Stanford Football: Grading the 2019 Cardinal recruiting class

David Shaw and the Stanford Cardinal are trying to climb their way back to the top of the Pac-12. They’re hoping that this recruiting class will help them do just that over the coming seasons.

It’s been a couple of seasons since the Stanford Cardinal were the class of the Pac-12. David Shaw has led the Cardinal to at least 10 wins five times in the eight years that he has coached at Stanford. But they haven’t reached the 10-win mark since 2016. Shaw and Stanford’s fans are hoping that this recruiting class will help them get right back there over the next few years.

Stanford has seen notable improvements on the recruiting trail over the past couple of seasons. Just last year, the Cardinal had the No. 40 recruiting class in the country. This recruiting cycle, Shaw and his coaching staff have pulled together the No. 20 recruiting class in the country.

David Shaw has himself a trio of players that could develop into a great pass rushing group.

The Stanford Cardinal have done a great job of recruiting talented pass rushers in this recruiting class. The Cardinal have three different defensive ends in this class who will be intriguing to watch develop over the course of their careers.

Stephen Herron Jr. is a four-star defensive end from Louisville, Kentucky. At 6-foot-3.5 and 238 pounds, Herron is a speedier rusher who can get around offensive tackles and tight ends and right at quarterbacks.

Herron will be complemented by four-star Joshua Pakola, who weighs in at 6-foot-3 and 267 pounds. Pakola is a notably larger defensive end who should be able to force his ways through double teams in the future.

The final member of this trio is Aeneas DiCosmo of Oradell, New Jersey. DiCosmo is a three-star, 6-foot-3 and 220-pound defensive end. He’ll need to bulk up some, but he helps add immediate depth to this group.

Here’s what Stanford’s 2019 recruiting class looks like courtesy of 247Sports:

The Stanford Cardinal have come a long way from last season’s recruiting class. That sort of huge improvement from one year to the next is worthy of some recognition and David Shaw’s staff deserves a shout out for that.

The next step for the Cardinal would be to take this class and to work back towards the top of the Pac-12 on the field over the next couple of seasons. If Stanford can do that, then the Cardinal will likely see some more improvements in their recruiting classes going forward.