Stanford football recruiting: 4 star DT Christian Wilkins visiting this weekend

If your school is not located in the southeast, you've got to find athletic defensive linemen anywhere you can and this year there happens to be a big time defensive tackle out of the state of Connecticut.

Christian Wilkins is a 4 star player according to the 247Sports composite rankings and is the eight ranked defensive tackle in the nation. If this were any other year, he'd be a top five player at the position but the top line talent for interior defensive linemen in this class is exceptional.

Wilkins is headed to Stanford this weekend for his first official visit and it's obviously a huge coup for the Cardinal to get him on campus. They have landed a few highly ranked defensive linemen over the last few recruiting cycles, but if they landed Wilkins, he could be end up being the best of the bunch.

He has the quickness to be an elite pass rusher and he's an incredibly instinctive player that diagnoses plays incredibly well. Here's an example of what I'm talking about.

Wilkins is lined up at left end on the play. The receiver who was lined up on the opposite side of the formation came in motion and is now preparing to catch a screen set up behind the other receivers.

Wilkins either heard the motion call from the linebackers and knew the screen was coming or he just naturally saw the quarterback open up that way and reacted to it. Either way, he has sniffed out what's about to happen.

Wilkins is able to get his hands on the football. He not only recognized the play, but he's the kind of athlete that can make a play in a situation like this.

The ball is tipped right into his teammates' hands and it's off the races for six. The cornerback was just delivered a gift because of Wilkins incredible play.

Wilkins made several of these instinctive plays on film where he flashed his elite athleticism for his size. I know it's tough to gauge a player who plays in a state that is not known for the best competition, but plays like this can't be ignored. Wilkins can play anywhere and be a productive football player.

It's a long way before Wilkins decides and programs like Penn State and Ohio State are certainly in the mix for his signature, but Stanford has to be hoping they can make an impression on Wilkins this weekend and convince him to come across the country to Palo Alto.

For more on Wilkins, here's my scouting report from back in March.