/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67748313/usa_today_13471384.0.jpg)
The Stanford Cardinal will be without two defensive players as they travel to Eugene, Oregon versus the Oregon Ducks.
Starting cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly and starting linebacker Gabe Reid have been declared out for the game against Oregon, in what amounts to a big blow for the Cardinal in Week 1.
The reason for their outage has not been disclosed.
RB Dorian Maddox and LB Jacob Mangum-Farrar have also been declared out for the season, according to head coach David Shaw’s press conference on Tuesday.
Thunder Keck takes Reid’s spot but as far as who is taking Kelly’s spot opposite Ethan Bonner, that one is up for grabs, according to coach Shaw.
Bonner himself was thrust into the starting lineup after Paulson Adebo opted out of the season to prepare for the 2021 NFL draft and Kelly started nine games a season ago with five pass breakups. Bonner did not play last season.
“We’ll see who we put out there first but we anticipate possibly playing three or four corners throughout the course of the day,” Shaw said.
The Cardinal are now left with Salim Turner-Muhammad and Zahran Manley as the backup cornerbacks on their original two-deep depth chart provided to the media.
Turner-Muhammad, like Bonner, also didn’t play last season while Manley played in six games and picked up just a single tackle and allowed one catch for five yards in his coverage against Washington State.
The Cardinal take on Oregon this Saturday in the Pac-12’s welcome back to the field that will see 10 of the conference’s 12 total teams in action after Cal and Washington canceled their game due to a coronavirus outbreak at Cal.
GO CARD