4/26/2019 football Edit

Priority ILB target Wesley Steiner confirms Stanford is leader

Jacob Rayburn • CardinalSportsReport

Publisher

Stanford may only take one inside linebacker in the 2020 class and a top candidate to take that spot is the supremely talented Wesley Steiner. The Georgia native confirmed with Cardinal Sports Report Thursday that Stanford leads in his recruitment.

Alabama, Auburn, Florida, LSU, Michigan State and others are among his reported others. Auburn is in second place right now, he said.

Steiner rated Stanford a 10 out of 10 grade in his current thinking after a successful visit earlier this month. The academically focused junior was impressed by how Stanford can set him up for life after football.

Also, there's a clear need at Stanford to replenish their inside linebacker pipeline, and that should appeal to someone like Steiner, who projects to have the physical ability to help as a freshman. He is "only" 5-11.5 but the first two inside backers taken in the NFL Draft Thursday were under 6-feet. Steiner packs a punch and is a running back prospect on recruiting boards.

He recently earned invitations to the Rivals Five Star Challenge and The Opening Finals -- two of the top individual talent showcases after strong performances at camps this spring.

The Cardinal's 3-4 system will be thin at that position this season, and that's not expected to be dramatically different by the time 2020 recruits get to campus.

Converted junior outside backer (Curtis Robinson) is likely to start this season, two redshirt freshmen (Ricky Miezan and Jacob Mangum-Farrar) are expected to play a lot, and little used former safety Andrew Pryts may start alongside Robinson because he has some experience in the system.

Freshmen Tristan Sinclair, Aeneas DiCosmo and Levani Damuni (a 2017 recruit returning from an LDS mission) could play roles as well.

Stanford's 2020 class is heavy on elite offensive talent in the early going and the Cardinal hope that Steiner will eventually help balance the scales. He also is the type of thoughtful, well-spoken young man who can help rally other recruits to the class.