[97fan]

There hasn't been much discussion of it here, but a review of the depth chart shows that Stanford should be absolutely loaded in 2013. Yes, Stepfan Taylor, Chase Thomas and Terrence Stephens will be gone, while Shayne Skov, Levine Toilolo and Zach Ertz all seem like potential candidates for early entry into the draft. But Stanford should have a returning starter at QB and lots of returning talent almost everywhere; perhaps as many as nine starters coming back on both sides of the ball. If Stanford wins nine regular-season games in 2012, it's easy to envision the team starting the 2013 season in the preseason top five.

So does it make sense to approach this season with a two-year plan? I think it does. What I mean is that anywhere there's a close competition for playing time between a senior and an underclassman, the underclassman should be on the field.

Here are the positions where I see this as a potential issue:
- Tyler Gaffney vs. Anthony Wilkerson, Ricky Seale, Remound Wright and Barry Sanders at backup RB
- Drew Terrell and Jamal-Rashad Patterson vs. Jordan Pratt, Keanu Nelson, Kelsey Young, Devon Cajuste and the incoming freshmen at WR
- Alex Debniak vs. Kevin Anderson and Noor Davis at backup OLB

I'm not saying that all of these competitions will be close. If, say, Drew Terrell really pulls away from the pack at WR, then he should be the starter. But if it's close, you've got to go with the younger guy, right?

[97fan]

There hasn't been much discussion of it here, but a review of the depth chart shows that Stanford should be absolutely loaded in 2013. Yes, Stepfan Taylor, Chase Thomas and Terrence Stephens will be gone, while Shayne Skov, Levine Toilolo and Zach Ertz all seem like potential candidates for early entry into the draft. But Stanford should have a returning starter at QB and lots of returning talent almost everywhere; perhaps as many as nine starters coming back on both sides of the ball. If Stanford wins nine regular-season games in 2012, it's easy to envision the team starting the 2013 season in the preseason top five.

So does it make sense to approach this season with a two-year plan? I think it does. What I mean is that anywhere there's a close competition for playing time between a senior and an underclassman, the underclassman should be on the field.

Here are the positions where I see this as a potential issue:
- Tyler Gaffney vs. Anthony Wilkerson, Ricky Seale, Remound Wright and Barry Sanders at backup RB
- Drew Terrell and Jamal-Rashad Patterson vs. Jordan Pratt, Keanu Nelson, Kelsey Young, Devon Cajuste and the incoming freshmen at WR
- Alex Debniak vs. Kevin Anderson and Noor Davis at backup OLB

I'm not saying that all of these competitions will be close. If, say, Drew Terrell really pulls away from the pack at WR, then he should be the starter. But if it's close, you've got to go with the younger guy, right?