. The only question coming into fall camp was whether or not Brown would start or if someone else would overtake him.
Stanford football has released their depth chart in advance of their Week 0 opener at Hawaii on Saturday, August 23rd. Below are some thoughts.
GoStanford.com: Stanford Depth Chart-Hawaii
First of all, as has been previously reported, grad transfer Ben Gulbranson is the starting quarterback with redshirt freshman Elijah Brown as the backup. The only question coming into fall camp was whether or not Brown would start or if someone else would overtake him. Gulbranson overtook him due to simply having a better fall camp. While I do think a lot of that can be attributed to Gulbranson having more experience and having played more football than Brown, it needs to be underscored that Gulbranson earned the starting job. Stanford made it an open competition and made the decision to roll with whoever performed the best. Simple as that.
Secondly, running back is a log jam with Micah Ford and Cole Tabb as the top two running backs with Sedrick Irvin Jr. or Tuna Altahir as the third option. I really feel like odds are good we’ll see all four of those guys out there at some point and then hey, Chris Davis Jr. and Champ Hampton are two guys who should be ready for their number to be called as well. There’s lots of different options for Stanford to roll with regarding the running back spot and this depth chart reflects that.
Third, true freshman JonAnthony Hall wasn’t on the chart at all. Given his upside, I suspect this has more to do with him still perhaps not being fully up to speed having had to miss some time in fall camp due to a foot/ankle injury. Even if he’s feeling ok physically, this could be a case of him simply needing to get more reps before they feel comfortable having him on the depth chart. Still, it feels like a matter of when and not if that Hall gets on the chart. He’s too talented to not break through at some point.
Fourth, sticking with the wide receivers, C.J. Williams and Caden High being the number one and two receivers is no surprise. They’ve both had strong fall camps and been comfortable catching a lot of passes. 6thyear receiver Bryce Farrell being the number three option is pretty interesting. He’ll be in line for the biggest role of his Stanford career. It should be interesting to see how he handles that.
Fifth, the offensive line has been bolstered by a pair of transfers starting in Nick Fattig at left guard and Niki Prongos at left tackle. Stanford’s offensive line has been in desperate need of getting some upgrades and both these transfers seem to be doing their part by earning starting jobs. That’s huge.
As for the defense, there’s not as much that stands out. Just because it’s pretty much as we all expected. The linebacker spots are as I figured they would shake out as are the safety spots. Defensive line, it’ll be interesting to see what the full rotation becomes with Zach Rowell and Braden Marceau-Olayinka both listed as co-starters at defensive tackle. The other thing that pops out is Dartmouth grad transfer Jordan Washington co-starting with sophomore Brandon Nicholson. It’ll be interesting to see how that side of the field goes with Collin Wright having the other starting cornerback spot on lock down.
To touch quickly on special teams, Emmet Kenney at kicker and Aidan Flintoft at punter is no surprise. We knew that was going to the case. What we didn’t know was who would be returning kicks and punts. Chris Davis Jr. seems to have that spot locked down as the main guy on both return duties. Tuna Altahir will be backing him up on kick return while Caden High will be doing the same for him on punt return. Davis has fantastic speed and is very shifty, so it makes sense for Stanford to look to put his talents to use in the return game. Especially given how deep they are at running back. It’s a good way to ensure he’s getting touches.
Overall, this is an interesting depth chart for Stanford. Some parts were expected while others were not. There’s always at least some degree of uncertainty going into a depth chart reveal and now that we have it, we have a better understanding of what we can expect to see on the field.
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