Junior defensive ends Strickland and Brown offered Monday

Stanford offered 2022 defensive linemen Joe Strickland and Selah Brown Monday. The Cardinal are trying to close strong with defensive linemen in the 2021 class, but with zero commitments so far — with hopes at one time of signing four — there is a greater need to do exceptionally well recruiting the position next year.

Stanford has also offered Justice Finkley and Ernest Cooper. They both have a high level of interest in Stanford and may lead for Cooper.

Strickland has offers from Indiana, Purdue (where his mother went to school), Michigan, Penn State, Kentucky and others. Before COVID-19 shut down visits he went to see Boston College, Cincinnati, Iowa, Notre Dame and Indiana.

Through two games his stats, according to Maxpreps, are nine tackles, .5 TFL, one hurry and one pass deflection. Last year he had 24 tackles, 6.5 TFL, five sacks and four hurries in 10 games.

Brown has offers from Louisville, Kentucky, Purdue, Tennessee and several others. He reports a 3.71 GPA .

Rivals' Josh Helmholdt thinks highly of Brown and listed him among recruits in his coverage area who could rise into the Top 100:

"Kentucky is not technically in the Midwest region, but it is in my coverage area, so we are going to include a Bluegrass State player here. Brown’s recruitment started off quickly one year ago with offers from Kentucky, Louisville, Purdue and West Virginia in April. Only Tennessee has joined that list since, but that is still an impressive offer haul for a sophomore. Brown is closer to his ceiling than most on this list, but he plays with a confidence that belies his years. He shows some versatility, and could stay on the edge or kick inside in college depending on his growth and development."

(Subscribers can read Helmholdt's comparison of Brown to a former Cardinal great.)