Recruiting Focus, Class of 2012: Jordan Watkins

Any discussion of 2012 recruits comes with the understanding that even those players who have committed to the Cardinal could change their minds.  Nothing is official until national signing day on February 1, 2012, so recruiting news should be read through that filter.  It's an inexact science, but it's simply too much fun to ignore.

The future of Stanford Football got even brighter on Tuesday afternoon when Jordan Watkins made his verbal commitment to the Cardinal. Watkins is a 6'5" 265 pound defensive tackle from College Park, Georgia, and he's the fourth four-star defensive prospect to commit to Stanford's 2012 recruiting class. It can sometimes be difficult for fans to evaluate defensive players based on highlight packages, but you can usually guage a player's prospects based on the list of schools recruiting him. Watkins received thirty-five offers, including scholarships from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Oregon. That list speaks the truth.

It gets better from there. Recruiting is a ticklish process, and verbal commitments in September don't always translate into signed letters of intent in February. This is true even for the football factories, but even more so for Stanford, where a last-minute denial from the admissions office can force a recruit to head elsewhere. Watkins is an academically-minded young man. His mother is a lawyer, and his father graduated from M.I.T., so the academic reputation of the University was a big selling point. Admission shouldn't be an issue.

The significance of this could be huge. Recruits are like dominos; when a big one falls into place, others often follow. Coach Shaw and his staff have already assembled an impressive group of defenders, with commitments from defensive back Alex Carter, linebacker Noor Davis, defensive end Luke Kaumatule, and now Watkins. With another four-star linebacker/defensive end and a five-star defensive tackle still sitting as strong possibilities, this could develop into one of the best defensive classes in the history of Stanford football, and something like that could reach over to the other side of the ball and sway the running backs and offensive linemen that are currently considering the Cardinal.

February 1st could be a big, big day.

Comments

[The Al Davis Memorial Golf Tournament to Support Research on Vampire AIDS]

That is almost enough to warm the cockles of my cold dead heart. Almost.

[Mike G]

Outside of the FOUR wide receivers who have committed, and one OT, there are no other offensive commits. Seems odd. Where are the TEs and OTs? We can probably get by without signing a lot of RBs (although I wouldn't be upset of Barry Sander Jr signed.) And with Brett's performance, we should be okay at QB for a couple years, but the defensive focus seems odd.

[Hank]

I agree with you about the tight ends. There aren't that many pro offenses out there on the college landscape, so you'd think tight ends would be drawn to Stanford like flies, especially given the success tight ends have had with the Cardinal over the past two or three seasons. As for the rest of the offense, I bet we start seeing some more commits soon. I think Stanford's in the lead for at least one or two offensive linemen, and I wouldn't be surprised if Sanders signed. Either way, I think we might be seeing a defensive-minded team over the next few years, which is never a bad thing.

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I have been expecting Watkins to join this team. I'm sure he will take the Cardinals to the goal.

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