Cardinal 2021 class introduces themselves on signing day
Stanford began the day with 14 verbal commits and have already confirmed 14 letters of intent to officially welcome the 2021 class into the program. Each Recruit submitted a video introducing himself to the Cardinal fans.
Cardinal Sports Report will have more coverage throughout the day about the class and also what priorities are on the to-do list for the 2022 class. Head coach David Shaw's signing day press conference is at 2 p.m. PST.
Stanford's top signee in the class was a bit of a surprise commitment. USC was long considered the leader for the Canadian who plays defensive end for the powerhouse Blair Academy in New Jersey and he went back and forth between his top choices until the day he committed.
The recruiting dead period played a factor in his recruiting process because Stanford was his only finalist he was able to visit before the pandemic shut everything down. He explained why he chose Stanford to Adam Friedman:
"The two I narrowed it down to was USC and Stanford and Stanford has been in my heart ever since I visited," Armitage said. "I love it out there. It's hard to turn an opportunity like that down academically and athletically.
"That visit was big because it was really the only campus I got a feel for," he said. "I did get virtual tours with the other schools so sort of got a feel for them but not as much as I did with Stanford."
Friedman also provided a very encouraging scouting report of the No. 128 overall recruit: "Armitage only played in six games last season as a junior and his senior season has been postponed but he was extremely impressive. He is one of the more technically advanced prospects in this class with great hand techniques and a really good sense of timing of when to strike the offensive lineman."
Barrow spent most of his youth in Canada and didn't play football in the United States until his junior season at Clearwater Academy International. He described to Cardinal Sports Report why he chose Stanford:
"Something about it made it my dream to go there," he laughed. "I'd always heard about how hard it is to go there. I made it a goal of mine."
Barrow is not a big guy but he has some top testing numbers that back up the athleticism you see on video. He participated in two different The Opening Regionals in 2019 and both of his SPARQ scores were better than 123. He he posted a 4.48 40-yard dash, 4.02 shuttle, and 39.9 inch vertical.
"I know Stanford is the right fit for me because it is the best place for me to grow as a person while also receiving a high class education and playing Top 25 football," he said in an email to Cardinal Sports Report.
"I have lots of memories of going to Stanford games; my favorite game to go to was always the Big Game."
Last year, Buckey had 24 total tackles, 13 TFL and seven sacks in 10 games, according to Maxpreps. He also is an elite discus thrower with a personal record of 173 feet, six inches. He's not sure yet if he will throw in college.
Ellis is a hitter who starred at safety last season and moved to corner for his senior season. He finished his three year varsity career with 146 tackles and three interceptions. Ellis chose Stanford over offers from Utah, Washington State, Kansas State and many others — including multiple Ivy League schools. He committed to Stanford 19 days after he was offered and without ever seeing the campus in person.
Franklin pursued a Stanford offer for several years and was rewarded for his efforts. A three-season contributor/starter for one of the best teams in Arizona, Franklin also camped at Stanford two years ago to try to get the attention of the coaches. Once he was admitted to Stanford it was tough to turn down the Cardinal. His other finalists were Duke, Army, Air Force and Arizona.
"It was very exciting getting to where I am now versus where I was at that camp. The work I have put in all through the years has paid off and I’m very excited about the future at Stanford."
Leigber wants to do it all on the field and he does for Laguna Hills. As a junior on offense, Leigber rushed for 963 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns on 6.5 yards per carry and had 32 catches for 510 yards and 10 receiving touchdowns. On defense, he had 10.9 tackles per game (team lead), 5.5 tackle for loss, four interceptions that he returned for 24.5 yards per return and two pick sixes, and one fumble caused.
He committed to Stanford over UCLA, Washington and several other Pac-12 offers.
One of the best "gets" of the class in terms of difficulty level, Leyrer's stock soared this year and he reeled in offers from Texas, USC and others. He ultimately decided Stanford was the right fit for him.
"They're a strong program both academically and football-wise, and those are the two things I am looking for in a school. With Stanford, you have a great combination of academics and athletics in football," Leyrer told Rivals.
The left tackle for one of the best high school teams in the country, Leyrer impressed Rivals regional reporter Sam Spiegelman:
"His size is complemented by excellent athleticism, the ability to move well laterally and drop back into pass protection and quick feet to counter the pass rush.
"Leyrer, at his best, plays with a chip on his shoulder. He possesses great power and explodes through defenders and is certainly a finisher as a run blocker. Leyrer has the ability to pull and move across the formation and pull off a kick-out block seamlessly in the process. He's equally as stout anticipating pass-rush moves and using his reach in pass pro for a pass-heavy Highland Park offense."
Lukrich was a clear FBS-level offensive line recruit with offers from Washington State, Boston College and others to play on the line. There were also schools that thought he should play defensive line. Stanford saw a future mauler at fullback and Lukrich is excited to play from out of the backfield in the Cardinal offense.
He told Cardinal Sports Report: “Once I got offered by Stanford, I knew that if I got in I would go there and that’s what I told the other coaches who were recruiting me. They understood completely, which was definitely relieving. It wasn’t too hard a decision once I got admitted."
