Recruiting Comparison: Notre Dame vs Stanford

When you compare Notre Dame and Stanford, there is an interesting parallel from a recruiting perspective. While the Irish are always higher ranked overall, both teams do carry some of the same difficulties when attracting potential recruits. Both institutions are obviously outstanding academic schools, and must pull talent that can academically excel while making plays on the field.

Recruiting rankings can be an indicator of roster construction, as well as on field success. Raw rankings can, however, lose context. Both Notre Dame and Stanford are in very different spots as programs, which can in some ways be exemplified by their past recruiting successes.

Let's take a look at how Notre Dame stacks up against the Cardinal from a recruiting standpoint. All rankings are 247Sports composite rankings.

Notre Dame Offense vs Stanford Defense

The Notre Dame offense is coming off a really nice performance in their 45-7 victory over Wake Forest. It was the wide receiver position that really made big strides in that particular game, which was a welcome sight from Irish fans. That position is loaded with former four-star recruits, including five in the two deep. They are led by former running back Chris Tyree, who was ranked as the No. 70 overall player in the 2020 recruiting class. Even though it is young, the Irish receivers have a lot of talent, as we saw this past weekend.

Stanford's secondary has struggled all season, and it's made up of four players that were three-star recruits and just one that was a four-star.

Up front, the offensive line for Notre Dame also put forth a nice performance this past week. With former four-star Zeke Correll still coming back from a concussion, that unit now is made up of three former four-star players. The most notable from a recruiting perspective is right tackle Blake Fisher, who ranked highest as the No. 55 overall player in the 2021 class. All American left tackle Joe Alt and right guard Billy Schrauth were also ranked as four-star players.

There is some talent to work with on the front two levels for Stanford. They are led by pass rusher David Bailey, who has been battling through an injury. The sophomore was rated as a four-star and the No. 66 overall player in the 2022 recruiting class. He is joined by linebacker Tristan Sinclair, and backups Wilfredo Aybar and Tevarua Tafiti as former four-star players in the front seven.

In total, Stanford has five total players on their defense. That opposes a Notre Dame offense that boasts 14 former four-stars on their offense.

Notre Dame Defense vs Stanford Offense

The Stanford offense has been a very volatile unit so far this season. They have been fantastic in a couple games and very, very underwhelming in several others. There is some skill position talent for the Cardinal to work with, including three former four-star players. Wide receiver John Humphreys is rated the highest, sitting as the No. 126 overall player in his class, but he has played just two games this season. Elic Ayomanor has been a breakout player this season despite ranking as only the No. 925 player in the country.

Although the majority of the pass catchers are former three-star recruits, that position does have several talented players. That includes star tight end Benjamin Yurosek, who is coming back from an injury. His replacement has been sophomore Sam Roush, who is a former four-star and a very talented player in his own right. The other former four-star skill position player of that group is running back EJ Smith, the son of former NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith.

On defense, Notre Dame has the ability to overwhelm opposing offensive lineman. They are loaded with four-star players on their defensive line, including eight overall just in their two deep. The highest rated of that group is former linebacker recruit Joshua Burnham who ranked as the No. 109 player in his class. He is joined by Jordan Botelho and Gabriel Rubio as the other defensive lineman who ranked inside the top 120 overall players in their respective classes.

In total, Notre Dame boasts 13 defenders of the main contributors who were ranked as at least four-star players. The highest ranked defender overall is linebacker Jaylen Sneed, who achieved five-star status and was ranked as the No. 34 player in the 2022 recruiting class.

CLASS RANKINGS

Here are the class rankings of the two programs from the last five seasons. (247 Composite Ranking)

NOTRE DAME

2023 - 12
2022 - 7
2021 - 9
2020 - 18
2019 - 14

Stanford

2023 - 44
2022 - 19
2021 - 43
2020 - 21
2019 - 20

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Irish Breakdown Content

2023 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule

Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2024 Commit Rankings - Offense
2024 Commit Rankings - Defense

2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

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