Stanford senior running back Anthony Wilkerson is in his final act. His first three seasons, Wilkerson played second banana to Stepfan Taylor, Stanford’s all-time leading rusher. Taylor, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards each of the past three seasons, is with the Arizona Cardinals.

Currently, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Wilkerson is sharing top billing in the backfield with Tyler Gaffney. Supporting actors Ricky Seale, Remound Wright and Barry Sanders Jr. have ambition for more lines in the script. Though its early in the 2013 production, Wilkerson is showing he deserves the bulk of the load, along with Gaffney.

“Wilkerson looks great,” said Stanford coach David Shaw. “When you look at Anthony Wilkerson and Tyler Gaffney, they’re two guys who average over 4.0 yards per carry for their career. Both of them are going to have a great season.”

Shaw said all the backs will have their moments to shine in front of the spotlight.

“Barry Sanders is going to have a role,” Shaw said. “Ricky Seale is going to have a role. Remound Wright is going to have a role. It depends on the situation. We’re going to play five backs every game.”

Wilkerson has rushed for 914 yards on 195 carries. He has scored seven touchdowns, but only crossed the goal line once last season. He’ll get more chances to produce in 2013, even if it means sharing the accolades.

“We’re an experienced group,” Wilkerson said. “We’re deep at running back. It’s a healthy competition and there is no animosity between each other.”

Wilkerson, who prepped at Tustin High in Orange County, has fancied himself a thespian.

“A lot of the guys on the team say I should do acting because I’m outgoing,” Wilkerson said. “I’m an LA guy, a Tustin guy. It’s fun. I love improvisation. Acting could be a cool thing to do.”

After Saturday’s practice, Wilkerson displayed a T-shirt with the word “Forever” over a Cardinal football helmet.

“It’s a team thing,” Wilkerson said. “You come here, you get the education and you’re part of the team forever.”

Wilkerson is aching for a final season he’ll remember forever.

Little Luke on watch list

Stanford tight end Luke Kaumatule, a sophomore, may be the first in history to be named to the John Mackey Award watch list without having a pass reception. The award, named after the legendary Baltimore Colts tight end, honors the best tight end in the country. Kaumatule, who played in nine games last year as a true freshman, sprung Zach Ertz for a touchdown with a block in the Cardinal’s win over USC.

“I’m honored to be on that list,” said the 6-7, 267-pound Kaumatule. “I give all the credit to the tight ends who came before, like Zach Ertz, Levine Toilolo and Coby Fleener. I’ve done nothing to earn it. I’m just looking to help my team win any way I can, whether I start or don’t start.”

On center battle

After one week, Shaw rated the center battle between Kevin Danser, Khalil Wilkes and Conor McFadden a dead heat.

“It’s even,” Shaw said. “We’d love for there to be some movement there. We’re going to work them through, but I imagine it will be, at least, another week before we have a clear-cut leader.”

On the freshmen

The Cardinal has some talented true freshmen, but they’ve only undergone one week of practice.

“This is their first shot at big-time college football,” said Shaw of his true freshman class. “They’re doing fine. We’re excited about every single one of them. I’m excited about our young linebackers. They’re going to be great, not good. They’re going to be great. It’s just that they’re going against some pretty good guys. This is the part where they start swimming, mentally.”

Linebacker competition

One of the most closely watched competitions of training camp is the duel to replace All-Pac-12 outside linebacker Chase Thomas, who was released by the New Orleans Saints on Monday. The contenders are juniors James Vaughters and Blake Lueders.

“Both play with the attitude that we want to play with,” Shaw said. “They know I don’t care who starts, because they’re both going to play.”

A day for the fans

Stanford will hold its annual football open house Saturday.

The five-hour event begins with a scrimmage at 10 a.m. — it is the only public workout of training camp — and includes a fan fest. Players will sign autographs at 1:30 p.m. in Stanford Stadium.

The Bay Area News Group’s Jon Wilner contributed to this report.

Email John Reid at jreid@dailynewsgroup.com; follow him at twitter.com/dailynewsjohn.