Troy Taylor Pulling in a Top-10 Recruiting Class at Stanford

When Troy Taylor was named Stanford’s head football coach last December, two questions arose:

---How could a former Cal star agree to work for the Golden Bears’ archrival?

---How will Taylor attract talent to Stanford when it can’t compete in the transfer portal and may not appeal to topflight high school players with the football program slipping to the bottom of the Pac-12?

Well, Taylor has surprised virtually everyone with his recruiting powers, pulling in a 2024 recruiting class that is currently ranked in the top 10 nationally by most reputable recruiting services and as high as No. 7 in one of them.

Granted, it’s still early in the 2024 recruiting process and a lot of things can change. And Stanford’s lofty ranking is based to some degree on the high number of commitments it has received.

However, it is still an impressive group of commitments, led by Elijah Brown, rated the nation's No. 3 quarterback prospect in the class by 247 Sports and the country's No. 7 pro-style quarterback prospect by both Rivals and ESPN.

The Cardinal’s 24 commitments so far are strong enough to be ranked as the nation’s No. 7 recruiting class by Rivals and No. 10 by both ESPN and 247 Sports, as of June 27. The On3 website places Stanford’s class at No. 16.

Rivals ranks Stanford’s 2024 class as the top recruiting class in the Pac-12 at the moment, and ESPN ranks the Cardinal behind only Oregon and ahead of USC’s class.

ESPN has this to say about Stanford’s class on June 27 (with the players’ overall national ranking in parentheses):

10. Stanford Cardinal

ESPN 300 commits: 4 | Previous ranking: unranked

Pac-12 rank:

2 of 12

Top offensive commit:

QB Elijah Brown (No. 170)

Top defensive commit:

DE Dylan Stephenson (No. 194)

Entering June with just a handful of commitments, Stanford surged ahead and added nearly 20 new prospects to its class, including several in the ESPN 300. QB Elijah Brown comes out of in-state powerhouse program Mater Dei and has thrown for over 5,000 yards and 60 TDs over the past two seasons. Always a national recruiting presence, the Cardinal pulled out of Mississippi Chris Davis Jr., a fluid runner who accelerates well and can be a versatile offensive weapon for the Cardinal. Chase Farrell, a longtime commit compared to many in the class (March), brings big-play game speed, notching a 21.4 mph Max Speed measurable. Defensively, Dylan Stephenson is a defender with good initial quickness and a nice frame to develop.

The Cardinal's 24 commitments are a remarkably high number for a school that typically does not get many commitments until late in the recruiting process.

Cal, meanwhile, has just nine commitments for 2024 so far, and its class is ranked 62nd overall and ninth in the Pac-12 by Rivals, and 63rd overall and ninth in the Pac-12 by 247 Sports.

Cover photo of Troy Taylor by Mark J. Rebilas, USA TODAY Sports

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