2024 3-star CB Brandon Nicholson commits to Stanford
The commitments continue to come for Stanford football, as 2024 3-star cornerback Brandon Nicholson out of Memphis University High School in Memphis, Tennessee made his pledge to the Cardinal. Nicholson is the 12th player to commit to the Cardinal in the 2024 class and the third defensive back.
Nicholson has been on Stanford’s radar for quite a while. He took his first visit to The Farm in July of last year and then visited again in April for a junior day. He also took an official visit the weekend of June 23rd.
Nicholson held offers from Arkansas, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Louisville, Memphis, Mississippi State, Missouri, Northwestern, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Wake Forest, West Virginia, and then some lesser programs. So, he had a good amount of interest from across the country.
At 6’0”, 175 pounds, Nicholson has good size for a cornerback. In his junior season, he had 24 tackles, 7 interceptions, and 10 pass breakups in 10 games played, so he’s a real disrupter in the secondary. He does a good job of reading opposing offenses so as to put himself in good position to get interceptions and pass break ups. He also knows how to hit and tackle with force.
When he gets the ball in the open field, Nicholson can make guys miss. This is why his team had him handle punt return duties. I don’t know if that’s something Stanford will look for him to do as well, but his experience returning punts should at least put him in the conversation to help out in that department if needed.
Watching Nicholson’s tape, I see some similarities between his game and that of former Stanford standout Kyu Blu Kelly, who got drafted by the Ravens in this year’s NFL Draft. Kelly was also a 3-star recruit coming out of high school with a 5.6 rating, so before you call the comparison crazy it’s important to remember Kelly came in with the exact same rating as Nicholson. And on top of that, Kelly came to Stanford at 6’0”, 160 pounds, so they have a very similar body frames as well.
Overall, there’s a lot to like about Brandon Nicholson. He seems to have all the intangibles you want in a cornerback while also having good physical tools to work with as well. It’ll be fun to see what he brings to the Cardinal defense and how he gets put to use on The Farm.
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