Stanford Football: 5 Post-Spring Questions Facing the Cardinal

Stanford will try to replace a ton of star power and several key players before they enter the 2012 season. They had a few weeks and a spring game to try to get a better feel for this team, as they'll end up having to replace eight combined starters.

A few questions were answered in the spring, but with only a few weeks to prepare, many of the issues will have to be dealt with when the fall arrives. When you have as many questions as Stanford does, every opportunity should be taken advantage of.

Here are five questions the Stanford Cardinal still has to answer heading into the fall.

How Many True Freshmen Will Play Right Away?

We know that Stanford has a lot of positions to fill and the good thing is that they have a loaded recruiting class coming in. The offensive line in particular has two huge holes in it with David DeCastro and Jonathan Martin heading to the NFL. Offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton has already said that freshmen will come in and compete for playing time along the offensive line.

Stanford has a total of four offensive linemen who were either 4-star or 5-star recruits. It'll also be interesting to see if Stanford throws any defensive prospects in for early action or how much we'll see of running back Barry Sanders Jr.

True-freshmen will see action this year for Stanford; question is, just how many?

What Will the Running Back Situation Look Like?

Speaking of Barry Sanders, how will the running back depth shape up?

Sanders is a talented 4-star recruit who should see some touches his true-freshman year. Stepfan Taylor will obviously remain the starter after rushing for over 1,300 yards last season. Tyler Gaffney and Anthony Wilkerson shouldn't be too far behind as they combined for over 700 yards on the ground and 11 total touchdowns last year. And then you have Ricky Seale, who's really impressed in the spring and during the spring game.

"We just played a spring game without our top three running backs and we found out that our fourth running back is good enough to start at a lot of places," Head coach David Shaw said via ESPN.

It's going to be interesting to see how the coaches split carries in this talented backfield.

What's Up with Shayne Skov?

Shayne Skov is one of the top linebackers in the country when he's healthy. In 2010 he led the team with 83 tackles and had seven sacks. Before getting hurt last year and missing majority of the year with a knee injury, he had five tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. The good news is that he is rehabbing and should be ready for the fall.

The question is, what will his punishment be for getting arrested earlier in the year for suspicion of driving under the influence? It's expected we'll find out later in the year, but it's an important question with Stanford playing USC during week three of the regular season.

Who Will Play Quarterback?

Stanford had one of the best quarterbacks college football has ever seen in Andrew Luck. But now that he's preparing for the NFL draft, the offense is still searching for their single-caller. It's pretty much down to sophomore Brett Nottingham and junior Josh Nunes. Both have shown positive signs throughout the spring, but neither has really separated themselves from the pack just yet.

This is a question that will take a lot more time to get an answer.

What Type of Season Will Stanford Have?

Stanford's football program has never been as successful as they were the past two seasons. And with quarterback Andrew Luck gone, many believe that they will take a huge step backward and become just another irrelevant team in the Pac-12. There is still a lot of talent on this roster and with a stacked recruiting class coming in, they should remain competitive.

But just how much of a drop-off will this team experience?