The Stanford Cardinal have the No. 13 recruiting class heading into National Signing Day 2017. Here are the five players Stanford must land this cycle.
Despite having difficulties getting a ton of elite recruits academically qualified to enroll at a prestigious institution like Stanford University, the Stanford Cardinal football program has a stellar 2017 recruiting class.
Head coach David Shaw has his Pac-12 powerhouse team with the No. 13 class of 2017. According to 247Sports, Stanford has 13 commitments, three of whom are five-stars. Stanford’s other 10 commitments include five four-stars and five three-stars.
With an already impressive class, here are the five players that Shaw must land to keep his program in the top-15 through 2017 National Signing Day.
To be fair, Stanford may not get more than a recruit or two than the 13 it already has heading into National Signing Day. That being said, the one guy that could very well sign with the Cardinal on Wednesday, Feb. 1 is defensive end Ryan Johnson from Mobile, Alabama.
Johnson is the No. 7 strong-side defensive end, the No. 11 player from Alabama, and the No. 223 player nationally in the 2017 recruiting class. 247Sports has Johnson as a four-star recruit with a 0.9109 grade. He remains uncommitted heading into 2017 National Signing Day.
For Johnson, it is coming down to three teams for his February 1st commitment: Auburn, Stanford, and Texas. While Auburn is the clear front-runner to keep Johnson in the Yellowhammer State, the academic prestige and football dominance in the Pac-12 could see Johnson sign with Stanford in the 11th hour.