College Football Today: Stanford Shifts to ACC
The defense -- ranked dead last in FBS in 2023 -- better improve, but a strong offense could lead this team to four wins... nothing to write home about, but a step in the right direction as the Cardinal tries to revitalize their program.
The post College Football Today: Stanford Shifts to ACC first appeared on RotoRob.
Ryan Butler could have a massive year. (X.com)
Nebraska will be without starting LT Teddy Prochazka for the season as he suffered a third knee injury in four years; Coastal Carolina has had to shift its camp to North Carolina thanks to tropical storm Debby; and former Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh — who says he didn’t do anything wrong — has received a four-year show cause order because of impermissible contact with recruits and players while access was restricted during Covid-19.
Ryan Butler Breakout Coming?
One of the more interesting things to watch this season is how the Stanford Cardinal will fare in its move to the now 17-team strong ACC. After showing promise in the 2020 Covid-shortened season (4-2), Stanford has scuffled to three straight 3-9 campaigns in the Pac-12.
The defense — ranked dead last in FBS in 2023 — better improve, but a strong offense could lead this team to four wins… nothing to write home about, but a step in the right direction as the Cardinal tries to revitalize their program.
The real excitement for Stanford will involve how big a jump junior running back Ryan Butler can make this season. On the preseason Doak Walker Watch List, after transferring from Princeton he had to take a step back in his first year with the Cardinal as he was buried on the depth chart.
That’s expected to change this season, and given the promise Butler showed as a freshman (he was a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award, given to the most impressive first year player in the FCS), he is definitely worth tracking.
The New Jersey native only started two games last year, but that total should increase significantly in 2024. We’ll know a lot more about his potential as a pro after this season.
Can Thomas Castellanos Drive BC to Another Winning Season?
After bottoming out at 3-9 in 2022, the Boston College Eagles recorded a winning record last year en route to their first Bowl game since 2019. Unfortunately, odds suggest the team will regress this year (-152 as per FanDuel to win over 4.5 games).
Massachusetts’ most popular college football squad (at least by tickets sold), will probably need an All-American performance from QB Thomas Castellanos to have another winning record this year.
The junior will look to build on his first season as the starter last year when 15 of his 330 passes went for TDs and he generally did a better job of avoiding sacks. As a high schooler, the super athletic Castellanos also played basketball, soccer and track and field. The Georgia native spent his freshman year at UCF before transferring and becoming the first BC player ever to record 2,000 yards passing and 1,000 rushing in one season.
The Eagles don’t have the reputation as a quarterback producing program (although Doug Flutie, Matt Hasselbeck and some dude named Matt Ryan may disagree), but Castellanos is out to change that perception. Among QBs, he’s probably a top 30 draft prospect now, with a chance to raise his stock with a bigger showing in 2024.
RotoRob Tune of the Day
Billie Holiday was christened “Lady Day,” by her music partner Lester Young. Here’s another track from Jazz Masters 12, “P.S. I Love You,” a tune she originally recorded in 1954.
