Three freshmen that could have major roles for Stanford in 2023

The Cardinal will need younger players to step in right away

Following what was his third losing season in four years, Stanford head coach David Shaw opted to step down after Stanford's last game of the season, a loss to BYU.

The Cardinal then went on to hire Sacramento State's Troy Taylor about two weeks into December. A decision that took a little longer than perhaps some would have liked, but Taylor was in the midst of the FCS Playoffs with the Hornets for the third time.

However, while the excitement around Taylor's hiring was enormous, his first major challenge as the Stanford head coach was signing day. Due to his late playoff run, Taylor didn't have enough time to assemble a full staff by the time signing day rolled around which led to the Cardinal losing some commitments from their class. While their class ended up ranking as the No. 62 class in the country, there are still recruits that can make an impact right away.

Especially when you consider that Stanford ranks No. 129 out of 133 teams in terms of returning production. Here are three freshmen that stand out as having a chance to be starters right away for the Cardinal, with an honorable mention going to quarterback Myles Jackson who is expected to push for the starting role. 

Jshawn Frausto-Ramos, CB

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The highest-ranked recruit in the class comes in with a prime opportunity to start. The Cardinal lost both starting corners to the NFL, and the next guy up to the transfer portal. Their entire secondary will be made up of guys who didn't start last season, which gives the St. John Bosco product a very clear path to the field. He comes from one of the best high school programs in the country and has a winning pedigree, which some of that should translate right away. If he can come in and keep up with the speed and physicality, there's no doubt in my mind he won't be starting. 

Tiger Bachmeier, WR

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While just about every program in the country are able to welcome their freshmen on campus early for spring ball, that is a very rare occurrence at Stanford. In fact, four-star wide receiver Tiger Bachmeier was the lone member of the 2023 class for Stanford that enrolled early. In doing so, he got a leg up on the other incoming receivers, and he was also consistently named as one of the standouts during spring ball. With a pass heavy offense and receiver corps needing new faces to emerge after losing their three top pass catchers to the NFL, Bachmeier has a prime opportunity to carve out a role for himself. 

Simione Pale, OL

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The offensive line is a complete crapshoot heading into 2023, being that the Cardinal lost their entire starting offensive line from a year ago and nearly all the reserves. They were able to make a couple transfer portal additions, but the Elk Grove native has the size at 6-foot-4 320 pounds to come in and be a starter right away. His high school offense ran the wing-T offense which is predicated on motion and running the ball, which should help him facilitate the strong run game for the Cardinal.