[TrumpCard]

Stanford has always had a lot to offer recruits - except a respectable football program.  Now times have changed, the football program is a power, and it's kind of a no-brainer for academically-minded athletes. 

You are obviously correct.  The team's track record of success has really helped recruiting across most of the positions.  The staff is winning recruiting battles against all of the juggernauts.  The lack of DL depth is a bit of a mystery, but, even there, the staff has won some big battles for recruits like Williams and Thomas.  I think the biggest question mark going forward is whether Stanford will be able to tell a similar story to WRs.  The staff has not won a big recruiting battle for a WR in a long time.  Guys like Irwin and Owusu were rated highly, but didn't have offers from U$C or Oregon, which seem to be the preferred destinations in the Pac-12 for elite WRs.  I know Pritchard and Bloomgren have gained Shaw's confidence, but I think the WR recruiting situation can be explained by the fact that Pritchard and Bloomgren haven't yet established a track record of putting great offenses on the field.  If the offense can put up a lot of points this year and if Hogan, Rector, and Cajuste can play themselves into the NFL, I think we'll see Stanford jump to the top of the list for WR recruits like Crawford, Burton, and maybe even McKinley (all of whom should be in Stanford's sweet spot because they live in California and are academically minded). 

[TrumpCard]

Stanford has always had a lot to offer recruits - except a respectable football program.  Now times have changed, the football program is a power, and it's kind of a no-brainer for academically-minded athletes. 

You are obviously correct.  The team's track record of success has really helped recruiting across most of the positions.  The staff is winning recruiting battles against all of the juggernauts.  The lack of DL depth is a bit of a mystery, but, even there, the staff has won some big battles for recruits like Williams and Thomas.  I think the biggest question mark going forward is whether Stanford will be able to tell a similar story to WRs.  The staff has not won a big recruiting battle for a WR in a long time.  Guys like Irwin and Owusu were rated highly, but didn't have offers from U$C or Oregon, which seem to be the preferred destinations in the Pac-12 for elite WRs.  I know Pritchard and Bloomgren have gained Shaw's confidence, but I think the WR recruiting situation can be explained by the fact that Pritchard and Bloomgren haven't yet established a track record of putting great offenses on the field.  If the offense can put up a lot of points this year and if Hogan, Rector, and Cajuste can play themselves into the NFL, I think we'll see Stanford jump to the top of the list for WR recruits like Crawford, Burton, and maybe even McKinley (all of whom should be in Stanford's sweet spot because they live in California and are academically minded).