'Not Super Relevant': Troy Taylor Not Looking Back To Last Year's Stanford Team

Stanford lost a ton of talent to the transfer portal and to the NFL

When speaking to the media ahead of their matchup against No. 5 Washington, Stanford head coach Troy Taylor was asked about whether or not he has been using film from Stanford's team last year. 

A team that while it struggled mightily throughout the year, did have some success before the wheels completely fell off. By success, I mean they scored points and showed a semblance of a football team, until the final few weeks of the season that saw safety Mitch Leigber starting at running back with Ashton Daniels being used as a runner despite recently voicing he prefers not having to run. Regardless, Taylor revealed that there isn't much he can take away from the final season of David Shaw's tenure for the simple fact that he doesn't have a majority of those same players.

On top of losing quarterback Tanner McKee, wide receivers Michael Wilson, Elijah Higgins, Brycen Tremayne, and secondary members Ethan Bonner, Kyu Blu Kelly, and Kendal Williamson to the NFL, Stanford was raided by the portal. Something Taylor pointed out when answering whether or not last year's Washington film was relevant. 

"Not super relevant," said Taylor." If you look at last year's team...five of the players that were there, [now] in the NFL, and then we had 17 transfer portal guys. 12 of them starters that aren't with our team anymore."

Tanner McKee vs. Washington  / Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Taylor is instead building from the ground up, as he inherited the least experienced team in the Power 5 and while there have been major growing pains, there have also been positives like the come-from-behind win against Colorado. 

So, while McKee threw for three touchdowns against the Huskies last season and Filkins who is still on the team rushed for 100 yards, this offense is nowhere near the same. Daniels is now behind center looking to provide a steady hand, throwing to a quartet of receivers who combined for five catches last season all of which came from Mudia Reuben as Tiger Bachmeier was in high school, Elic Ayomanor was hurt, and Bryce Farrell wasn't in the rotation. As for the rushing attack, Stanford's offensive line didn't return a single starter, and as Taylor explained to the media, if the line struggles to block there is only so much the offense can do as we have seen all year. 

Keeping up with this Huskies' offense that ranks as the No. 4 unit in the country will be a major ask, and it is clear that Taylor won't find the solution looking at a team from last year that is no longer in Palo Alto. He may however be able to find it when watching Arizona State's film from a week ago, as they held Washington to just 15 points, none of which came on offense. 

It appears the best thing Taylor and company can do is look forward and focus on establishing his culture and schemes, because looking back won't do them any good anyway. There's a reason he's at the helm now.