Stanford has had lots of success with top rated recruits, but the Cardinal has done even better with non-top tier talent.
Stanford has done an incredible job turning from one of the worst teams in FBS football to a national power. The program's rise was fast and impressive, and happened largely due to a staunch defense. The defenses that turned the program around were littered with less than blue chip recruits, a starkly different group of kids than found in the usual top powers. Let's look at how impressive all this is!