Stanford is probably the most deliberate recruiter of quarterbacks in the country and after months of consideration they decided that Ari Patu was their man for the 2021 class. Patu has yet to start for a full season in high school but his tools are obvious and he has a high ceiling of potential.
He spoke with Cardinal Sports Report at length about his upbringing and development. His high school coach also provided his thoughts about Patu:
“I don’t know if it’s a common scenario when maybe the best quarterback on the team doesn’t make the team the best team on the field,” he said of Reithmeier starting ahead of Patu.
“Ari is crazy competitive. He did me a huge favor in not causing as much conflict as he could have, or maybe even should have, not taking every rep so our football team was able to play well with both those guys. Make no mistake, that kid is a killer and he has a really high standard for himself.”
According to Maxpreps, Patu played in eight games and completed 57 of 102 pass attempts (55.9 percent) for 853 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. He carried the ball 40 times for 166 yards and scored four more touchdowns.
Raines committed to Stanford over other top schools Miami, Rutgers, Vanderbilt, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Princeton and Yale.
Education was an important factor in Raines' decision. He reports a 4.2 GPA and 32 ACT. He also valued an offense that would feature his skills as a big receiver.
Rivals' Adam Friedman provided a scouting report on Raines: "Raines brings a lot of length to the receiver position for Stanford. He has a large catch radius and does a good job tracking and adjusting to the ball while it's in the air. Raines is fairly elusive in the open field and can be difficult for defenders to bring down. One of the best parts of his game is his ability to win jump balls. Raines does an excellent job catching the ball at its highest point and can make some really acrobatic catches. He is more of a long strider and should see improved footwork and overall route running skills throughout his college career."
Stanford offered Slocum Dec. 19 and he visited for the March Junior Day. At the time no one knew that would be the only junior day held this year. It was important that the Stanford coaches were able to get Slocum on campus because he also was considering verbal offers from Georgia, Florida, Notre Dame and many others.
On Aug. 1 he received official offers from Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State, Georgia Tech.
A high-academic student (32 ACT and 1380 SAT), Slocum has been admitted to Stanford.
"I decided to commit to Stanford after I was accepted," Taylor said in a message to Cardinal Sports Report. "They have everything I could possibly ask for and more. Their coaching staff speaks of such a bright future for me and that’s exactly what I want for my family and for myself. I want to be the best and Stanford is the place that will help me get there."
Rivals' Sam Spiegelman offered this scouting report:
"Taylor is an intriguing athlete with a 6-foot-4, 235-pound frame. He remains relatively thin with room to fill out in Stanford's weight training program. He's previously clocked a 4.7-second 40 and a 4.5-second 5-10-5 shuttle. He benches 315 pounds and squats 455 pounds.
"Alexandria lines Taylor up primarily as an H-back that can move across formations, but at times, flexes out or comes in-line as a traditional tight end. He's a blocker first and forecast with a willingness and desire to pop somebody on every single play.
"Taylor is a fantastic run-blocker that is effective out in space and capable of reaching multiple levels of the defense. He's a finisher and pancaked a defender on the majority of his run-blocking plays in 2019."
Stanford doesn't shy away from awarding scholarships to special teams standouts and Weselman is an example of the strength of that pipeline. The punter from Atlanta jumped on an offer from the Cardinal.
“Academics have always been priority No. 1 when choosing a college," he told Cardinal Sports Report in a phone conversation. "I go to a very competitive high school. Both of my parents are doctors. I study really hard, so the goal was always to go somewhere that was a high academic institution.
"Once Stanford offered me a scholarship I thought, ‘All right, this is a huge opportunity’. It was pretty much the perfect fit and I’m really happy.”
Weselman is ranked the No. 6 punter in the country by Kohl's Kicking, the go-to source for evaluations of specialists. Stanford has Ryan Sanborn (kicker/punter), Josh Karty (kicker) and Jet Toner (kicker) also on scholarship and they're all recognized as some of the most talented at their positions in the country.
Wyrick camped at Stanford and is a versatile defensive back who will begin his career at cornerback. He committed to Stanford over offers from Georgia, Missouri, Cal, Arkansas, Duke, Georgia Tech, Utah, Oklahoma State and Minnesota
Rivals' Sam Spiegelman's scouting report: "On paper, there are plenty of question marks on Wyrick's game. Like his father, Wyrick is of a smaller build. He's 5-foot-10 and about 160 pounds with a verified 25.91-second 200-meter time. While he's short in stature and does not possess high-end track speed, Wyrick packs a big game that is evident not only on tape, but showed in multiple in-person evaluations at the 2019 Rivals Camp Series stop in Dallas and again at Prime 21 last July.
"Wyrick is technically sound with a high football IQ, but the most promising attribute of the newest Stanford commitment is his exceptional short-area quickness to break on balls and jump routes. As a junior last season, that propelled Wyrick to a pair of interceptions and no shortage of pass breakups. It's an area of his game that cannot be quantified by speed and is more so a reflection of his instincts and explosiveness from his hips."