Stanford trending for 4-star DL Benedict Umeh

The recruitment of Avon Old Farms (Conn.) four-star defensive lineman Benedict Umeh has appeared tight between the Stanford and Penn State.

Now there’s a new leader according to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM).

After recent industry updates, the Cardinal currently hold the best chance of landing the 6-foot-5, 240-pound defensive lineman. The RPM gives Stanford a 63.1% chance to receive Umeh’s commitment.

Penn State sits second behind Stanford with a 33.0% chance of landing Umeh’s pledge.

Blue White Illustrated’s Ryan Snyder submitted a pick on June 20 following Umeh’s official visit to State College, but the Nittany Lions fell behind in the RPM following his visit to Palo Alto last weekend.

“In terms of what I’m gonna see at the visit, the No. 1 thing would be the community, like how the players talk to each other, what the locker room is like, how the coaches talk to the players, how the people act in the film room,” Umeh told On3 in March. “After that, it’ll just be academics and then athletics and football history and their football future, what it’s looking like it’s gonna be over the next couple of years.”

Umeh took official visits to Wisconsin, Duke, Penn State and Stanford in the month of June. He previously visited Stanford, Penn State and Florida in the spring.

Umeh currently has an On3 NIL Valuation of $109K. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athletes’ projected annual value (PAV). The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.

Stanford off to strong start for 2024 cycle

Stanford head coach Troy Taylor’s first recruiting cycle at the helm is off to a strong start. The Cardinal currently rank No. 16 in the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings. Umeh would be the highest-ranked prospect to commit to the Cardinal this cycle. Ranked No. 62, he is one spot ahead of Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) quarterback Elijah Brown in the On3 Industry Rankings.

Currently, Stanford holds commitments from 24 prospects in the 2024 class. No PAC-12 program has more. The Cardinal’s class features four On3 Industry four-star commits: Elijah Brown, Christopher Columbus (Miami, Fla.) EDGE Dylan Stephenson, Fremont Senior (Oakland, Calif.) linebacker Naki Tuakoi and Santa Margarita Catholic (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) wide receiver Emmett Mosley.

Stanford finished 42nd in the 2023 On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings with just 18 commits.