Commitment analysis: 2023 4-star TE Chico Holt
Amid all the news of conference realignment on Friday, Stanford football added a player from the transfer portal in 2023 4-star tight end Chico Holt. Holt was originally a member of Northwestern’s 2023 class but entered the transfer portal at the end of July amid the current drama with the Wildcats program. Stanford acted quickly as soon as Holt entered the portal, helping him feel like they’re a place where he can best further his academic and athletic success.
Holt played his high school ball at Strake Jesuit in Houston, TX and held offers from the likes of Cal, Duke, Houston, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State, Texas, Washington State, Wisconsin, and of course Northwestern. Rivals gave him a 5.8/4-star rating, so he has tremendous talent and upside.
At 6’5”, 220 pounds, Holt has good size for a tight end. When watching his Hudl, it’s clear that he’s very well-rounded. He blocks well, he catches well, is a good route runner, and has a decent burst of speed. He’s a tight end that should be able to do a variety of things and be a real versatile piece for Nate Byham’s tight end room.
Given that he’s coming to the program just one month before the season, it’ll be interesting to see how quickly he gets up to speed with everything and how Stanford puts him to use this season. One thing that does help is Stanford already has plenty of depth at tight end with guys like Benjamin Yurosek, Sam Roush, and C.J. Hawkins, so there’s certainly no pressure on him having to do much right away. He’ll get plenty of time to adjust to the campus, community, playbook, etc. That should help him ease in a lot more nicely than if they really needed him to be an immediate contributor.
Big picture-wise, Holt is a really nice piece for Stanford to pick up. Tight ends is a position where you can never have too many and given the great tight end tradition Stanford has, it’s really exciting for them to add a guy who has a great chance to follow in the footsteps of those who came before him.
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