Stanford football: Some incoming freshmen could play right away

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Several players who signed national letters of intent with Stanford on Wednesday may play as freshmen, coach David Shaw said.

At the same time, he said they’re going to face stiff competition, not only from the holdovers but from players who redshirted last season as freshmen.

He mentioned wide receiver Trent Irwin, defensive lineman Wesley Annan, cornerback Quenton Meeks and wide receiver/return man Jay Tyler as being among the recruits who have a chance to play right away.

Openings could be created by players who are graduating but have a year left of eligibility and might transfer to other programs. Cornerback Wayne Lyons, for instance, is said to be considering joining coach Jim Harbaugh at Michigan.

Shaw said positional needs didn’t have much effect on his staff’s approach to recruiting this class. “We want to find the best players,” he said. “They’ll find a way to get on the field.”

One of the biggest surprises in this class was that it didn’t include a quarterback. Shaw said he didn’t want to bring in a quarterback every year because overloading the position leads to transfers.

“I wanted to take a gap year and really concentrate on the ’16 class” of quarterbacks, he said. “We’ve been working on the ’16 class for over a year now.”

Cornerback Wayne Lyons is reportedly considering a transfer to Michigan to play for former Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh. Cornerback Wayne Lyons is reportedly considering a transfer to Michigan to play for former Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh. Photo: Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press Photo: Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Stanford football: Some incoming freshmen could play right away 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Shaw isn’t allowed to mention the ones he’s targeting, but Stanford is known to have offered a scholarship to K.J. Costello of Rancho Santa Margarita (Orange County), one of the top pro-style quarterbacks in the country.

In Wednesday’s updated rankings by the major recruiting services, Stanford was ranked 18th by Rivals, 25th by Scout and 27th by ESPN.

Among the other Pac-12 schools, Rivals had USC first, UCLA 13th and Oregon 17th. Scout placed Stanford behind USC (No. 1), UCLA (4), ASU (19), Oregon (21) and Washington (23). ESPN had USC third, UCLA 11th, Oregon 15th and Arizona State 26th.

Two players who waited until signing day to announce their decisions went with Stanford: Meeks of San Diego and safety Justin Reid of Prairieville, La.

Meeks’ father, Ron, played in the Canadian Football League and served as defensive coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts and Carolina Panthers. Reid is the brother of 49ers safety Eric Reid.

Their signings brought the Stanford group to 22 players. Two of them, fullback Houston Heimuli and linebacker Gabe Reid, will embark on Mormon missions before entering college.

Meanwhile, linebacker Sean Barton will enroll after originally signing in 2013. He spent the past two years on a Mormon mission in Africa.

Running back Cameron Scarlett, the brother of Cal defensive end Brennan Scarlett, is coming off a December surgery for a torn ACL. But Shaw said there’s a chance he may not redshirt.

“Apparently he’s ahead on his rehab,” Shaw said. Doctors “believe he’ll be running full speed in June.”

When he’s healthy, Shaw said, he’ll “remind people of Tyler Gaffney,” the former Cardinal workhorse, because of his size, power and “finishing speed.”

Irwin, probably the highest-rated Stanford recruit, set state records in career receptions (285) and receiving yards (5,268) for Hart-Newhall (Los Angeles County). “I told him a year ago he was the best route runner in the nation,” Shaw said.

Although Harbaugh made an offer to linebacker Reagan Williams after he committed to Stanford, Shaw said his staff doesn’t “compete against anybody in recruiting. We promote ourselves. It’s never us against anybody.”

Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @tomgfitzgerald