CSN Bay Area

STANFORD -– The Stanford football team has signed 22 student-athletes, Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football David Shaw announced Wednesday on National Signing Day. Each member of the 2015 recruiting class officially submitted their National Letter of Intent and Financial Aid Agreement to Stanford University.

“With this class we’ve been able to find, first and foremost, some of the best student-athletes we can find here at Stanford,” said Shaw. “This is a place for great students who want to play great football.”

Recruiting websites PrepStar and Rivals and both had Stanford’s class ranked in the top-20 nationally at 13th and 18th, respectively. 247Sports.com followed at 24th in front of Scout (25th) and ESPN (27th).

Six of Stanford’s signees were All-America selections as seniors, including two Parade All-America wide receivers. Nine members are four- or five-star rated, including unanimous selections Frank Buncom IV (four star) at cornerback and Trenton Irwin (five star) at wide receiver.

[RELATED: National Signing Day: Where 49ers, Raiders players ranked]

The class is also full of impressive academic and social accomplishments, reflective of the leveled approach to recruiting at Stanford.

“Our (recruiting) visits are not just showing (recruits) all kinds of fun and exciting things,” said Shaw. “Our visits are about getting them around our professors, getting them around our student-athletes and our students and letting them feel the environment.”

Buncom is among 10 defensive players –- and four defensive backs -– to choose Stanford, including four linebackers and two defensive linemen.

The defensive backfield is loaded with four-star talent in Buncom, safety Ben Edwards, cornerback Quenton Meeks and safety Justin Reid. The linebackers include Mustafa Branch, a unanimous top-40 inside linebacker, consensus top-50 inside linebacker and 2015 Semper Fidelis All-America Bowl participant Jordan Fox, Casey Toohill, the 28th-rated outside linebacker by PrepStar, and Gabe Reid, who was a consensus top-50 defensive end and will play outside linebacker at Stanford.

On the defensive front, Wesley Annan is a 290-pounder who is the nation’s 22nd-rated defensive tackle by PrepStar and 31st by Rivals. He is joined by Dylan Jackson, who is rated as the 31st-best strong-side defensive end by Rivals and 46th by 247Sports.

On the offensive side of the ball, the class is highlighted by Irwin, but has impressive depth with four linemen, two fullbacks, three wide receivers and two running backs.

Irwin is a consensus top- 90 national recruit who is rated as the sixth-best wide receiver by Rivals and earned All-America first team honors from Parade, MaxPreps and Scout. He played in the 2015 U.S. Army All-America Bowl and is joined by fellow Parade All-American JJ Arcega-Whiteside , who is rated 45th at his position by PrepStar and 62nd by Rivals. The two are joined by Jay Tyler, a 5-8 receiver and kick returner out of Gretna, La., who was a top-100 rated national athlete by ESPN.

On the offensive line, four-star center Brian Chaffin is joined by 6-8 tackle Jack Dreyer, Austin Maihen and Nick Wilson. Chaffin is a unanimous top-10 center who is ranked as his as third by PrepStar and played in the Under Armour All-America Game. Wilson is a highly regarded four-star guard who Rivals has as the ninth-best guard in the nation while earning a spot in the 2015 Semper Fidelis All-America Bowl. Dreyer hails from nearby San Mateo, Calif., and is a unanimous top-90 tackle that Rivals as rated as the 34th-best player at that position. Maihen is the 56th-best tackle by PrepStar and checks in at 72nd by Rivals. 

Stanford is widely recognized for its outstanding fullbacks and Houston Heimuli and Reagan Williams hope to continue that notoriety. Heimuli is the nation’s second-best fullback as judged by Scout, ESPN and PrepStar while checking in at fourth with Rivals and ninth with 247Sports. Williams is the second-rated fullback from Rivals and third at the position by Scout and 247Sports.

In the backfield, Stanford landed a pair of four-star recruits in Cameron Scarlett and Bryce Love, who are rated fifth and sixth, respectively, by Rivals. Additionally, Love is ranked 11th by 247Sports, 18th by ESPN and 21st by PrepStar. Scarlett is ranked 18th by PrepStar and is also the top-ranked recruit from Oregon according to Scout, Rivals, 247Sports and PrepStar.

Jake Bailey rounds out the recruiting class as the lone special teams player. Both a place kicker and a punter, Bailey is ranked fourth nationally by ESPN as a place kicker while 247Sports ranks him sixth.

“The bottom line is our (coaches) do a great job recruiting here,” said Shaw. “We continue to do things the right way and do them very well. We’ve got continuity; we’ve got guys who can help these young men reach their potential.”

The 22 newest Cardinal hail from 12 states: California (7), Florida, Georgia, Louisiana (2), New Jersey, North Carolina (2), Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah (2) and Washington, and Canada.

Stanford Cardinal media services