2017 Stanford football weekend recruiting roundup

Stanford had a huge weekend for their 2017 recruiting class. They brought in one 5-star recruit, four 4-star recruits plus some other targets. Although Stanford hasn’t been the busiest team in the recruiting world, they have interest from some of the top recruits in the nation. Hopefully Stanford can capitalize on this and once again reach a top 20 class.

Elijah Molden: After visiting both Stanford and Oregon (his hometown college), Molden told Andrew Nemac of The Oregonian, Stanford and Oregon are "neck and neck". The 4-star product grew up rooting for Oregon because his dad, Alex, was a star CB for them. Reaching into Oregon and plucking their top recruit would be a huge statement for the Cardinal and also Stanford would be getting an intelligent blue-chipper.

Osiris St. Brown: Another blue-chip recruit who visited Stanford this past weekend was, Osiris St. Brown. He is a 4-star WR from Mater Dei, which is the same schools as 2016 commit Curtis Robinson. Brown told me "It was amazing! Couldn’t have been any better" and Stanford will "most definitely" receive an official visit later in the recruiting process. He also said he wants to visit Notre Dame and Washington. His brother, Equanmeous, attends Notre Dame, so they might have the slight edge over the rest of the pack for Brown’s commitment.

Tyshon Fogg: Fogg flew cross country to visit Stanford this past weekend. The 4-star OLB Calvert Hall product (MD) brought along one of his teammates as well, APB B.J. Watson. Although Watson doesn’t have a Stanford offer, he has been offered from Yale and Harvard. This might be another Dorian Maddux and Devery Hamilton package deal from the 2016 Cardinal class. Stanford has some tough competition for Fogg, because of the traditional powerhouse teams who have been recruiting him.

Joshua Hicks: Stanford hosted four Maryland recruits this weekend. Joshua Hicks is another recruit from the state and he plays for Charles H. Flowers. The CB said the visit was "great" and other than meeting Chip Kelly (who was there to scout Stanford’s NFL Draft hopefuls), "my favorite part was the way the coaches made me feel welcomed as a player." Hicks also visited Stanford with one of his friends from the area in Grant Donaldson.

Grant Donaldson: Donaldson is an ILB from Dematha, a powerhouse private school, and was instrumental in their successful 2015-2016 season. MaxPreps ranked Dematha as the 5th best high school team in the country. Although neither Hicks or Donaldson have offers, this is a first great step into securing one.

Darnay Holmes: The top cornerback in the 2017 class was also on campus this weekend. His sister also seemed to to enjoy the visit to his "potential 2nd home". Stanford has been the trendy pick to end up with Holmes, but UCLA and OSU have been creeping up. Over the past week Holmes teammate and good friend, Keyshawn Johnson Jr., committed to Nebraska, so be wary of the Cornhuskers as well.

Ryan Johnson: Another key recruit who visited the Farm this past weekend is 4-star DE Ryan Johnson. Johnson is from Mobile, AL, so right in the heart of the SEC. Johnson attends St. Paul Episcopal where he dominates the competition due to his length and quickness. The 4th rated strong-side DE in the country looks to be headed to either Alabama or Auburn, but this visit to Stanford could make it a three team race.

Tarik Black: Black was a recruit who visited Stanford earlier in the spring. He visited with current QB commit, Davis Mills and 2016 commit KJ Costello. Black just released his top 5 schools and they are as follows: Alabama, Michigan, Notre Dame, UCLA, and Stanford and of course they are in no particular order. The 247sports crystal ball has Ohio State as the early favorites but the 4-star doesn’t have them in his top 5…

Bailey McElwain: You might know the fullback’s name from the last recruiting cycle, but you may have noticed McElwain wasn’t exactly in the class of 2016. He has announced that he is still firm on his Stanford commitment and plans to enroll in 2017. For now, he will be enrolling into a prep school called Lake Forest Academy. This is the same school Wesley Annan and Thomas Schaffer attended. McElwain had the opportunity to play right away at Vanderbilt because they offered him a few days after NSD, but McElwain declined after his visit and decided Stanford was the place for him.