Here is an update on where Stanford stands with a number of recruitments.
QB: This situation is complicated. Stanford still wants to get quarterbacks to campus for the camp later this month before making a decision. But if the Cardinal strike out on getting who they really like to come visit then that may force their hand. There is a strong preference to take a quarterback in 2019.
It has been reported that Stanford is still after Graham Mertz, and Mertz is one of Stanford's top choices. My understanding is that John Rhys Plumlee and Zach Calzada are the other two of the top three on the board. Calzada was just offered by his home state school, Georgia, and Plumlee has expressed to me that he has serious doubt about visiting without an offer.
Shaw has never offered a quarterback they haven't worked with on campus. My prediction is that if one of Mertz, Plumlee or Calzada is offered it will be because Stanford is forced to break that rule. I believe each of them has been evaluated by Pritchard at a practice. I haven't heard, yet, the eval of Calzada but I know it was really good for Mertz and Plumlee.
RB: The biggest issue here is there are some "work to do" hurdles for pretty much everyone on the board at this position, although a lot of it is they haven't taken the tests yet.
I consider Kyren Williams to be a major longshot and Kenan Christon is off the board. Aaron Young and Eric Gray both say the right things and appear interested. Gray has visited this spring. Austin Jones is the whale and is still very interested, but again he needs to get some work done for Stanford to know where he stands.
My take is more offers will need to go out. The next most likely on the board is Darwin Barlow. He has been in touch with Ron Gould. He told me Stanford will offer after they see a test score and he's very interested. He's already signed up for the next ACT and SAT. Nathaniel Peat also is an option.
OL: I consider the Harry Miller ship not only sailed but firmly docked in Columbus. Maybe Stanford has a long shot of making it work, but the relationship comfort level is overwhelmingly in favor of the Buckeyes.
Ok, having said that I think overall Stanford is doing well with offensive line recruiting.
Stanford is a more serious contender with Zeke Correll than has been reported elsewhere. He's on campus right now and I will make every effort to follow up with him after the visit. Stanford is in a very good spot with Jake Hornibrook, and I may be able to share why in another thread today. I was told by one source that Stanford feels good about Correll and Hornibrook.
Barrett Miller is very excited about Stanford and reports a 4.3 GPA. I'm working to confirm with him when he will visit Stanford. Tymon Mitchell is interested in using an official to visit for the USC game. Stanford is in a good spot with Mitchell, whose father went to Vandy.
Hunter Rayburn has quickly built a good relationship with Carberry and he really likes what he hears about Stanford. I put Stanford in his top top three with Florida and Texas A&M. I have a message out to him about when he may visit.
The wild card here is Sean Rhyan. It's still a long shot, but I have heard several times since he visited this spring that Rhyan has become very motivated to do the work. I'll try to get more details about that but there's only so much I'm able to say to describe about "work to do".
After a couple conversations today I'm putting Branson Bragg on commitment watch for Stanford in about two weeks. I think Stanford is the leader for Bragg, Hornibrook and Walter Rouse. I think successful visits by B. Miller and Rayburn would give the Cardinal excellent chances to land both. Mitchell is a much tougher read but if he's able to visit for the USC game it should reinforce the great success of the first visit. Correll will be interesting to talk to after the visit.
WR: A best guess class right now would include Colby Bowman, Elijah Higgins and Cornelius Johnson. Bowman has some work to do but is making progress. Stanford is doing very well with Higgins and Johnson. Terence Doston and Zion Puckett are trying to work out visits. Puckett is an interesting case. He has work to do but is very enthusiastic about Stanford. I believe what he needs to do is within reach. The great bonus here is that he'd be welcomed with open arms on The Farm at either DB or WR. He could be very good at either.
Zach Larrier has been discussed before, but if Stanford needs to make another wide receiver offer he's a strong contender.
DL: It's not guaranteed Stanford takes a DL. Right now the board consists of a player committed elsewhere who is a long shot and new offer Ty Robinson, who visited this spring. He's in the right classes and has an application. He is in no rush to make a decision. My understanding is that if Stanford strikes out with its current top two they probably skip the position.
OLB: Stanford is the strong favorite to get Joshua Pakola and I like the chances of flipping Stephen Herron, who has spoken publicly about an interest in visiting Stanford and his contact with the staff.
I spoke with Laiatu Latu this morning. He visited Stanford twice this spring and is now enrolled in two AP courses. He already showed encouraging progress during his spring semester. His mom strongly favors Stanford and is pushing him. If Latu could commit now to Stanford without taking APs or re-taking tests I think he would. He was really impressed by what he saw at Stanford and the people he met.
Stanford is open to the idea of either Pakola or incoming freshman Tobe Umerah becoming defensive linemen. That takes the pressure off to pursue a defensive lineman if Robinson commits elsewhere.
There are two other notes and then I'll get back to tracking down more information, especially about defensive backs, which is still one of the tougher groups to figure out.
I know there has been some concern that Notre Dame or Michigan can sway Aeneas DiCosmo on his officials, especially about at what position he fits best. Stanford is confident he can excel at ILB but everyone else sees him on the edge. After another conversation with a source close to that recruitment I still feel confident that DiCosmo commits to Stanford. My best guess class would have DiCosmo and Tristan Sinclair in it, although Notre Dame is doing very well with Sinclair and Stanford shouldn't assume he's in the bag.
The top ranked defensive back on the board is Joshua Sanguinetti. He told me he "of course" will visit Stanford again, it's just a matter of when. If he can get good news off the field this summer I think Stanford is the leader. There has been a lot of talk about Stanford vs. Miami for Sanguinetti, but Michigan is a big contender here and is putting pressure on him to commit. From what I've heard I'll just say Stanford fans wouldn't like reading what that pressure sounds like.
