[CTcard]

For the sake of this discussion let's assume these are the available WRs in 2017, with name and eligibility:

Trent Irwin JR
JJ Arcega-Whiteside SO
Jay Tyler SO
Donald Stewart SO
Isiah Brandt-Sims SR
Osiris St. Brown FR

I don't see Irwin or A-W as deep threats,
... The wild card to me is Osiris St. Brown.  Yes, he will be a True Frosh, but he may be the best deep threat on the Farm as soon as he arrives, due to his superior athletic ability.

Well, that's all the scholarship guys on the roster for 2017 except Paxton Segina.

For the most part Stanford won't have a classic deep threat in 2017, he's not on the roster.

We will throw deep a reasonably high proportion of our throws: Shaw likes to do so and it seems a relative strength of Chryst.

Arcega-Whiteside is likely to be our best deep threat. Late last year he started to emerge in that role. He had catches of 59 and 32 yds against cal, 61 yards against Oregon (and 3 near 20 yards), 28 yds vs WSU. He seems reasonably fast, listed in recruiting profile as a 4.51 40, so he'll be able to run by CBs who are peaking in the backfield and thinking about run support.

St. Brown doesn't seem to be a burner. I can't find a 40 time for him, but in the write-ups about his attributes speed is usually not listed. Biggins on Scout wrote, "He needs to continue to get stronger and work on his top end speed".

As you implied, guys not listed as WRs might be effective deep threats. We'll see nominal TEs and RBs lined up as WR from time to time. Not sure guys like Kaden Smith are fast (saw him listed with a 4.85 40 on Scout), but they'll be able to outrun some linebackers covering them.

Would it kill Shaw to have multiple deep threat options on the field at once during a passing down?

While we don't necessarily have multiple deep threats to put on the field, we do run quite a few 3, 4 and even 5 wide formations. Often some of those split out are listed as TEs and RBs.
Of course we don't actually pass all that often most years (last year #115 out of 128 in pass attempts - though only #111 in total plays run), so the multi-wide sets are often tip offs of what is coming.

[CTcard]

For the sake of this discussion let's assume these are the available WRs in 2017, with name and eligibility:

Trent Irwin JR
JJ Arcega-Whiteside SO
Jay Tyler SO
Donald Stewart SO
Isiah Brandt-Sims SR
Osiris St. Brown FR

I don't see Irwin or A-W as deep threats,
... The wild card to me is Osiris St. Brown.  Yes, he will be a True Frosh, but he may be the best deep threat on the Farm as soon as he arrives, due to his superior athletic ability.

Well, that's all the scholarship guys on the roster for 2017 except Paxton Segina.

For the most part Stanford won't have a classic deep threat in 2017, he's not on the roster.

We will throw deep a reasonably high proportion of our throws: Shaw likes to do so and it seems a relative strength of Chryst.

Arcega-Whiteside is likely to be our best deep threat. Late last year he started to emerge in that role. He had catches of 59 and 32 yds against cal, 61 yards against Oregon (and 3 near 20 yards), 28 yds vs WSU. He seems reasonably fast, listed in recruiting profile as a 4.51 40, so he'll be able to run by CBs who are peaking in the backfield and thinking about run support.

St. Brown doesn't seem to be a burner. I can't find a 40 time for him, but in the write-ups about his attributes speed is usually not listed. Biggins on Scout wrote, "He needs to continue to get stronger and work on his top end speed".

As you implied, guys not listed as WRs might be effective deep threats. We'll see nominal TEs and RBs lined up as WR from time to time. Not sure guys like Kaden Smith are fast (saw him listed with a 4.85 40 on Scout), but they'll be able to outrun some linebackers covering them.

Would it kill Shaw to have multiple deep threat options on the field at once during a passing down?

While we don't necessarily have multiple deep threats to put on the field, we do run quite a few 3, 4 and even 5 wide formations. Often some of those split out are listed as TEs and RBs.
Of course we don't actually pass all that often most years (last year #115 out of 128 in pass attempts - though only #111 in total plays run), so the multi-wide sets are often tip offs of what is coming.