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While I suspect these particular two enrolling early was primarily determined by their academic progress, they are an interesting couple from a football perspective.

Patu, I would think, will unlikely play a significant role on the field in 2021. As a true frosh who with a reasonable but not outstanding recruiting profile, he would seem to have a tough time beating out a RS Junior who has shown at least something and a very highly touted RS Frosh. 

Slocum, on the other hand, while not rated particularly highly by 247, he has an impressive offer list (if most are true offers). While Stanford lists him as a cornerback on the official site, he was listed as a safety on most (all?) recruiting services. The latter, of course, being perhaps the most acute area of need on the team. One might think he would be near the top of the list of 2021 frosh likely to see significant playing time.

It will be interesting to see if enrolling early actually gives a clear leg up for early playing time.

Stanford has already adopted early admissions, so it can change without the sky falling. It's possible to create early enrollment rules for athletes and non-athletes that will disadvantage no one and, as you mentioned, allow Stanford to compete better in recruiting.

In general terms, I see Stanford as more willing than most universities to embrace change - if not necessarily change driven by the needs of the football team. This one appears driven by football, however, as the official announcement makes no mention of this being allowed across the board.

"Disadvantage no one" is a tricky position to be very certain about.  Stanford has been quite adamant that its "all frosh start together policy" is good for all, or at least most, students. If they have been correct, then getting rid of it would be ... well, less good. Getting rid of it for football players might advantage their football careers, but possibly not their academic careers. Of course that's a trade-off most in-coming recruits would take.

[CTcard]

While I suspect these particular two enrolling early was primarily determined by their academic progress, they are an interesting couple from a football perspective.

Patu, I would think, will unlikely play a significant role on the field in 2021. As a true frosh who with a reasonable but not outstanding recruiting profile, he would seem to have a tough time beating out a RS Junior who has shown at least something and a very highly touted RS Frosh. 

Slocum, on the other hand, while not rated particularly highly by 247, he has an impressive offer list (if most are true offers). While Stanford lists him as a cornerback on the official site, he was listed as a safety on most (all?) recruiting services. The latter, of course, being perhaps the most acute area of need on the team. One might think he would be near the top of the list of 2021 frosh likely to see significant playing time.

It will be interesting to see if enrolling early actually gives a clear leg up for early playing time.

Stanford has already adopted early admissions, so it can change without the sky falling. It's possible to create early enrollment rules for athletes and non-athletes that will disadvantage no one and, as you mentioned, allow Stanford to compete better in recruiting.

In general terms, I see Stanford as more willing than most universities to embrace change - if not necessarily change driven by the needs of the football team. This one appears driven by football, however, as the official announcement makes no mention of this being allowed across the board.

"Disadvantage no one" is a tricky position to be very certain about.  Stanford has been quite adamant that its "all frosh start together policy" is good for all, or at least most, students. If they have been correct, then getting rid of it would be ... well, less good. Getting rid of it for football players might advantage their football careers, but possibly not their academic careers. Of course that's a trade-off most in-coming recruits would take.