QB: This situation is complicated. Stanford still wants to get quarterbacks to campus for the camp later this month before making a decision. But if the Cardinal strike out on getting who they really like to come visit then that may force their hand. There is a strong preference to take a quarterback in 2019.
It has been reported that Stanford is still after Graham Mertz, and Mertz is one of Stanford's top choices. My understanding is that John Rhys Plumlee and Zach Calzada are the other two of the top three on the board. Calzada was just offered by his home state school, Georgia, and Plumlee has expressed to me that he has serious doubt about visiting without an offer.
Shaw has never offered a quarterback they haven't worked with on campus. My prediction is that if one of Mertz, Plumlee or Calzada is offered it will be because Stanford is forced to break that rule. I believe each of them has been evaluated by Pritchard at a practice. I haven't heard, yet, the eval of Calzada but I know it was really good for Mertz and Plumlee.
RB: The biggest issue here is there are some "work to do" hurdles for pretty much everyone on the board at this position, although a lot of it is they haven't taken the tests yet.
I consider Kyren Williams to be a major longshot and Kenan Christon is off the board. Aaron Young and Eric Gray both say the right things and appear interested. Gray has visited this spring. Austin Jones is the whale and is still very interested, but again he needs to get some work done for Stanford to know where he stands.
My take is more offers will need to go out. The next most likely on the board is Darwin Barlow. He has been in touch with Ron Gould. He told me Stanford will offer after they see a test score and he's very interested. He's already signed up for the next ACT and SAT. Nathaniel Peat also is an option.
OL: I consider the Harry Miller ship not only sailed but firmly docked in Columbus. Maybe Stanford has a long shot of making it work, but the relationship comfort level is overwhelmingly in favor of the Buckeyes.
Ok, having said that I think overall Stanford is doing well with offensive line recruiting.
Stanford is a more serious contender with Zeke Correll than has been reported elsewhere. He's on campus right now and I will make every effort to follow up with him after the visit. Stanford is in a very good spot with Jake Hornibrook, and I may be able to share why in another thread today. I was told by one source that Stanford feels good about Correll and Hornibrook.
Barrett Miller is very excited about Stanford and reports a 4.3 GPA. I'm working to confirm with him when he will visit Stanford. Tymon Mitchell is interested in using an official to visit for the USC game. Stanford is in a good spot with Mitchell, whose father went to Vandy.
Hunter Rayburn has quickly built a good relationship with Carberry and he really likes what he hears about Stanford. I put Stanford in his top top three with Florida and Texas A&M. I have a message out to him about when he may visit.
The wild card here is Sean Rhyan. It's still a long shot, but I have heard several times since he visited this spring that Rhyan has become very motivated to do the work. I'll try to get more details about that but there's only so much I'm able to say to describe about "work to do".
After a couple conversations today I'm putting Branson Bragg on commitment watch for Stanford in about two weeks. I think Stanford is the leader for Bragg, Hornibrook and Walter Rouse. I think successful visits by B. Miller and Rayburn would give the Cardinal excellent chances to land both. Mitchell is a much tougher read but if he's able to visit for the USC game it should reinforce the great success of the first visit. Correll will be interesting to talk to after the visit.
WR: A best guess class right now would include Colby Bowman, Elijah Higgins and Cornelius Johnson. Bowman has some work to do but is making progress. Stanford is doing very well with Higgins and Johnson. Terence Doston and Zion Puckett are trying to work out visits. Puckett is an interesting case. He has work to do but is very enthusiastic about Stanford. I believe what he needs to do is within reach. The great bonus here is that he'd be welcomed with open arms on The Farm at either DB or WR. He could be very good at either.
Zach Larrier has been discussed before, but if Stanford needs to make another wide receiver offer he's a strong contender.
DL: It's not guaranteed Stanford takes a DL. Right now the board consists of a player committed elsewhere who is a long shot and new offer Ty Robinson, who visited this spring. He's in the right classes and has an application. He is in no rush to make a decision. My understanding is that if Stanford strikes out with its current top two they probably skip the position.
OLB: Stanford is the strong favorite to get Joshua Pakola and I like the chances of flipping Stephen Herron, who has spoken publicly about an interest in visiting Stanford and his contact with the staff.
I spoke with Laiatu Latu this morning. He visited Stanford twice this spring and is now enrolled in two AP courses. He already showed encouraging progress during his spring semester. His mom strongly favors Stanford and is pushing him. If Latu could commit now to Stanford without taking APs or re-taking tests I think he would. He was really impressed by what he saw at Stanford and the people he met.
Stanford is open to the idea of either Pakola or incoming freshman Tobe Umerah becoming defensive linemen. That takes the pressure off to pursue a defensive lineman if Robinson commits elsewhere.
There are two other notes and then I'll get back to tracking down more information, especially about defensive backs, which is still one of the tougher groups to figure out.
I know there has been some concern that Notre Dame or Michigan can sway Aeneas DiCosmo on his officials, especially about at what position he fits best. Stanford is confident he can excel at ILB but everyone else sees him on the edge. After another conversation with a source close to that recruitment I still feel confident that DiCosmo commits to Stanford. My best guess class would have DiCosmo and Tristan Sinclair in it, although Notre Dame is doing very well with Sinclair and Stanford shouldn't assume he's in the bag.
The top ranked defensive back on the board is Joshua Sanguinetti. He told me he "of course" will visit Stanford again, it's just a matter of when. If he can get good news off the field this summer I think Stanford is the leader. There has been a lot of talk about Stanford vs. Miami for Sanguinetti, but Michigan is a big contender here and is putting pressure on him to commit. From what I've heard I'll just say Stanford fans wouldn't like reading what that pressure sounds like.
