at a school like Stanford. It is almost always better to go where you are significantly more talented than others on the roster, as long as you get enough chances to test yourself/prove yourself against good competition.
The dumbest thing you can do as an excellent recruit is go where there are many other guys as highly recruited or more highly recruited than you playing your position. That's a dumb decision.
People make dumb decisions all the time, obviously. It's how Alabama stays Alabama. But they are still dumb decisions.