Stanford's five biggest wins on the recruiting trail under Troy Taylor

The new Stanford coach has proven that he can recruit at a high level

When Stanford hired Troy Taylor to be their next coach there was instant excitement from amongst fans that knew of his offensive savvy.

However, the excitement about having a modern, maybe even transcendent offense was quickly overshadowed by critics doubting the former Sacramento State head coach's ability to recruit. One Pac-12 coach even told Athlon Sports that Taylor wasn't ready for the struggles he would face at Stanford. 

The constant criticism of his inability to recruit was outweighing the excitement around his offense, so when Taylor and his staff of recruiters that are currently ranked as some of the best recruiters in the country rattled off 24 commitments in the month of June it was quite a surprise. Not only did they see their class go from around No. 60 in the country and jump as high as No. 9, but they have been beating out major programs along the way. 

While there are a handful of impressive gets in the class like four-star linebacker Naki Tuakoi out of Fremont over the likes of Notre Dame and Oregon or securing offensive lineman and Georgia native Kahlil House over a handful of SEC programs, there are five that stand out. Here are the five recruiting victories that stand out as Taylor and company's biggest wins on the recruiting trail for the 2024 class. 

Emmett Mosley, WR, Four-Star

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A lot of the times when a recruit has parents or family members that played sports in college, the program they attended is automatically the favorite. That was at one point thought to be the case with four-star wide receiver Emmett Mosley. His dad played wide receiver and running back at Notre Dame, while his mom played soccer at Notre Dame, winning the Hermann Trophy in 1996. However, the Rancho Santa Margarita (CA) native opted to go a different route and ended up choosing Stanford over UCLA and Notre Dame among others. He was one of the many that committed shortly after taking an official visit to Palo Alto, and will be a pivotal piece in the future of the program's wide receiver room which is quite thin at the moment.

Chris Davis, RB, Three-Star

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One thing that Taylor and his staff have shown in the early part of their tenure is their ability to recruit all over the country. Something we saw when they not only landed running back Chris Davis, but flipped him from Ole Miss. The Mississippi native had a handful of SEC programs like Ole Miss, Auburn, South Carolina and Arkansas after him but the efforts by running backs coach Malcolm Agnew were enough to pry him out of the South. Davis rushed for over 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns on 8.8 yards a carry, all while sharing touches with 2023 Oregon signee Dante Dowdell. He is poised for an even better season this upcoming year, and has the makings of someone who can come in right away and make an impact. 

Dylan Stephenson, EDGE, Four-Star

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The day the Cardinal landed Tuakoi they also landed four-star Dylan Stephenson. The Cardinal not only brought in the top-170 player in the country, but again it was the schools they beat out for him. Stanford went into Miami and snatched one of the best players in the state away from Florida, Florida State, Miami, UCF, and also Georgia. This is one of the bigger wins for the Cardinal even from this group of fives Stephenson has a David Bailey caliber ceiling to where he could come in and be a contributor or starter out of the gates. Landing Stephenson likely put the country on notice that Stanford's brand has been revived. 

Benedict Umeh, DL Four-Star

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The most recent addition to Stanford's 2024 class, the Canadian product is the highest ranked recruit in the class and wasn't always sure he'd commit to Stanford. In fact, after a trip to Happy Valley to see Penn State he was ready to commit, but again after an official visit to Palo Alto the Cardinal got the last laugh. Stanford ended up bringing in the No. 81 overall recruit, en route to assembling a monstrous defensive line unit. 

Elijah Brown, QB, Four-Star

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There are major question marks around Stanford's quarterback situation heading into the 2023 season, and at one point there were questions as to who would be the signal caller of the future. However, Taylor and Stanford were able to bring in four-star quarterback Elijah Brown out of Mater Dei. Brown has a chance to be one of the best high school quarterbacks ever, holding a 29-1 record and is widely viewed as the next great Mater Dei quarterback. What makes landing him so impressive is that highly touted Mater Dei quarterbacks have a direct pipeline to USC. We've seen Matt Leinart, Matt Barkley, and JT Daniels all end up at USC. Bryce Young was even committed to the Trojans at one point but ended up flipping to play for Nick Saban at Alabama. The Cardinal not only beat out UCLA, but Brown's official visit to Stanford was so impressive he didn't even take an official to USC. The Cardinal have their quarterback of the future, and Taylor's biggest win in his young Stanford tenure.