The off-season: Predicting Stanford football’s 2025 defensive starters
With the winter cycle of the transfer portal nearing completion, senior staff writer Kaushik Sampath predicts who the offensive and defensive starters will be for Stanford football heading into the 2025 season. This piece provides a position-by-position breakdown of the potential first-string defense.
CB1 Senior Collin Wright
Stanford’s No. 1 cornerback the past two seasons is set to be back on the Farm for the 2025 season. His improved ball skills and ability to tackle in space also make him a great candidate to slot in at the nickel position at times.
CB2 Fifth-year Jordan Washington
Washington earned first-team All-Ivy honors this past season and posted 88.3 and 78.5 Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades in back-to-back years in 2023 and 2024. He is likely to be the immediate starter at cornerback opposite to Wright.
CB3 Fifth-year Julian Neal
Despite only starting four games during his senior year, Neal made the most of his playing time, recording 35 tackles, five pass deflections and two interceptions. Given his veteran status and Stanford’s poor secondary play last season, Neal should be starting for the Cardinal in 2025.
EDGE Senior David Bailey
Bailey displayed why he was highly coveted out of high school last season, recording a team high 8.5 sacks. Bailey could vault himself into a top-three round pick next year if he learns to become an every-down player.
EDGE2 Senior Tevarua Tafiti
Tafiti started the last ten games at EDGE for the Cardinal in 2024, tallying 41 tackles and seven tackles-for-loss. While the Cardinal do have talent at the EDGE position, Tafiti appears to be in the good graces of the defensive coaching staff, making him a strong candidate to start come August.
ILB Redshirt Junior Jahsiah Galvan
With the departures of Gaethan Bernadel and Tristan Sinclair, the inside linebacking corps will look much different for Stanford this year. Galvan struggled with injuries toward the beginning of the 2024 season, but his top-notch play in FCS football should give him the edge to start when the season rolls around.
ILB Senior Matt Rose
Besides Galvan, Rose is Stanford’s most experienced inside linebacker. Now a senior, he tallied 32 tackles last season for the Cardinal. With a lack of top-talent at the position for Stanford, Rose’s veteran experience could push him over the top and into a starting role.
DT Senior Zach Rowell
Rowell started four games during the 2024 season and was credited with 13 tackles and 1.5 tackles-for-loss. With the departure of Tobin Phillips, Rowell looks to be the most likely player to fill Phillips’ position.
DT Fifth-year Anthony Franklin
Franklin started 23 games for the Cardinal in the past two seasons, accumulating 8.5 tackles-for-loss and 48 total tackles in that time span. Due to his previous experience as a starter, it’s safe to pencil-in Franklin as a starting defensive tackle in 2025.
S Sophomore Jaylen’Dai Sumlin
After a mountain of injuries to the Cardinal’s defensive backfield, Sumlin had some impressive showings as a freshman, displaying a nose for the football. His 70.0 PFF season grade ranked ahead of every other secondary player except Colin Wright. I expect Sumlin to overtake some of the veteran players at his position for playing time in the fall.
S Senior Jaivion Green
Green showed promise at the nickel position last season, displaying superior coverage skills before going down with a season-ending injury against Clemson. If healthy, Green will bolster a much stronger Cardinal secondary during the upcoming season.
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