Stanford’s Willie Shaw Director of Defense Lance Anderson has a daunting task in front of him this training camp as he looks to build a solid depth chart from a talented but unproven and somewhat inexperienced Cardinal defensive roster. After two weeks of training camp, the affable Anderson gave a thorough deconstruction of what he’s seen from the defensive players so far after Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football David Shaw acknowledged that Anderson’s side of the ball did have the upper hand so far in camp.

Coach Anderson had some general goals at the start of the day and felt like the defense checked most of the boxes on his agenda. “Wanted to get all the guys some work. Get 'em some experience. Wanted to go out there, play hard, compete at a high level. I think we did that. Old guys did a nice job. We gave up one big play which we want to eliminate that but the rest I liked how they competed, we got off the field on some third downs, they did a decent job against the run. Those were some things that definitely were encouraging to see.”

Defensive Line Coach Diron Reynolds said Day One was almost exclusively about getting guys lined up correctly, and Coach Anderson explained that the data dump has ramped up significantly over the last couple weeks. "We've been putting a lot in. We've installed almost every single day of camp so we're getting a lot of the defense in. Young guys, they're swimming a little bit. There's a lot to learn so they're still trying to get lined up in the right place, do the right thing. The older guys they understand it pretty well at this point so they're more fine-tuning their technique, worrying about execution, technique and all that kind of stuff, which has been good. I think the older guys have made a lot of progress. They've gotten better and better. You look at where some guys were in the spring and where they are now and it's evident that they are making some good progress."

Redshirt Sophomore Jovan Swann will carry significant responsibility this spring, and the Anderson talked about his growth just over the course of a few months. “Jovan was up and down a little bit in the spring. He needed more experience. You see a more consistent player now. A guy who understands his job better now. He's able to execute it better physically. I think he's gotten stronger in the weight room. He's moving better, and the big thing for the linemen is there is so much technique work involved, where a lot of these things they weren't taught in high school and it takes some time with bringing the hands, bringing the hips, shedding blocks. Jovan's made some great progress there so I think he's in a really good place right now.”

Moving back a level defensively, Anderson is pleased with his linebacking corps. “They're really doing well. Gabe flashed around with some big plays again. He's doing a really good job as a pass rusher for us. Again, he's a redshirt freshman, he hasn't played yet so there's still some learning going on. He's still making his share of mental errors and he's having his missed assignments, but he's getting better all the time. He's an explosive football player. He's going to make plays for us. We've got to continue bringing him along. Sean (Barton) coming off the injury, not being able to do anything in the spring, but he's been full go since we started in the fall. I wouldn't really even know that he had hurt that knee. He's played at such a high level and I it hasn't seemed to bother him and slow him down and it's great to get him back too.”

Finally, Anderson talked about the depth and most importantly, the versatility of his secondary. “We've got really good competition going on at the safety position now. With Frank Buncom IV, Ben Edwards, Malik Antoine, Brandon Simmons has been limited a little bit, but you see some of the strides that Brandon has made mentally I think he's starting to understand the game better. Starting to understand the defense. Where he fits. He's starting to anticipate things better so I think that'll help him to play faster. But Malik, Ben, and Frank have been really consistent. I think they've been playing at a high level. They're all smart football players, great IQ. You've got to have that at that position. Those guys are making so many calls, adjustments, checks for us. Those guys have done a good job with that. They're on top of that. It's going to be interesting to see how that competition plays out over a couple of weeks. I think all of them are going to get playing time. They've shown and deserve that at this point.”

That versatility is an envelope Stanford is willing to push because of the options it can afford the Cardinal defense. “You want to see mentally how much they can handle because the more they can handle the more versatility they have, the more that they can do. So a guy like Alameen Murphy that was able to play safety, nickel, and corner in the spring for us. He got work there. That's given him a lot of versatility this fall. We've been able to work at him at all different spots in the secondary. It allows us to find our best combination in the secondary. 'Who are the best five guys when we go to a nickel?' If we go to a dime package who are the best six DB's we can get on the field? So the more versatility those guys have the better a group we can put on the field. Lot of those guys as you'd imagine, they're smart guys. They're at Stanford for a reason and not only are they book smart they're football smart and that gives them some flexibility just playing different positions,” Anderson says.

Anderson ended by highlighting a number of players stepping up in terms of leadership. “Bobby Okereke has done a tremendous job. He's played at a high level this camp. I think everybody looks up to Bobby. They respect him. He's definitely a guy they follow. Joey Alfieri's been around a long time. He's played a lot of football here. He seems natural being back at the outside linebacker position. He's another leader for us. Dylan Jackson, with the amount of football he's played, he understands. He goes about things in a very professional manner. Works hard. He's a good example to those young guys. Guys in the secondary like Alijah Holder, Frank Buncom IV. Those guys are leaders too so I think we have a number of-can't leave out Alameen Murphy and Brandon Simmons, and guys who were elected captains last year. I think all those guys have done a good job, taking some of the young guys under their wing, helping them out, but then getting that whole defense, getting those ones and twos to blend together and play with chemistry and play on the same page, that's part of that leadership and it's important.”

Stay tuned to TheBootleg.com for Stanford Football and Basketball Team and Recruiting Updates all year long!

R.J. Abeytia has been contributing to The Bootleg since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Abeytia and follow The Bootleg @TheBootleg for up to the moment Cardinal news and analysis.

Not a subscriber? Sign up now to get all the great information inside our Premium Football and Hoops Boards Click here to subscribe!

And don't forget to sign up for our Bootleg Newsletter! It's free and a great way to get all the latest Stanford Cardinal information right into your inbox!