Stanford head coach Tavita Pritchard announced that Michigan transfer Davis Warren will be the starting quarterback for the Cardinal in Week 0 when Hawaii comes to The Farm. While he didn’t say that Warren would be the starter all season, the implication seems to be that it’s his job to lose.
Given what Pritchard has said he looks for in a QB during fall camp, the decision was obvious. Warren has the competitiveness, accuracy, and leadership that his head coach is looking for and we’ll be getting a glimpse at each of those skills on Saturday.
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The question then becomes: who will be backing up Warren? The two main options on the roster to consider would be senior Dylan Rizk and true freshman Michael Mitchell Jr.
Rizk transferred to Stanford ahead of the 2025 campaign from UCF and didn’t see a single snap with the Cardinal. He started four games at UCF, going 72-for-117 through the air for 904 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions in 2024.
He also spent last season on The Farm, so he’s had more time to acclimate to the campus, but the program has also been through a coaching change, so the leg-up is diminished slightly with everyone learning a new system at the same time.
Last season Rizk won the Greg Piers award for being the most outstanding and valuable scout team on offense. This is meant to highlight the behind-the-scenes work that some players accomplish during the week.
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Mitchell stands 5-foot-11, weighs 180 pounds, and was a consensus three-star recruit coming out of Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco. He was ranked as the No. 2 QB in California from his class, and the No. 12 quarterback prospect in the country.
As a senior he threw for 3,749 yards with 49 touchdowns — his second season with over 30 touchdowns. Over the course of his four seasons he threw for 10,529 yards and racked up 126 touchdowns.
Both quarterbacks are talented, but if something were to happen to Warren or if underperformance forces a change, the expectation early on would be that Rizk would get the first look under center. He’s the experienced college QB who has a higher likelihood of having success quickly.
At the same time, if this theoretical Warren replacement were to be needed later in the season and Stanford isn’t in bowl contention any longer, that could be Mitchell’s time. He would be the QB who is expected to be with Stanford next season, and those reps could go toward getting him ready for 2027.
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To start the season, the program’s goal will be chasing wins and a potential bowl appearance, even with an incredibly difficult schedule. Warren will give the program the best chance of having early-season success to reach those goals.
If the target changes, however, Mitchell could find himself getting some late-season snaps.
