[CTcard]

I kind of believe that Shaw wants to have two wide receivers on the field under "normal" conditions, i.e not third and long. Stanford wants to run the ball. We have many very good tight ends and will certainly have some double tight end sets.  If Marx is healthy, we will have a fullback in the lineup very often. That cuts down on the three and four wide sets we will see. So I expect to see Irwin out there as a "possession" receiver, and probably JJAW mostly as the other receiver. However, this could be totally wrong, both in "scheme" and in "who". Stewart did look good in the spring game, from what I hear. Question is, how much will he play? Thoughts?

My thoughts:

Stanford runs a lot more 3, 4, and even 5 wide sets than many seem to realize, and far more than one would suspect from a team that doesn't throw the ball all that often. I certainly get the impression that Shaw (or whomever is ultimately responsible for the overall design of our offense) puts a very high value on presenting multiple sets, and the many wide is an integral part of that.

Whether that will continue in 2017 would seem to depend upon how many WRs the staff has confidence in - though usually some of the wide outs in these sets are nominally TEs, and it seems we'll have a few of those to choose from: Schultz, Smith, maybe Harrington, maybe Parkinson.
From what I have seen, and certainly from passes caught, there seem to be two WRs on the roster in whom the staff has shown clear confidence (Arcega-Whiteside and Irwin), and one fledgling on that path (Stewart - who still has only two career catches).
I am guessing that St. Brown gets some playing time simply out of need, there don't seem to be that many WR options on the roster. 

[CTcard]

I kind of believe that Shaw wants to have two wide receivers on the field under "normal" conditions, i.e not third and long. Stanford wants to run the ball. We have many very good tight ends and will certainly have some double tight end sets.  If Marx is healthy, we will have a fullback in the lineup very often. That cuts down on the three and four wide sets we will see. So I expect to see Irwin out there as a "possession" receiver, and probably JJAW mostly as the other receiver. However, this could be totally wrong, both in "scheme" and in "who". Stewart did look good in the spring game, from what I hear. Question is, how much will he play? Thoughts?

My thoughts:

Stanford runs a lot more 3, 4, and even 5 wide sets than many seem to realize, and far more than one would suspect from a team that doesn't throw the ball all that often. I certainly get the impression that Shaw (or whomever is ultimately responsible for the overall design of our offense) puts a very high value on presenting multiple sets, and the many wide is an integral part of that.

Whether that will continue in 2017 would seem to depend upon how many WRs the staff has confidence in - though usually some of the wide outs in these sets are nominally TEs, and it seems we'll have a few of those to choose from: Schultz, Smith, maybe Harrington, maybe Parkinson.
From what I have seen, and certainly from passes caught, there seem to be two WRs on the roster in whom the staff has shown clear confidence (Arcega-Whiteside and Irwin), and one fledgling on that path (Stewart - who still has only two career catches).
I am guessing that St. Brown gets some playing time simply out of need, there don't seem to be that many WR options on the roster.