College Football Preview 2024: Stanford Cardinal win projections, strengths and weaknesses, quarterback spotlight and more

Head coach: Troy Taylor (second season)
2023 record: 3-9
PFF power ranking: 109th
Chance to win the ACC: 1%
Strength of schedule: 25th
Projected win total: 4.2
FanDuel win total: 3.5
2024 recruiting rank (On3): No. 37 nationally, No. 8 in the ACC

Troy Taylor’s first season as Stanford’s head coach ended the same as the Cardinal's last two seasons, as the team finished with just a 3-9 record.

Stanford has now had the worst three-year stretch since 1958-1960 and will try to rebound in its first year as a member of the ACC. The Cardinal do have a star receiver in Elic Ayomanor to rely on offensively, but they have holes everywhere else on their roster, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

Stanford fielded arguably the worst defense in the country last season and didn’t do much in the transfer portal to fix its issues. Making matters worse for the Cardinal is that, according to our power rankings, they play the second-hardest schedule in the ACC.

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Biggest Strength: The return of Elic Ayomanor

Ayomanor, a top-10 receiver in college football, has the ability to take games over by himself, even against elite competition. Take his game last year against Colorado as an example: After being held without a catch in the first half, he exploded for 13 catches, 294 yards (program record) and three touchdowns in the second half and overtime. Making that performance even more jaw-dropping is that he was guarded by future first-round pick Travis Hunter on seven of those catches and two of his touchdown grabs.

Biggest Weakness: Issues everywhere defensively

Stanford allowed 0.210 expected points added (EPA) per play in 2023, the worst mark of any school in the country. Among Power Five schools, the Cardinal posted the lowest overall defensive grade, the worst run-defense grade, tied for the lowest pass-rushing grade and the third-worst coverage grade. The unit remains mostly the same in 2024, with only one incoming transfer projected to start.

2023 Team Overview

Offense
EPA per play	Yards per play	Successful play rate	Explosive run play rate	Explosive pass play rate
-0.103	5.1	32.1%	13.3%	11.5%
110th	108th	106th	102nd	117th
Defense
EPA allowed per play	Yards allowed per play	Successful play rate allowed	Explosive run rate allowed	Explosive pass rate allowed
0.210	6.7	43.3%	18.3%	16.6%
134th	129th	134th	122nd	115th

Three Notable Transfer Portal Additions

LB Jahsiah Galvin (Northern Iowa): 80.4 PFF Grade
EDGE Clay Patterson (Yale): 66.0 PFF Grade
CB Jay Green (Washington): 52.9 PFF Grade

Three Notable Transfer Portal Losses

TE Benjamin Yurosek (Georgia): 66.8 PFF Grade
S Alaka’i Gilman (Utah): 62.8 PFF Grade
RB E.J. Smith (Texas A&M): 66.5 PFF Grade

Quarterback Spotlight: Ashton Daniels

2023 Grade: 65.9
Key Stat: 20 turnover-worthy plays in 2023 (second-most in Pac-12)