Joshua Garnett, a four-star offensive lineman and the nation’s 33rd-best prospect, committed to Stanford on Thursday.

 
Garnett, who stands at 6-foot-5 and 295 pounds, was one of the nation’s most highly sought-after offensive line prospects, and is rated by Rivals.com as the second-best offensive guard in the country.

 

A native of Puyallup, Wash., Garnett is just one of several elite offensive line prospects that are committed to come to the Farm next season in hope of replacing All-American linemen Jonathan Martin and David DeCastro. Garnett’s commitment gives the Cardinal’s incoming class its tenth four-star recruit overall, and its fourth four-star offensive lineman.

 

“It was close, but I just felt Stanford was the best overall fit for me,” Garnett told ESPN.com. “I’ve been up to Stanford several times, and it just always felt like home to me. They have the best combination of academics and football in the country, and I really love everything about the place. ”

 

And while running back recruit Barry Sanders may be the most well-known of the Cardinal’s incoming recruiting class, Garnett is currently the highest-ranked recruit to commit to the Cardinal this season. According to Rivals.com, Garnett just edges out defensive back Alex Carter, who is the 57th-best prospect in the country, and linebacker Noor Davis, who is the nation’s 77th-best prospect.

 

In addition to Garnett, Carter, Davis and Sanders, the Cardinal could continue to stock up on elite prospects next week, as National Signing Day is not until Wednesday, Feb. 1. Four other players from the Rivals.com Top 100 still have Stanford as one of their final choices — running back D.J. Foster, defensive end Aziz Shittu and offensive linemen Kyle Murphy and Andrus Peat. Should the Cardinal rope in any more top-tier talent, it could possibly end up with one of the nation’s top ten recruiting classes, and the best recruiting class in Stanford football history.

 

—Jack Blanchat