Stanford football recruiting class among its ‘best’ in a decade
In makeup, with its heralded collection of offensive linemen, Stanford’s 2016 recruiting class resembles the lauded 2012 group.
In quantity, the class echoes the philosophy (and marketing slogan) of a certain NBA team that makes its home across the Bay.
The Cardinal hopes, as the Warriors believe, that there’s strength in numbers.
The 25-player class that signed Wednesday - it includes six players from Texas and three 4-star offensive tackles - is the largest under coach David Shaw.
In fact, it’s the largest for Stanford since 2003.
“We had a lot of scholarships and a lot of things we wanted to address,” Shaw said.
The class is ranked Nos. 13 and 15 nationally by the ESPN and Scout recruiting services, respectively - in part because of the numbers. The rankings take the quantity and quality of recruits into consideration, and Stanford was No. 26 on a rating-per-player basis.
Scout national recruiting analyst Greg Biggins called it “one of their best classes in (the) last decade.”
The Cardinal’s ranking within the Pac-12 followed a similar pattern: The class was third overall, according to Scout, but sixth on a per-player basis.
The heart of the class is the five-man offensive line, but it might ultimately be judged by the production of the defensive front, given the need for quality depth on that unit. The top talent in the four-player group, based on the ratings assigned by the recruiting services, is Michael Williams, a 300-pounder from Fort Worth.
“We’re always trying to get defensive linemen,” Shaw said. “The incoming freshmen are bigger than the seniors who left us.”
As expected, Stanford signed one quarterback: K.J. Costello, from Santa Margarita High School (Carson Palmer’s alma mater).
The 6-foot-5 Costello committed to Stanford last spring and is the top-rated passer in California. He received scholarship offers from numerous powerhouses, including Alabama, Michigan, Florida State and USC.
Costello will be one of three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster next fall, joining Keller Chryst and Ryan Burns. (Stanford is expected to carry at least one walk-on quarterback.)
“We marked K.J. a year-and-a-half ago as our guy,” Shaw said. “We knew a lot of schools would go after him. Thankfully, this is the place he wanted to be.”
The class doesn’t just echo the Warriors’ slogan, it has a direct connection to the team: Running back Trevor Speights, of McAllen, Texas, is a cousin of Warriors big man Marreese Speights.
The recruiting class has one 5-star prospect, outside linebacker Curtis Robinson from Mater Dei High School, and featured one late addition: Andrew Pryts flipped his commitment to Stanford from Penn State on Wednesday morning. He’s considered one of the nation’s top-10 safeties.
The 2016 incoming class will include outside linebacker Jordan Fox, who signed last winter but did not enroll for academic reasons.
Tight end Kaden Smith is recovering from a knee injury but is expected to be healthy at some point in training camp, Shaw said.
Spring practice begins the week of Feb. 22. The spring game is April 9.
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