Stanford had their first down season in several years when they finished 8-5 and 5-4 in the conference. With that happening, it would figure to be more of a down year the following cycle in recruiting or at least a slow start until the Cardinal got rolling again.
Proving that recruiting is incredibly unpredictable, Stanford is off to a fantastic start with their 2016 class and already have three more blue chips committed before the start of this football season than they signed back in February for the last cycle.
As it always seems to be with Stanford, stars and rankings don't tell the entire tale as they do a great job of identifying and landing the right players who fit their scheme too.