David Shaw, Stanford make change at quarterback

Stanford Cardinal head coach David Shaw announced Tuesday that the team would be making a change at quarterback ahead of Saturday’s contest against rival USC, as Jack West — last week’s starter — has been replaced by Tanner McKee.

Before the season began, Shaw said that both quarterbacks — previously in a competition for the starting job — would get playing time, which held true in Week 1 against Kansas State. However, in Stanford’s 24-7 loss to Kansas State, McKee was the only signal caller able to get Stanford’s offense on the board: West completed eight of 12 passes for 76 passing yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions, while McKee completed 15 of 18 passes for 118 passing yards and a touchdown.

McKee, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound sophomore from California, played in just one game his freshman season. He played his only snaps in 2020 against No. 12 Oregon, completing three of seven pass attempts for 62 passing yards. A four-star recruit, McKee in his junior and senior seasons combined had 5,905 passing yards and 62 passing touchdowns, coupled with 1,214 rushing yards and an additional 28 rushing touchdowns. McKee finished his prep career as Centennial High School’s all-time leader in completion percentage, completing 73 percent of his passes, and second in school history in passing yards.

West, by comparison, is a senior, but he also entered his first season in the conversation for the starting quarterback job. West started the only game in which he appeared last season, completing 13 of 19 passing attempts for 154 yards. The Saraland, Alabama-native was also named a four-star recruit out of high school, and he was largely considered a top-three quarterback recruit in the state of Alabama. West finished his high school career throwing for a total of 4,879 passing yards and 56 touchdowns in his high school career.

Both McKee and West signed with Stanford in 2018. However, West is a senior, while McKee is technically a sophomore because McKee went on a two-year LDS mission in Brazil, delaying his arrival on campus.

Last season, West was the primary backup quarterback while McKee was the third-string option. Both West and McKee spent the 2020 season behind Davis Mills, who has since been selected in the third round, with the 67th overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans. Mills, a five-star recruit out of Duluth, Georgia, was an all-Pac-12 honorable mention last season, finishing the season having completed 129 of 195 passing attempts for 1,508 yards and seven passing touchdowns; Mills also added three rushing touchdowns, the second-most on the team.