Stanford: 2021 Recruiting Trail
Last Updated: August 20, 2020
Recruiting is where a majority of a college football roster is built. Obviously a team wants to get the best players they can each year, but no two years are the same on the recruiting trail. Based on what a team is able to do one year the needs and expectations for the next year change. In this feature we will track what the Stanford Cardinal have done and what they still need to achieve on the trail in the 2021 cycle.
2020 Recruiting Recap
Stanford’s 2020 recruiting class was a quality class that ranked in the top 25 of the recruiting rankings. The Cardinal added six players rated four stars or higher in the 247Sports Composite. Of those Six players, five play on the offensive side of the ball. Three of them are offensive linemen and will continue a strong tradition of offensive line play that has been established at Stanford. The other two were a running back and a receiver. Overall the offensive class was a strength with only a quarterback missing.
While they add a good amount of talent on offense there was not nearly as much high end talent added on the defensive side of the ball. The one four star defensive recruit Stanford did sign was a cornerback. While the Cardinal can look to the 2019 class for defensive firepower the need at quarterback is a big one. Stanford has not signed a quarterback for the second straight recruiting cycle. The 2020 class was strong on the offensive line and added a few skill players but did leave some holes to be filled in 2021.
Stanford recruits nationally because they are recruiting football players who can also meet their academic standards. This makes it challenging for Stanford to focus their energy in just one part of the country because there is a smaller pool of players to choose from. Stanford only signed one four star recruit out of the 32 four stars from California in 2020. They were able to go out of state and land a four star player each from Texas, Florida and Georgia, along with two from Washington. Stanford is always going to recruit nationally for high academic kids but they need to maintain a strong local presence in California as well.
Stanford 2021 Recruiting Landscape
Despite not having a great year in 2019 Stanford did not press the panic button and overhaul their coaching staff. Instead David Shaw returns a majority of his coaching staff with the lone newcomer being inside linebackers coach Eric Sanders who returned to Stanford where he was an assistant defensive line coach earlier in his career. Continuity should help Stanford return to where they were before 2019 and it will also be an advantage as the coaches have already been building relationships with recruits.
California always has a good amount of talent in state but the question for Stanford is how many of the players meet their academic standards. This is another strong class in state with quality prospects and good depth. The Cardinal will have to fight off competition from Cal in state, and schools like Notre Dame, Michigan, Duke and Northwestern nationally. Cal is located nearby in Berkley and also attempts to target similar players in state causing the rivals to butt heads on the recruiting trail. Notre Dame and Michigan are national powers who also attempt to target high academic kids that Stanford is after, Duke and Northwestern do the same thing but with more second tier players that the big schools may not be recruiting.
Goals For Stanford 2021Recruiting
1. Find a quarterback recruit to develop and build around. Stanford has not signed a quarterback prospect in the 2019 or 2020 class and will need to find one in 2021. The quarterback position continues to be the most important in football and it is critical to have strong play at the position.
Status: Stanford has received a commitment from California QB Ari Patu. He has the tools to develop and build around for the future.
2. Get back to landing some of the high end prospects in state. In 2019 Stanford signed four prospects from the state of California ranked four stars or higher, in 2020 they only signed one. It’s always easier to recruit nearby and it’s important to get the kids that live close by whenever possible.
Status: The aforementioned Patu is from California, he is a borderline four star prospect. There is still work to be done in this area for the 2021 class.
3. Recruit quality front seven prospects. Stanford did a good job in this area in 2019 but did not have as much success in 2020. It’s important to recruit the next wave of talent before the previous wave graduates. The Cardinal would do well to add a few impact front seven players this cycle.
Status: Stanford has not yet signed a front seven prospect in the 2021 class. They will need to find a few before signing day.
4. Sign a couple of high end prospects from out of state. Stanford has always been able to find good academic kids out of state who want to get the Stanford education. This has been an important part of the program’s recruiting this decade and will need to continue in 2021.
Status: Stanford only has seven commitments in the 2021 cycle, with none of them fitting the description of a high end out of state prospect.
This post will be updated throughout the cycle.
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Stanford vs. SDSU 2018 image taken by Daniel Hartwig is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
