On the eve of National Signing Day, Stanford football picked up a commitment from 2023 3-star offensive tackle Charlie Symonds out of The Taft School in Watertown, CT. Symonds was previously committed to NC State, but re-opened his recruitment on Friday, took an official visit to Stanford over the weekend, and then committed to the Cardinal. Symonds essentially flipped from NC State to Stanford as it was pretty clear that’s where he was going when he backed off his pledge to the Wolfpack.
Symonds’ official visit this past weekend was his second visit to The Farm. He visited all the way back in March during one of Stanford’s junior days, so he’s been on the radar for a while. Ultimately, he just felt like Stanford was the right place for him and his official visit obviously confirmed that.
As far as what he’ll bring to The Farm, Jacey Zembal of TheWolfPackCentral.com, Rivals’ NC State affiliate site, was kind enough to pass along a scouting report of Symonds featuring quotes from The Taft School head coach Tyler Whitley. Read that below.
Scouting Report From Taft School Coach Tyler Whitley
Watertown (Conn.) The Taft School senior offensive lineman Charlie Symonds had a condensed eight-game schedule, but made the most of it.
Taft School doesn’t start school until Sept. 8, so the first game was Sept. 24 and the last game was Nov. 12. The squad went 4-4 with Symonds predominantly playing left tackle, with some spot appearances on the defensive line.
“He had an awesome year,” Taft School coach Tyler Whitley said. “He was a dominant, dominant player. You can watch his senior film and just see.
“You can see the growth that he had and he was so physical. He just went out every game of having the mindset to dominate and he did.”
The 6-foot-8, 280-pounder picked NC State after his official visit on June 9, 2022. When offensive line coach John Garrison left for Ole Miss, Symonds’ decommitted and eventually picked Stanford.
Whitley thinks Symonds didn’t give up a sack in his eight games.
“He took a big step in the run game with his physicality and finishing off blocks,” Whitley said.
Symonds is not a rah-rah type of leader, but is serious about his craft.
“He just goes about his business,” Whitley said. “When you see him in the pregame, he is just locked in. He more than delivered what we expected of him, and on a day-to-day.”
Symonds had played basketball the first three years, but he is going to do a strength and conditioning program at the school this winter.
“I think that was a good move,” Whitley said. “He just needs to shore up all of his technique. He is so big and so athletic. He just has to work on bending and technique.”
Symonds faced a trio of talented junior defensive ends this season. Benedict Umeh of Avon (Conn.) Old Farms has eight Power Five Conference offers. Twin brothers Jacob Smith and Jerod Smith of Windsor (Conn.) Loomis Chaffee School are in the Rivals250 in the class of 2024, and have Georgia and Alabama offers.
“He played three high power five guys this year,” Whitley said. “He held up great.”
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