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College Football Rankings: Top 25 after spring practice

By Cody Williams

Nov 26, 2016; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Hurts (2) scrambles out of the pocket against the Auburn Tigers during the second quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 26, 2016; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Hurts (2) scrambles out of the pocket against the Auburn Tigers during the second quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports /
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October 22, 2016; Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal running back Bryce Love (right) runs with the ball against Colorado Buffaloes defensive back Isaiah Oliver (26) during the first quarter at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
October 22, 2016; Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal running back Bryce Love (right) runs with the ball against Colorado Buffaloes defensive back Isaiah Oliver (26) during the first quarter at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
18

Stanford Cardinal

2016: 10-3, 

Stanford Cardinal head coach David Shaw is one of the most underrated in college football. Even if his team isn’t abundantly talented, he’s going to have his team playing competitive and inspired football. In that regard, though, he might have one of his toughest tasks yet ahead of him as he tries to prepare Stanford for the 2017 season.

Replacing the overall production of Christian McCaffrey is the first and most obvious hurdle that the Cardinal have to overcome this upcoming season. That’s a tall task in itself, and one that they will at least look to Bryce Love to take on as far as running back duties go. However, we weren’t able to even get a glimpse of how capable Love is of doing that in the spring game as the running back was out of action due to injury.

Injuries were somewhat of an unfortunate theme for the Cardinal’s spring as returning starter Keller Chryst is still rehabbing a torn ACL that he suffered in the 2016 season. Thus, he was unable to give it a go at the spring game as well — though Ryan Burns looked stable in his absence.

With these questions remaining and the loss of playmakers like Solomon Thomas on the defense, it’s hard to truly diagnose what Stanford is going to look like. Frankly, they only come in at No. 18 due to the respect for Shaw as a head coach. Other than that, things could get dicey for this team.

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