I can offer an overview of the class breakdown and some notes about individual recruits now that the coaches are done with their travels. There are always changes on the board when Stanford realizes they should move on from certain guys after talking to coaches and other people at a school. The January visits also helped Stanford get a sense of how well they're doing with several prospects.
First, it was apparent from recruits I spoke to that David Shaw was visiting more juniors, and even some sophomores, than I could recall hearing about before. I got it confirmed that this was true because Stanford signed the entire 2019 class in December. Last year Shaw used in-home visits for seniors in January. This year he largely skipped that and focused on the 2020 class. The effect was that a number of recruits liked what it meant about Stanford's interest in them. Recent OLB Phillip Webb said Shaw visited his Georgia high school and that he was "very excited" to see Stanford's head coach.
Class size 17 to 24: I think it will be closer to 23 based on everything I've heard and how I expect roster moves to work out, but if things break a certain way it could a smaller class.
QB (Maybe one to join McKee. Maybe.) -- Fans have heard this before: Stanford is willing to take a 2020 quarterback to join Tanner McKee if he is the type of athlete who can realistically play another position. Shaw doesn't want a recruit who if he gets stuck behind another quarterback or two will automatically bolt. An obvious thought is that Jay Butterfield doesn't fit that athletic mold. I expect Butterfield to be the subject of an ongoing debate in the football offices. I haven't heard about any 2020 quarterback who fits the description of what Shaw wants.
RB (One or two) -- I've thought for a while that Stanford is doing well with Chris Tyree and Kalel Mullings. I feel more confident about that now. Tyree and Mullings are likely to visit this spring. Stanford is doing better with Tyree than I bet people back East would guess. Maybe he still goes elsewhere, but he's very interested. Wesley Steiner is the wildcard here because he genuinely doesn't have a strong preference about where he'll play in college and Stanford doesn't care, either. They just want him on campus. For now I'd actually consider him the most likely ILB in the class.
TE (One or two): Stanford has offered Lukas Ungar and Benjamin Yurosek at tight end. Yurosek is picking up offers (Washington and UCLa are the most recent) and Ungar's profile has gone national. Stanford is a strong contender for both but unlike last year decided not to wait to offer Yurosek even though there is a small chance that a fullback is offered. Stanford wants to fill that spot with a walk-on and based on what I've heard I think they will do so or decide to skip the position. I'm banking on Jay Symonds making a depth at the position irrelevant for the next couple seasons.
WR (Three or four): The offer to Gary Bryant made me think that Stanford was open to taking four receivers. Bryce Farrell is committed. John Humphreys is as strong a lean you can be without committing. Silas Starr has visited several times and is very interested. I think Stanford decided why not offer Bryant when you feel really good about getting three other guys? If it doesn't work out then that's fine.
OL (Four or five): Stanford couldn't have asked for a better start than Myles Hinton. He's the five star cornerstone of the group and the class. Stanford will know a lot more about where it stands with Chad Lindberg after the upcoming junior day March 1-2. Stanford is putting in a lot of effort with Geirean Hatchett and they're still in a good spot with him. New offers Peter Skoronski, Tosh Baker and Jimmy Christ say the right things, but they need to visit. Skoronski should visit March 1-2 as well. I don't think I'd categorize Luke Wypler as a stealth. Stanford visited his school a couple times in January. They are in communication and, even though he's an Ohio State commit, he's considering Stanford. If he visits again that will be a telling development. I don't have enough recent information about Andrew Raym to offer an opinion.
DL (Two or three): Stanford has offered Xavier Carlton, Jay Hardy and Tobin Phillips (even though he hasn't tweeted it, yet). Stanford is in the best position with the Central Valley boys. Carlton was so enthusiastic about the offer he wanted to visit as soon as possible and to heck with waiting for a junior day. Instead he should be on The Farm March 1-2. Phillips and his family are very enthusiastic about Stanford. That makes sense for a kid at San Joaquin Memorial in Fresno. I think there's a lot of respect for Stanford in Fresno in general.
ILB (One): Steiner is the most likely one here. I hear whispers of optimism about others (Cody Simon, for one) but nothing sounds as firm as Steiner's enthusiasm for Stanford. One recruit to consider here is Darius Snow. He's a safety but a big one who multiple programs think should be a linebacker. Stanford and Snow communicate well and last week Stanford told Snow they want him at linebacker, not safety. That conversation reportedly went well but I think after more time goes by, and Snow thinks about how he prefers safety (which he does strongly last I heard), that it will affect his interest in Stanford. But Stanford likes him much more at linebacker and was honest with him about it.
OLB (One): I think this number could grow but for now I hear it's one. Phillip Webb and Jared Ivey are by far the best bets. Webb and Ivey have both shared positive things with me about how they feel about the Stanford offer. But Ivey hasn't put much thought into visiting and Webb hasn't answered yet about that.
DB (Three or four): Stanford just offered Ayden Hector and that immediately made them a strong contender for the Washington native. Stanford is in a good spot with Brandon Jones and Lathan Ransom. Jones was the first defensive back Akina flew to see and Jones really appreciated that. He and Akina go back a couple years now. The fact that Ethan Pouncey's recruitment has blown up and he doesn't plan to take an unofficial visit to Stanford makes that situation tough. Nate Ritchie will visit this spring and I think that will go well. In the "it doesn't hurt to dream" category, five star Kelee Ringo has interest but is hesitant to set a firm visit date. Stanford and his high school coach are working on him to at least visit. Until that happens I would focus on the other guys I talked about.
