Signing Day Central #CardClass22 Bios
STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford Football and Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football David Shaw announced the addition of safety Collin Wright on Wednesday, bringing the Cardinal's total number of additions to 28 student-athletes during the National Signing Period. Twenty-seven newcomers signed out of high school, while Stanford also added Oklahoma graduate transfer safety Patrick Fields to the roster.
Fields, along with OLB David Bailey, TE Sam Roush and WR Mudia Reuben began winter quarter classes on The Farm in January.
Wright, a four star safety according to ESPN, adds significant depth to the Cardinal secondary. The Texas native is a consensus Top-100 defensive back according to all five major recruiting services and tallied 156 tackles, 13 interceptions and 16 pass breakups in his prep career.
Signing one of the more heralded classes in recent memory, Shaw and his staff successfully signed one player regarded as a five-star recruit and 10 more players ranked as four-star recruits. At publication time, the Cardinal's class ranks No. 11 nationally according to PrepStar, No. 12 by ESPN, No. 15 by 247Sports, No. 19 by On3 and No. 23 by Rivals. Stanford signed the consensus top class in the Pac-12 Conference.
The national influence of the Cardinal is again evident in this year's signing class. Stanford signed players from 16 states plus Alberta, Canada. Signees hail from California (7), Alberta, Colorado, Florida (2), Georgia (2), Hawaii, Idaho, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri (2), Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee (2), Texas (2) and Washington.
The class comprises 14 players on offense, 13 players on defense and one specialist.
FIelds, only the third graduate transfer in program history, was a three-year starter at safety with the Sooners and was a two-time Academic All-American. The Tulsa, Okla., native was a team captain for the Sooners as a senior and is currently pursuing a master's in management science and engineering. He has one season of eligibility remaining with the Cardinal.
This year's class is highlighted by a trio of outside linebackers regarded as four-star recruits or higher – Bailey, Ernest Cooper and Tevarua Tafiti. Cooper, from Arlington, Texas, is regarded as a five-star recruit by PrepStar and a four-star recruit by all other major recruiting outlets. Cooper ranks as high as 27th nationally, according to ESPN, and was selected to the Under Armour All-America Game.
Bailey, is a unanimous four-star recruit, ranked as high as 33rd nationally (247Sports) and was selected to the All-American Bowl. Joining Cooper and Bailey at outside linebacker is Tafiti – Hawaii's top-ranked recruit and a consensus four-star prospect. Tafiti was an all-state selection and is the 17th-ranked weak-side defensive end in this year's class, according to Rivals. Stanford bolstered the depth of its offensive line with four signees who will join the Tunnel Workers Union – tied for the most of any position group in this year's class. Signing with the Cardinal are Fisher Anderson, Lucas Heyer, Jake Maikkula and Kenji Swanson.
Anderson and Heyer are four-star recruits from Tennessee and Minnesota, respectively, and both rank in the top-300 according to multiple recruiting services. Heyer is the top-ranked recruit in Minnesota according to Rivals and PrepStar and doesn't rank lower than third in the state, while Anderson is ranked in the top-12 of Tennessee according to all five recruiting services. Both are ranked in the top-50 at their position, nationally.
Maikkula comes to The Farm from Colorado, where he is the state's No. 3 prospect according to ESPN, Rivals and PrepStar. He led Valor Christian to a pair of 5A state runner-up finishes. Swanson, a native of Pasadena, Calif., is the nation's No. 37 offensive tackle according to Rivals and led Sierra Canyon to three league titles during his prep career.
Stanford signed a trio of tight ends to bolster the depth in that room and continue the Tight End U tradition. Joining the Cardinal from Nashville, Tenn., is the aforementioned Roush – a consensus four-star prospect and ranked No. 261 and No. 278 according to PrepStar and ESPN, respectively. Roush is ESPN's fifth-ranked Y-TE and consensus top-15 tight end. Roush enrolled for the winter quarter and joined the Cardinal in January, and his great uncle is Pro Football Hall of Famer, Merlin Olsen.
Joining Roush in the tight end room is C.J. Hawkins, from Tampa, Fla. Despite having only two years of high school football experience, Hawkins led Berkeley Prep to its first ever state championship game this year. He is a four-star recruit according to both ESPN and On3 and is ranked in the top-15 at the position according to both services. A two-sport recruit, Hawkins aims to also play basketball during his Cardinal career. The Cardinal also added tight end Donovan Jones from Eagle, Idaho, the eighth-ranked prospect from Idaho.
The lone running back of Stanford's class is four-star prospect, Arlen Harris. Harris gained 6,090 total yards in his career, landing on the all-state team twice and leading Lutheran St. Charles HS to a state championship in his senior season. Harris is a unanimous top-40 running back in this year's class, ranking as high as 17th at the position. Stanford also added fullback Jacob Lowe from Florida.
