SANTA CLARA – With 2,000-yard rusher Bryce Love, the top four receivers, and four all-conference linemen all returning, the biggest concern for Stanford’s offense heading into camp this week was the health of expected starting quarterback K.J. Costello, who missed all of spring practice with a hip injury.

Fortunately for the Cardinal, coach David Shaw said that Costello should be “100 percent and ready to go” by the time the season starts Aug. 31 against San Diego State.

“He’s pushed himself the entire offseason,” Shaw said Monday at the Bay Area College Football Touchdown Tailgate. “And really gotten himself to a position where he’s not getting hit yet, but he can throw it, he can sling it, he can do everything we need him to do athletically – he can run, he can move, he can jump – so now it’s conditioning his body for the season.”

The junior started the final six games and threw 14 touchdowns and four interceptions last season. Shaw said that presumed back-up Davis Mills (knee) had a more extensive injury but also has had more time to recover.

“Hopefully by the time we play games he’s ready to go,” Shaw said.

AROUND THE FIELD

Shaw said his biggest concern heading into training camp was the development of the defensive line, which lost stalwart tackle Harrison Phillips and is the least experienced position group.

“We’ve got some talent in that room,” Shaw said. “But how far during training camp can these young, inexperienced guys get before we play that first game? Can they really grow and mature?”

Shaw said that other unsettled positions were safety, cornerback, left guard, and depth at wide receiver behind JJ Arcega-Whiteside and Trenton Irwin. Options at wideout include sophomore Connor Weddington, junior Donald Stewart and redshirt freshman Osiris St. Brown.

“Who are those third and fourth receivers we’re going to need to win football games?” Shaw said.

POLL WATCHING

Few things have less meaning than preseason media polls, but senior wide receiver Trenton Irwin found one use for it – motivation.

Irwin knows the exact number of first-place votes that went to Washington and Stanford in the Pac-12’s latest version. The media overwhelmingly picked the Huskies to unseat the Cardinal, who have won the North Division four times in the past six years.

“If anything, it’s probably better for us going into fall camp to have 40 votes (for Washington) to 1 vote (for Stanford),” Irwin said. “You gotta have a chip; you gotta have a reason to go do what you do. They don’t think we’re there, and it just gives us something to prove wrong.”

The offense must adjust to life without coordinator Mike Bloomgren, who is now the coach at Rice, but the number of playmakers on the Cardinal will help.

“A lot of it just figuring out our identity. Whether it be 20 carries, 30 carries, 30 pass attempts, we have to figure out what our perfect blend is,” Irwin said. “It’s an exciting thing for sure because a lot of times in football it’s trying to create those 1-on-1 situations. Now if they have to bring a safety up to guard the two receivers, Bryce Love is going to tear it up. Or if they bring a safety in the box, you get those 1-on-1s on the outside. Our team has a lot of guys who can win those 1-on-1 situations and will make the offense even more explosive.”

BREAKOUT CANDIDATE

Shaw singled out fifth-year senior linebacker Bobby Okereke as a player who should get national attention this year. Okereke was third on the team with 96 tackles last season and was an all-Pac-12 honorable mention selection.

Okereke said he’s prepared by watching former Cardinal greats at his position.

“A.J. Tarpley, Shayne Skov, Blake Martinez,” Okereke said. “Seeing guys like that play and then go into the league and do well, just follow that blueprint and taking after them.”

PLAYOFF PICTURE

The Touchdown Tailgate took place at Levi’s Stadium, the site of the next national championship game. Shaw said that if Stanford made its first appearance in the college football playoffs, it would be an all-time achievement.

“Stanford football getting to the playoff will be one of the biggest accomplishments in this era of football given where recruiting has been, given our academic standards,” Shaw said. “For us to be able to reach that pinnacle of the sport will accomplish one of the goals from the beginning of this program, which was to show and prove that you can have biology majors like Bryce Love, engineering majors like Andrew Luck and David DeCastro, and still be able to have a consistent winning football program that can reach the top of college football.”