PAC 10 Preview: Stanford Cardinal
July 16th, 2008 by Alex English
Make no mistake, Jim Harbough deserves a ton of credit for the MONSTER signature win of his early Cardinal tenure over USC last year. However, he will be hard pressed to create that type of buzz again this year with 7 road games and position battles at virtually every skill position offensively.
It’s a full fledged fantasy mess with 3 guys battling for the staring role. By most accounts, the race starts with junior Tavita Pritchard who was able to divert attention away from his 5-9 TD-Int ratio with the lead role in the USC upset. Despite that win on his resume amongst his 7 starts, he is in a heated battle with Alex Loukas (So.) and Michigan transfer Jason Forcier (Jr.). If this trio of uncertainty hasn’t already made you move on in search of more useful Cardinal positions, it gets even more interesting (read cloudy) with the arrival of highly touted freshman, Texas high school stud, Andrew Luck (Son of former Texas A&M and NFL QB Oliver Luck and pictured left, Icon SMI). Harbaugh’s aiming point for reaching sustainable success with the program should be right in the prime of Luck’s time in Palo Alto. If he is not red-shirted this season and none of the first 3 run away with the lead, don’t be surprised to see Luck worked into the mix on a part time basis this year. If nothing else, remember the name and keep an eye on him as the potential future cream of the Pac-10 QB crop in years to come.
With as many as 4 guys in the mix for carries (none of which with the talent of USC’s crowded backfield), this is a situation to avoid unless desperate. Anthony Kimble (Sr.) returns and figures to get the most touches but probably not by much with Toby Gerhart (Jr.) and Tyrone McGraw (So.) working in. The only upshot here is that if one of these guys emerges as the true feature back, Harbaugh could rely heavily on the run game without a clear cut #1 at QB and a young, inexperienced receiver corps.
With most of last seasons receiving production graduated, there is an open battle at the WR spots as well. Of course, this means no clear cut fantasy targets but keep an eye on Richard Sherman (Jr.) to be the top target and sophomores Doug Baldwin and Ryan Whalen to emerge along with him… possibly into fantasy studs in future seasons with Luck at the helm. Big Jim Dray (6-5, 255, So.) returns as the main man at TE but doesn’t figure to be a big enough part of the passing game to warrant much fantasy attention.
The Defense may actually prove to be the strength of this team with 9 returning starters anchored by a solid LB crew. They weren’t great last year and the departure of D-coordinator Scott Shafer to Michigan sure isn’t a plus. However, they do have experience and did a nice job creating turnovers last season. The special teams unit guys are all newbies so nothing to see here.
Summary
Not much here from a fantasy perspective this season but I am a Harbaugh fan and believer. I am looking forward to seeing what he can do with the development of his freshman recruiting gem, QB Andrew Luck and a talented young receiving corps in the coming years.
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