EDIT Kicker (One): Commit and No. 1 kicker in the country Joshua Karty. I forgot about Karty which exemplifies the terrible disrespect shown to kickers.
First, it was apparent from recruits I spoke to that David Shaw was visiting more juniors, and even some sophomores, than I could recall hearing about before. I got it confirmed that this was true because Stanford signed the entire 2019 class in December. Last year Shaw used in-home visits for seniors in January. This year he largely skipped that and focused on the 2020 class. The effect was that a number of recruits liked what it meant about Stanford's interest in them. Recent OLB Phillip Webb said Shaw visited his Georgia high school and that he was "very excited" to see Stanford's head coach.
Class size 17 to 24: I think it will be closer to 23 based on everything I've heard and how I expect roster moves to work out, but if things break a certain way it could a smaller class.
QB (Maybe one to join McKee. Maybe.) -- Fans have heard this before: Stanford is willing to take a 2020 quarterback to join Tanner McKee if he is the type of athlete who can realistically play another position. Shaw doesn't want a recruit who if he gets stuck behind another quarterback or two will automatically bolt. An obvious thought is that Jay Butterfield doesn't fit that athletic mold. I expect Butterfield to be the subject of an ongoing debate in the football offices. I haven't heard about any 2020 quarterback who fits the description of what Shaw wants.
RB (One or two) -- I've thought for a while that Stanford is doing well with Chris Tyree and Kalel Mullings. I feel more confident about that now. Tyree and Mullings are likely to visit this spring. Stanford is doing better with Tyree than I bet people back East would guess. Maybe he still goes elsewhere, but he's very interested. Wesley Steiner is the wildcard here because he genuinely doesn't have a strong preference about where he'll play in college and Stanford doesn't care, either. They just want him on campus. For now I'd actually consider him the most likely ILB in the class.
TE (One or two): Stanford has offered Lukas Ungar and Benjamin Yurosek at tight end. Yurosek is picking up offers (Washington and UCLa are the most recent) and Ungar's profile has gone national. Stanford is a strong contender for both but unlike last year decided not to wait to offer Yurosek even though there is a small chance that a fullback is offered. Stanford wants to fill that spot with a walk-on and based on what I've heard I think they will do so or decide to skip the position. I'm banking on Jay Symonds making a depth at the position irrelevant for the next couple seasons.
WR (Three or four): The offer to Gary Bryant made me think that Stanford was open to taking four receivers. Bryce Farrell is committed. John Humphreys is as strong a lean you can be without committing. Silas Starr has visited several times and is very interested. I think Stanford decided why not offer Bryant when you feel really good about getting three other guys? If it doesn't work out then that's fine.
OL (Four or five): Stanford couldn't have asked for a better start than Myles Hinton. He's the five star cornerstone of the group and the class. Stanford will know a lot more about where it stands with Chad Lindberg after the upcoming junior day March 1-2. Stanford is putting in a lot of effort with Geirean Hatchett and they're still in a good spot with him. New offers Peter Skoronski, Tosh Baker and Jimmy Christ say the right things, but they need to visit. Skoronski should visit March 1-2 as well. I don't think I'd categorize Luke Wypler as a stealth. Stanford visited his school a couple times in January. They are in communication and, even though he's an Ohio State commit, he's considering Stanford. If he visits again that will be a telling development. I don't have enough recent information about Andrew Raym to offer an opinion.
DL (Two or three): Stanford has offered Xavier Carlton, Jay Hardy and Tobin Phillips (even though he hasn't tweeted it, yet). Stanford is in the best position with the Central Valley boys. Carlton was so enthusiastic about the offer he wanted to visit as soon as possible and to heck with waiting for a junior day. Instead he should be on The Farm March 1-2. Phillips and his family are very enthusiastic about Stanford. That makes sense for a kid at San Joaquin Memorial in Fresno. I think there's a lot of respect for Stanford in Fresno in general.
ILB (One): Steiner is the most likely one here. I hear whispers of optimism about others (Cody Simon, for one) but nothing sounds as firm as Steiner's enthusiasm for Stanford. One recruit to consider here is Darius Snow. He's a safety but a big one who multiple programs think should be a linebacker. Stanford and Snow communicate well and last week Stanford told Snow they want him at linebacker, not safety. That conversation reportedly went well but I think after more time goes by, and Snow thinks about how he prefers safety (which he does strongly last I heard), that it will affect his interest in Stanford. But Stanford likes him much more at linebacker and was honest with him about it.
OLB (One): I think this number could grow but for now I hear it's one. Phillip Webb and Jared Ivey are by far the best bets. Webb and Ivey have both shared positive things with me about how they feel about the Stanford offer. But Ivey hasn't put much thought into visiting and Webb hasn't answered yet about that.
DB (Three or four): Stanford just offered Ayden Hector and that immediately made them a strong contender for the Washington native. Stanford is in a good spot with Brandon Jones and Lathan Ransom. Jones was the first defensive back Akina flew to see and Jones really appreciated that. He and Akina go back a couple years now. The fact that Ethan Pouncey's recruitment has blown up and he doesn't plan to take an unofficial visit to Stanford makes that situation tough. Nate Ritchie will visit this spring and I think that will go well. In the "it doesn't hurt to dream" category, five star Kelee Ringo has interest but is hesitant to set a firm visit date. Stanford and his high school coach are working on him to at least visit. Until that happens I would focus on the other guys I talked about.
EDIT Kicker (One): Commit and No. 1 kicker in the country Joshua Karty. I forgot about Karty which exemplifies the terrible disrespect shown to kickers.
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