Fall camp rages on throughout the Pac-12. Throughout the week, we'll provide a team-by-team update of the biggest remaining position battle at each program throughout the conference. We continue by checking in with Stanford.

Biggest remaining position battle: Cornerback

Importance: The defensive line and the secondary are the two Cardinal position groups that have been decimated by departures.

There's not much of battle needed to replenish the trench, though. Stanford's top four bodies there are known commodities. Though there's a fight for the last spot or two in that rotation, Aziz Shittu, Brennan Scarlett, Harrison Phillips, and Solomon Thomas have essentially staked their claims to extensive playing time.

The situation in the secondary is much murkier at this point. While Dallas Lloyd and Kodi Whitfield are clear leaders at the safety positions, there's a war for playing time at cornerback that's only growing by the day.

"Over the past week, we've gone from a two-horse race to a four-horse race there," coach David Shaw said on Tuesday.

Terrence Alexander and Taijuan Thomas have thrust themselves into the thick of consideration with physical, ball-hawking play. They've joined Alijah Holder and Alameen Murphy, two underclassmen who rose to the top of the pecking order after strong springs.

Senior Ronnie Harris is the only upperclassman currently in the mix for significant playing time in the cornerback room, and he's considered a lock on one side of the field. Beyond that, Shaw won't put a limit on how many bodies may see action at the position, so this battle will likely rage on without getting smaller.

"We have no problem rotating guys," Shaw said. "[Our first game] at Northwestern is in the early afternoon on Lake Michigan, so it may be a bit muggy. We may play three or four corners in that game."

Stanford can also certainly benefit from layers of secondary depth later in the year, when they'll face a steady stream of prolific, uptempo Pac-12 offenses. The specter of that challenge makes this current cornerback battle all the more important, as this is not a forgiving conference for defensive backs.