Stanford football: Can Cardinal bounce back from injury-riddled 2019?

Stanford football has been one of the most respected programs under David Shaw, but they face question marks after last season’s disaster.

David Shaw has built one of the most consistent programs in the country in Palo Alto, even if Stanford football is not a very flashy or spectacular looking team. Nonetheless, it was really surprising to see Stanford struggle as much as they did a year ago, even if injuries were a major part of the reason.

Now in 2020, Stanford still has a lot of questions on their roster but because of Shaw and the consistent program he’s built out west so a big rebound shouldn’t surprise anyone.

The Cardinal will probably start the year ranked outside of the top 25 for the first time since 2010, and the run game and front-seven, which has been the strength of the program dating back to the Jim Harbaugh days, is facing major questions. Both of those areas are going to have to be much better if the Cardinal want to emerge as a surprise contender in the Pac 12 North.

There is some continuity at quarterback with Davis Mills getting some valuable experience last season and the defense got a major boost when Paulson Adebo elected to return for his senior year and the latter was considered by many to be a potential first-round pick at the cornerback position.

The other major returnee to the Cardinal will be 2018 All-American offensive tackle Walker Little. He was injured early last season and missed almost all of the 2019 campaign and Stanford is hoping his return will ignite what was a terrible run game last season.

Stanford fans have claimed that injuries and not finding the right quarterback early was the biggest issues last season and with Mills back under center and better injury luck, this program is confident it can return to its normal level of play.