Stanford Football: 3 signees who’ll have instant impacts in 2020

These three incoming signees will help Stanford football rebound from a disappointing 2019 season and get back to contention.

The Stanford Cardinal finished last season a disappointing 4-8. There are many reasons for what happened last year.

First were the injuries. They lost KJ Costello early in the season and backup Davis Mills — who played well — was injured for a period last season as well. The Cardinal also lost tackle Walker Little for the entire 2019 season.

Those injuries coupled with J.J. Arcega-Whiteside leaving for the NFL and Bryce Love’s departure continued a shift to their offensive philosophy.

In addition to the injuries, the Cardinal were not as physical as in years past. They got pushed around in the trenches on both offense and defense. The Cardinal surrendered 45 more rushing yards than they gained per game last year; hardly the numbers you would expect from a David Shaw-coached team. For this reason, Stanford recruited heavily on the offensive and defensive lines.

Of their 25 commits, 10 are either offensive or defensive linemen. Shaw and his staff put together one of their best classes as it’s ranked third in the Pac-12 and No. 21 in the country.

These are the three recruits that will have the biggest impact on the Cardinal’s season.