STANFORD — The heavy lifting on the recruiting trail paid dividends for Stanford during the early signing period in December.

Wednesday’s national signing day merely put the finishing touches on another top-25 recruiting class — No. 19 by Rivals, No. 21 by 247Sports and ESPN.

“Still getting used to this two different signing days,” coach David Shaw said.

The Cardinal announced the addition of four players to lift its total haul to 26 overall:

• four-star offensive tackle James Pogorelc (6-8, 275) out of Virginia;

• three-star safety Scotty Edwards (6-1, 190) out of Utah;

• three-star in defensive end Lance Keneley (6-5, 230) out of Mission Viejo;

• defensive tackle Zephron Lester (6-0, 275) out of New York.

“The bottom line for us was continuing to build a couple of different areas,” Shaw said. “One is the offensive line.”

Boost in the trenches

Pogorelc is the 10th offensive lineman in the past two recruiting classes. Also joining the Farm this summer five-star tackle Myles Hinton (6-7, 310) out of Georgia, whose father went No. 4 overall in the 1983 NFL Draft and was part of the package the Denver Broncos sent for the No. 1 pick out of Stanford — quarterback John Elway. Injuries in the trenches is is one reason the Cardinal suffered its first losing season since 2008. “We’re coming off a year that was an aberration — a tough, difficult year,” Shaw said. “But I’m excited about this group. I’m excited about being able to do some things we’ve done in the past with multiple offensive line sets and being the physical group that I know we have the capability to be.”

QB competition

After K.J. Costello announced Monday his decision as a graduate transfer to spend his final season of eligibility at Mississippi State under Mike Leach, it left junior quarterback Davis Mills as the undisputed starter this spring — and moving forward. “I think Davis Mills has earned the spot that he’s in right now,” Shaw said. “But I think we’ll have some healthy competition at quarterback to see who’s No. 2, to see who’s No. 3 and to see who’s really potentially ready to play.” A newcomer to mix not included in the current recruiting class is Tanner McKee, who will return from a two-year LDS mission in Brazil and join his teammates in the summer. “By our estimation, we thought he was the best quarterback in America in his class,” Shaw said.

• Of note, Edwards will leave for his own LDS mission and return for the 2022 season. “He’s going to come back two years later more physically mature,” Shaw said. “We’re excited about his prospects.”

Where to look for recruits

The previous recruiting class included four student-athletes out of the Bay Area — running back Austin Jones (Bishop O’Dowd), defensive end Joshua Pakola (St. Francis), inside linebacker Tristan Sinclair (San Ramon Valley) and tight end Bradley Archer (Livermore). This time around, none of the nine newcomers from California came from local schools. Out of the 14 states represented, there’s also two apiece from Alabama, Georgia, Oregon and Washington. “Every year is a new, complete blank slate,” Shaw said. “And I tell our guys all the time, we can’t tell where they’ll be, we just have to find them. … Our process doesn’t change. Our charge is to find the Stanford guys wherever they are. It just happens this year that a bunch of them are on the West Coast.”