College Football: 25 breakout players to watch in 2016
By John Buhler
For much of the last decade, the Stanford Cardinal have been Tight End University in the Pac-12 North. From the memorable Jim Harbaugh era to the equally as impressive David Shaw era, tight ends like Coby Fleener, Zach Ertz, Levine Toilolo, and Austin Hooper have all gone off to chase the NFL dreams after starring at tight end for Stanford.
Stanford’s most likely player to be its next great tight end is junior Dalton Schultz. At 6’6″, 239 pounds, Schultz will be that big target between the hash marks and in the red zone for whomever ends up replacing multi-year starter Kevin Hogan at quarterback.
Keller Chryst seems like the likely 2016 Stanford starting quarterback, as his father Geep Chryst and uncle Paul Chryst are collegiate/professional offensive-minded coaches. Geep Chryst was the San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator in 2015. Paul Chryst is the head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten.
Stanford already has an elite defense under Shaw and a Heisman finalist in junior running back Christian McCaffrey. What Chryst will need to become a reliable first-year starting quarterback is McCaffrey to eviscerate Pac-12 defenses on the ground and have Schultz as the check-down safety blanket he’ll need at tight end.
After not playing at all as a freshman in 2014 and sparingly as a sophomore in 2015, Schultz will be significantly better than the 10 catches for 121 yards and a touchdown he’s put up at Stanford so far. Schultz will be a big reason if Stanford can win the Pac-12 in back-to-back seasons.
Next: 23. K.D. Cannon.