Four positions Stanford needs to target in the transfer portal

Stanford is losing a ton of production at certain positions

One thing that we have learned about the transfer portal in the few years that it has been around is that it will taketh more than it it will giveth. Especially when it comes to a program like Stanford who is one of the most difficult schools to attend in general, let alone transfer into.

The Cardinal have even absolutely ravished by the transfer portal with 16 players entering their names into the portal. While there is always recruiting from the high school ranks to help bolster the team, the trend in college football is to fill holes with experienced transfer players. Something that Stanford has never done, even despite bringing in Oklahoma transfer Patrick Fields this past year, as he approached the team about playing.

However, a week or so before David Shaw announced his decision to step down as head coach, he emphasized that the program plans to utilize the transfer portal and NIL more. While they eventually may be able to use the portal in some capacity, the fact that they don't have a head coach at the moment is likely hindering their portal push in a big way. 

The head coaching search is still in the works, as there are a handful of viable candidates that could be a fit for the job but regardless of who takes the job there is some obvious positions of need for next season. Let's take a look at the biggest positions of need that Stanford may be able to boost thanks to the thousands of players that have entered the transfer portal. 

Offensive Line

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As it stands right now, Stanford is set to lose four maybe even five offensive lineman from a unit that was very thin to begin with. They are losing experienced lineman, which leaves the reserves, who because of their lack of experience, David Shaw himself said at times he had to shrink the playbook. Shaw emphasized they just weren't prepared and he wasn't comfortable calling certain things. The Cardinal currently hold three offensive line commits in their recruiting class, but adding a lineman or two from the portal would help immensely. 

Wide Receiver

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With leading pass catchers Elijah Higgins and Michael Wilson off to the NFL and  Brycen Tremayne's status unclear, that leaves Stanford with just one receiver with more than 10 career catches in John Humphreys. Now granted youngsters such as Mudia Rueben and Jason Thompson (special teams) showed some flashes of potential, there are a ton of wide receivers in the transfer portal that are more seasoned than anyone in this receiver room. We don't know who will be playing quarterback next year, but the more weapons they have at wideout the better. 

Defensive Backs

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Stanford is essentially losing their entire secondary. Kyu Blu Kelly is off to the NFL, Johnathan McGill, Nicolas Toomer, Salim Turner-Muhammad all entered the transfer portal, and both Patrick Fields and Kendal Williamson are out of eligibility. That essentially is their entire secondary's two deep outside of Ethan Bonner. They are getting a baller in four-star corner Jshawn Frausto-Ramos, but he is their lone commitment from the secondary. If they don't bring in a couple of transfers, they may have to rely on extremely inexperienced players or make some position changes. 

Quarterback

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While we don't know what Tanner McKee's plans are moving forward, the expectation is that he will declare for the NFL Draft. This leaves just two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster in Ari Patu and Ashton Daniels, with no scholarship quarterbacks incoming in the 2023 class. Patu has more experience, but he still only has 25 passing attempts, while Daniels has six and has mainly been used in the wildcat. Assuming McKee leaves, there are a plethora of signal callers in the portal that can either push for the team's starting job or at least add quality depth. We also don't know if Patu and Daniels will hit the portal when the new coach comes around.