Stanford set to return the least amount of production in the entire Power 5
There have been a lot of changes in Palo Alto over the past couple months, with the program's all-time winningest coach stepping down, key contributors hitting the transfer portal, and the hiring of Troy Taylor to solve all of the problems the program has had within the past few years.
Taylor is coming off a tenure at Sacramento State that saw him revitalize a program that at one point people wanted to terminate. Now, the offensive guru has the task of revamping this Stanford program that was once a perennial powerhouse in college football, but is on the verge of being left in the dust as the sport advances.
Doing so won't be easy as according to a recent ESPN article, Stanford is set to be home to one of the least amounts of returning production in the entire country ranking No. 129 of 133. This mark not only has Stanford ahead of just four programs in Kent State, ECU, App State, and Georgia State but also means they rank last in returning production in the entire Power 5.
Stanford will return just 35% of their production from a year ago, returning 34% on offense thanks to the departures of basically the entire offensive line, the quarterback, and their three best receivers. On the defensive side of the ball they will return just 36%, as they lost their starting linebacker unit, a key pass rusher, and practically the entire secondary.
Now obviously this doesn't mean that Stanford has no chance of having a good season, but the lack of returning production and the programs lack of success in the past few years are likely why outlets such as 247Sports project them to win just four games.
