Stanford Football: Meet the 21st ranked 2019 recruiting class
By Nico Di Fede
Tristan Sinclair, OLB — Danville, CA
The East Bay product out of Danville, Tristan Sinclair, chose Stanford over 20 other schools. Sinclair is a four-star recruit and the eighth overall outside linebacker in the nation.
Sinclair is a freak athlete with the fastest shuttle time among linebackers nationally in the 2019 recruiting class. That athleticism is also apparent in the fact that he was a two-way player who, while getting offers for defense, had over 1000 yards rushing on offense. He also ran a 4.54 forty which is of course, great for a linebacker.
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Sinclair is projected to play either inside or outside linebacker, though his coverage abilities and athleticism may make for a better inside guy as Stanford runs a 3-4 and usually has bigger, edge-rushing outside backers.
His evaluation by David Huffman says that he ” Has the athleticism to play safety” so it is possible he doesn’t play either linebacker position, and looking at him he definitely looks more like a safety than a linebacker.
Athleticism is one thing a lot of Stanford players — even a lot of the defensive players that got drafted in the past — lacked, as the team prioritizes strength, toughness, and discipline more so.
That won’t be the case here, as athleticism and intangibles are the one thing you know you are getting with Sinclair.