Recruiting Comparison: Notre Dame vs Stanford

Breaking down how Notre Dame and Stanford stack up from a recruiting standpoint

There are many ways to evaluate matchups, and one of those ways is to look at things from a recruiting standpoint. If you are looking at it from a recruiting standpoint, Notre Dame (10-1) and Stanford (3-8) stack up much better than their record would otherwise suggest. Stanford clearly hasn't gotten the most out of its roster from a recruiting standpoint.

Here are the 247Sports composite rankings for the starters and top rotation players for the Notre Dame offense and the Stanford defense.

Notre Dame's starting lineup contains a five-star recruit (Michael Mayer) and seven former four-star recruits. Notre Dame also brings a number of four-star recruits off the bench at the skill positions. 

Notre Dame has four former Top 100 recruits in its rotation while Stanford doesn't have a single former Top 100 recruit in its lineup.

Stanford's entire starting defensive line is made up of former four-star recruits, which makes its poor run defense even more surprising. None of Stanford's starting linebackers or secondary starters were four-stars, but it does have some former four-stars coming off the bench.

Now let's look at the Notre Dame defense and the Cardinal offense.

Without Kyle Hamilton in the starting lineup the Irish recruiting profile on defense isn't quite as good, which makes its success on defense even more impressive. The Irish have just four four-star players listed in its starting lineup, but it does bring a number of former four-star recruits in its rotation, especially along the front seven.

Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee was a Top 100 recruit and the Cardinal put three four-star wide receivers and a pair of former four-star running backs on the field. Stanford has more former Top 100 recruits in its starting lineup on offense than Notre Dame has on defense.

CLASS RANKINGS

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

NOTRE DAME

2021 - 9
2020 - 18
2019 - 15
2018 - 10
2017 - 10

STANFORD

2021 - 43
2020 - 21
2019 - 19
2018 - 40
2017 - 14

Advantage: Notre Dame

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Irish Breakdown Content

Notre Dame 2021 Roster
Notre Dame 2021 Schedule

Notre Dame 2022 Commits Big Board: Offense
Notre Dame 2022 Commits Big Board: Defense

Notre Dame 2022 Scholarship Offers

Notre Dame 2022 Class Big Board
Notre Dame 2023 Class Big Board

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