[Giants]

From here on out I believe every single commit will be a big boy - OL, DL, LB. Strange that basically all the skill positions filled first.

Also keep in mind we're not sure how roster size will be impacted by Covid, now that players can maintain their eligibility. Will the limit still be 85?

—————

No, the limit will be 85 plus  the number of guys who return that otherwise would have exhausted their eligibility.  For example, if team X has 10 who would have exhausted their eligibility had there been a normal season and six choose to return, the scholarship limit for 2021 is 91 (85+6).  

NOTE:  It does not matter whether there is a fall, spring or no season, 2020 does NOT count against as a season for the purposes of determining eligibility.  This means that some hard decisions will be required prior to the 2022 season when the scholarship limit returns to 85. 

I get the pool restrictions, but if there is any overarching theme I have seen about Stanford recruiting under Shaw it is myopia. It seems there is always too many at one position and not enough at others. They wait until it is a crisis before acting to re-double efforts at bolstering position groups. We've seen this at OL, DL, ILB, Safety, and TE in recent years. 

On top of this, Shaw's arrogance about Stanford being special led him to make fewer offers because he never imagined guys who he thought fit the profile wouldn't come when offered. Turns out everyone wants to win and any perceived slippage in a program's performance or ability to put guys in the NFL, can devalue its scholarship offer, including Stanford Football's.

This mostly hits the nail on the head, IMO. That said, I don't think making fewer offers is "arrogance about Stanford being special" so much as Shaw wants all his offers to be committable (for better or for worse), meaning we don't offer someone else until it's confirmed that the initial targets are off the board. This happens way too late for many of the next tier of recruits who has already built up relationships with many other coaching staffs for months on end.

Further, multiple recruits got admitted and signed elsewhere because they barely talked to our head man - we've already beaten our record of one in any other season. THIS part is the "arrogance about Stanford being special." That plus not getting guys to visit. (The in-person visits really make a difference.)

We can look at '22 to see how changes are being made. The number of offers out right now is the highest under Shaw by far. We're hearing about relationships that have been built with position coaches for months or more already. I've heard Shaw is the guy who gets the whole family on Zoom and makes the offer in many instances. Multiple prospects have already taken more than 1 virtual visit. We offered THREE elite QBs, all of whom are straight-A students. Though the offers are still imbalanced, 17 defensive offers is a point we didn't reach until February for the previous class.

Yeah, this class might be the worst under Shaw to date. But you can't move backwards, only forwards with renewed vigor and changes. I guess we'll see what happens.

[Giants]

From here on out I believe every single commit will be a big boy - OL, DL, LB. Strange that basically all the skill positions filled first.

Also keep in mind we're not sure how roster size will be impacted by Covid, now that players can maintain their eligibility. Will the limit still be 85?

—————

No, the limit will be 85 plus  the number of guys who return that otherwise would have exhausted their eligibility.  For example, if team X has 10 who would have exhausted their eligibility had there been a normal season and six choose to return, the scholarship limit for 2021 is 91 (85+6).  

NOTE:  It does not matter whether there is a fall, spring or no season, 2020 does NOT count against as a season for the purposes of determining eligibility.  This means that some hard decisions will be required prior to the 2022 season when the scholarship limit returns to 85. 

I get the pool restrictions, but if there is any overarching theme I have seen about Stanford recruiting under Shaw it is myopia. It seems there is always too many at one position and not enough at others. They wait until it is a crisis before acting to re-double efforts at bolstering position groups. We've seen this at OL, DL, ILB, Safety, and TE in recent years. 

On top of this, Shaw's arrogance about Stanford being special led him to make fewer offers because he never imagined guys who he thought fit the profile wouldn't come when offered. Turns out everyone wants to win and any perceived slippage in a program's performance or ability to put guys in the NFL, can devalue its scholarship offer, including Stanford Football's.

This mostly hits the nail on the head, IMO. That said, I don't think making fewer offers is "arrogance about Stanford being special" so much as Shaw wants all his offers to be committable (for better or for worse), meaning we don't offer someone else until it's confirmed that the initial targets are off the board. This happens way too late for many of the next tier of recruits who has already built up relationships with many other coaching staffs for months on end.

Further, multiple recruits got admitted and signed elsewhere because they barely talked to our head man - we've already beaten our record of one in any other season. THIS part is the "arrogance about Stanford being special." That plus not getting guys to visit. (The in-person visits really make a difference.)

We can look at '22 to see how changes are being made. The number of offers out right now is the highest under Shaw by far. We're hearing about relationships that have been built with position coaches for months or more already. I've heard Shaw is the guy who gets the whole family on Zoom and makes the offer in many instances. Multiple prospects have already taken more than 1 virtual visit. We offered THREE elite QBs, all of whom are straight-A students. Though the offers are still imbalanced, 17 defensive offers is a point we didn't reach until February for the previous class.

Yeah, this class might be the worst under Shaw to date. But you can't move backwards, only forwards with renewed vigor and changes. I guess we'll see what happens.