2020 OT James Pogorelc commits to Stanford

James Pogorelc announced his commitment to Stanford Thursday and will sign with the 2020 class Wednesday. Pogorelc is the fifth offensive line commitment in the class and gives Stanford and position coach Kevin Carberry 10

Stanford was the favorite for Pogorelc probably since they offered and I think nothing short of running over a family member with a golf cart during Big Visit was going to change that.

Pogorelc messaged Cardinal Sports Report after the visit -- his second to The Farm: "My favorite thing was just bonding with the signees and also the current players and getting to know them better. I also enjoyed doing an escape room with them because it built teamwork and trust, and the VR building (tour) because it was just really fun.

"I could see them (the 2020 recruits and current players) as my future teammates."

Pogorelc is an excellent student who prioritized academics. And of course offensive line is one of the positions where Stanford has a great natural advantage with its recent history and the deep pool of high-academic recruits.

Pogorelc has come a long way in a little more than a year as a prospect and, because the ceiling of the 6-8 tackle appears so high, there was a lot of interest from top schools. Michigan and Virginia were the other top contenders.

He will almost certainly need at least a year of physical development to play at the college level. He and Connor McLaughlin are similar in that they are giants with a lot of room to grow. A couple years down the road they could be fun to watch.

Carberry has been responsible for the last two offensive line classes. The results so far:

Five stars: Myles Hinton

Four stars: Branson Bragg, Walter Rouse, Connor McLaughlin, Levi Rogers, Drake Metcalf

Three stars: Barrett Miller, Jake Hornibrook, Drake Nugent, James Pogorelc.

No one has done a better job when you factor in what the board looked like when he took over and how critical it was for him to fix the problem.

Injuries and some off field issues the first year have hindered on-field success, although it's remarkable the unit did as well as it did last season given how awful the injury situation became. This season should be a great opportunity for him to put together an offensive line and run game that truly looks the way he and David Shaw want it to.