Taking a Look at Stanford Football's Current Quarterback Room

The most important position group on any football team, the quarterback is the headlining player for any program looking to either find or maintain success. In the case of the Stanford Cardinal, the last few years have seen that group sort of be a revolving door, with consistency being a major issue. But heading into this season, it looks like Stanford could have a very good problem on their hands.

Despite losing multiple quarterbacks to the transfer portal, including last year's starters Ashton Daniels and Justin Lamson, the Cardinal did a good job at using the transfer portal to their advantage while also retaining their other signal callers as well, signing Rizk out of UCF while keeping Myles Jackson, Charlie Mirer and Elijah Brown.

Brown is expected to start at the moment, being a highly touted recruit out of Mater Dei High School and being the only one in the room to really get substantial playing time for the Cardinal last season. But Stanford have also made sure to bring in experienced veterans as well, with Ben Gulbranson coming over from Oregon State.

Entering his sixth season of college football, beginning his career back in 2020, Gulbransen started eight games for the Beavers back in 2022 and went 7-1, helping guide Oregon State to a win in the Las Vegas Bowl while also helping them be ranked No. 17 in the final polls.

Rizk, entering his third season of college football, has far less experience than Gulbranson but he too also has starting experience. Starting four out of the six games that he appeared in last year, Rizk went 1-3 and got experience facing Big 12 competition, a conference that some consider the third best in college football-- behind the Big Ten and the SEC.

While Mirer and Jackson have yet to appear in a game, both of them bring immense potential. Coming out of high school rated as a three-star prospect, Mirer threw for over 2,000 yards and 30 touchdowns at Cathedral Catholic High School, including throwing for 1,609 yards and 19 touchdowns as a senior.

As for Jackson, he threw for over 6,000 yards despite playing only two varsity seasons. As a junior, his final season of high school before graduating early and reclassifying to the 2023 class, Jackson threw for 3,620 yards and 47 touchdowns, also contributing 476 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.

A big goal for Stanford this season will be to establish a sustainable identity that they can carry with them once they find a long term head coach. And with a relatively young quarterback room, with only Gulbranson out of eligibility once the season ends, the Cardinal have the opportunity to get ahead of the curve and develop their quarterbacks into stars.

It won't hurt that the new GM of Stanford football is Andrew Luck, and their interim head coach has tons of experience in the NFL in Frank Reich.

Having multiple candidates who are capable of starting, it is safe to say that Stanford is facing a very good problem, with a potential quarterback controversy set to occur during training camp.