Rounding out Stanford's early enrollees is fellow Missourian, wide receiver Mudia Reuben. A nationally-recognized soccer player, Reuben made the move to the gridiron before his junior year of high school. The Kansas City, Mo., native is ranked as high as No. 71 at the position. Reuben caught 14 touchdown passes as a senior and was the top receiver in the talent-rich Kansas City area.
Elic Ayomanor will also join the wide receiver corps at Stanford. The Alberta, Canada, native has attended Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, is one of the top-10 prospects in the state and comes to The Farm as one of the top U18 sprinters in Canada. Jason Thompson, an athletic wide receiver who won the triple jump at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational track and field meet, will join the Cardinal from Harvard-Westlake School where he is a Top-150 wide receiver according to 247Sports, ESPN, Rivals and On3.
Along the defensive line, the Cardinal signed the quartet of Pat Caughey, Kaz Melzer, Jaxson Moi and Zach Rowell. Moi headlines the group as a four-star prospect, and recently led Cathedral Catholic HS to a California 1-AA state title as a senior.
Moi is joined by fellow San Diego, Calif., native, Zach Rowell—their high schools are separated by only two miles along Del Mar Heights Rd. He is a top-100 prospect at defensive end according to four of the major recruiting services and was named to the all-state second team. Rowell's cousin is Lexi Rowell, a junior on the Stanford women's water polo team.
Also joining the defensive line is Caughey, a native of Essex Fells, N.J., at the Delbarton School, the same high school as current Stanford tight end Lukas Ungar. Caughey was named New Jersey Player of the Year by the Maxwell Football Club. Rounding out the defensive line is Spokane, Wash., native Kaz Melzer, PrepStar's No. 10 prospect from Washington.
Two signal caller's joined Stanford's class in Georgia native, Ashton Daniels, and California native, Charlier Mirer. Daniels led Buford HS to three straight state titles while earning state championship game MVP honors three times and is ESPN's 34th-ranked pocket passer. Both his parents played collegiately at Georgia, and his immediate family has won 12 state championships. Mirer is the son of NFL veteran Rick Mirer, and joins the Cardinal from Cathedral Catholic, where he won a state title with Moi.
Stanford added a pair of inside linebackers in Benjamin Hudson and Matt Rose. Rose is ESPN's 27th-ranked inside linebacker in the Class of 2022 after making 218 tackles in his prep career and landing on Ohio's all-state first team as a senior. Hudson joins The Farm from national power Bishop Gorman HS in Las Vegas, Nev., and is one of the state's top-20 prospects. Hudson led Bishop Gorman to a state title this year.
Joining Fields and Wright in the secondary are Joshua Thompson and Terian Williams.. Thompson, a cornerback, is a four-star recruit according to On3, and is the top-ranked prospect in Washington D.C. in this year's class according to ESPN, PrepStar and On3. Thompson led St. John's College HS to a D.C. championship for the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.
Williams, a safety, joins Stanford from Duluth, Ga. The nation's 31st-ranked athlete according to On3, Williams made the all-state team three times in his career, in addition to the Adidas and MaxPreps All-America teams. He owns the school record for single-season interceptions with six. He recently competed in both the All-American Bowl in San Antonio and the Polynesian Bowl in Hawaii.
The lone specialist of this year's class is long snapper Alejandro Chavez. Chavez was the Mission League's Offensive Lineman of the Year, named All-CIF Southern Section and led Bishop Amat HS to the Division 2 quarterfinals.
The Cardinal also welcomes defensive back Scotty Edwards, who is returning from a two-year LDS mission to Johannesburg, South Africa after signing with Stanford as part of the Class of 2020 out of Holladay City, Utah. Edwards was the No. 71 athlete in his class according to PrepStar and was an all-state honorable mention selection.
By Position
Offense- 14
QB: 2 (Ashton Daniels, Charlie Mirer)
RB: 1 (Arlen Harris)
FB: 1 (Jacob Lowe)
WR: 3 (Elic Ayomanor, Mudia Reuben, Jason Thompson)
TE: 3 (C.J. Hawkins, Donovan Jones, Sam Roush)
OL: 4 (Fisher Anderson, Lucas Heyer, Jake Maikkula, Kenji Swanson)
Defense- 13
DE: 4 (Pat Caughey, Kaz Melzer, Jaxson Moi, Zach Rowell)
OLB: 3 (David Bailey, Ernest Cooper, Tevarua Tafiti)
ILB: 2 (Benjamin Hudson, Matt Rose)
CB: 1 (Joshua Thompson)
S: 3 (Patrick Fields, Terian Williams, Collin Wright)
Specialists- 1
LS: 1 (Alejandro Chavez)
By State (16 and Canada)
California- 7
Florida- 2
Georgia- 2
Missouri- 2
Tennessee- 2
Texas- 2
Alberta, Canada- 1
Colorado- 1
Hawaii- 1
Idaho- 1
Maryland- 1
Minnesota- 1
Nevada- 1
New Jersey- 1
Ohio- 1
Oklahoma- 1