Over the past few weeks, Donald Stewart has been on every Stanford fan's radar. Well the wait is finally over - and the Paramus Catholic (NJ) wide receiver chose to commit to Stanford. Stewart was only considering Stanford and Michigan in the final weeks of his recruiting process. This is the second recruiting battle Stanford has won over the Wolverines, and a win over Jim Harbaugh always feels good. Stewart took to Twitter to announce his commitment and the other Stanford commits weren't shy about welcoming him to the team. It seems like Stewart has made quite an impression on this class.
Stewart's commitment is the third on the day and should put Stanford in the top-10 team rankings of some recruiting sites. The 3-star commit is ranked as the 16th best recruit in the state of New Jersey and also the 74th best wide receiver in the class. Within the class, Stewart is the third scholarship wide receiver, joining Paxton Segina and Simi Fehoko. As far as production on the field, Stewart had a successful senior campaign. He caught 34 balls for 632 yards, for an average of 19 yards per reception, and 11 scores.
Everyone has been ogling Stewart's 6-4 frame, and they should be. He has the frame that can generate a huge mismatch against any defensive back in the country. His frame also allows him to add on more weight without hindering his other physical attributes.
As far as high school wide receivers go, they use their pure speed and a little route running to separate from the defenders. Stewart can effectively separate from the defenders using his route running skills. He is fluid in and out of his breaks and also uses his body to trick the defender on where his route is. He hasn't perfected these skills but he definitely has developed then throughout his high school career. One other aspect of Stewart is his ability to catch the ball away from his body. This is another skill kids his age don't normally have fine tuned, but Stewart does. Overall Stewart is a great prospect who comes from a great school; this is a great fit for both Stanford and Stewart.
Check out Stewart's senior year highlights courtesy of Hudl:
Comments
When will the recruiting class be finalized?
Glad Stanford has had some good news recently, but the commit-de-commit whiplash is giving me a headache. Is there some sort of deadline after which things are actually set?
By g8tgod on 01.30.16 8:40pm
Signing Day is Wednesday.
By Cardinal-in-TX on 01.30.16 9:05pm
Weirdly, that doesn't mean it's over.
Demetris Robertson has said he won’t commit till after that day, for example. There’s also the occasional guy who falls off after signing day as well. Jordan Fox last year comes to mind.
By Tim Eckert-Fong on 01.31.16 12:40am
NSD
So NSD is the first day you can sign your NLI (National Letter of Intent) not the last. I think the date for the last day is somewhere in May
By Sean Levy on 01.31.16 7:54am
Actually there is no "last day" to sign because you can just enroll
By Sean Levy on 01.31.16 7:57am
Reminds me of Terrelle Pryor
Signed with Ohio State six weeks after signing day: http://espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/football/news/story?id=3301454
By Jack Blanchat on 02.01.16 8:43am
Embarrassment of Riches
So the weekend has been going well, to say the least. If I understand it correctly, Div 1 Football Teams are allowed to have 85 players on scholarship. Over the last three cycles it looks like Stanford has had about 55 commits. There are also walk-on players who get scholarships, early departures, plus players who defer admissions for LDS Missions etc., which all probably nets out to "near break even". So is it safe to say that we aren’t at risk of having too many commits – even if we add one or two more?
By FarmFan in MI on 01.30.16 9:57pm
Class
I have been told that Stanford is looking to sign 25 this class, which is the max you can sign in a class without over recruiting
By Sean Levy on 01.31.16 7:53am
Size and physical attributes look good; hands also look good
Good luck in your Stanford career, Donald Stewart!
By worldblee on 01.31.16 9:08am
He is not the 74th ranked WR in this class. One service, which prefers YAC guys who can run sub 4.5s, ranked him there. It’s not a consensus, nor even a reliable or inteliigent assessment of Stewart’s skills, particularly in a Stanford scheme that favors 6’4" small forwards who can win rebounds/balls in the air. Among those receivers in this class, Stewart is elite.
At the very least, say "according to one of several recruiting services, Stewart is. . ." Then this resembles, a little, journalism.
By harry.beckwith1 on 01.31.16 11:05am
Dude...
Sean literally linked to the recruiting service that ranked him 74th.
247 consensus rankings have Stewart at 104th overall, while ESPN ranks him 123rd.
By Jack Blanchat on 02.01.16 12:33pm