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While the numbers are nice, many have if any other P4/5 offers so they may be even more likely to be developmental projects than we are used to.
With the number of exclamation points I was considering Jaguar’s post as a possible sarcasm alert. Whatever it is, I trust this staff knows what they’re doing and would not be filling the class early with B or C list recruits even if it looks that way based on offers. I the contrary, I think a couple of these guys may be a roller coaster to hang onto if they start getting more P4 offers.
Not sarcasm at all. If you remember a month or so ago I stated that I was worried about not getting any bounce from the new exciting HC. I was rather impatient, but we did get a bounce. Yeah most of the guys are still 3 star recruits, but that is way better than nothing. I have come to the realization that landing a 4 star recruit or two will be rare. I am really looking forward to NU football this season, while a month or two ago I wasn't. I just wish we can actually recruit a solid QB that will be a multi year starter for us like Clayton.
They ain't dummies. Braun already has one year of B1G football under his belt, a fairly successful one at that, if one can dare say that about a Coach of the Year performance.
A number of those three star recruits were not even rated before they committed and three star has often become the new auto two star. Just seems that a lot do not have any other P4/5 offers indicating that while we are getting guys, we are not really beating anyone as we are potentially going after guys that other programs don't seem to think are ready to be at the P4/5 level. Are we going after more MAC and NDS/SDS level guys? Can we afford this approach with so many holes to fill because of all the guys that went through portal? Hopefully they do pan out but even if they do pan out, do they take an extra year to get there? And with NIL and the portal does that further compromise our ability to get a competitive product on the field?
I think all we do is wait and see. Many of Northwestern's most successful recruits started off as two and three stars and eventually developed into long-term starters. While we have had a couple of four and five star recruits shine (JJTBC and Clayton Thorson come to mind), we've had many that never saw meaningful time on the field either due to injuries or an inability to break into the starting ranks. It seems like Braun (like Fitz before him) put a lot of stock into character and athletes from a winning tradition. Fingers crossed here.
All true and generally we always tend to have a couple of this level recruit, Just seems like it is a much bigger portion of the total class this year (and the end of last year) For sure, some will work out. The question is, will it be enough?
It is hard to tell. The most meaningful part to me is that these were guys we targeted as primary targets or we offered after one-day camps and not desperate picks to fill the class just before letters of intent are signed. It is a change in strategy but then the last strategy had us only winning 1 big ten game two years in a row. We really won’t know until 2027-2028.
The biggest reasons for the downturn was bringing in JON and not really having a viable QB, Over all we did have P4/5 level talent and that same group with a new DC and an actual QB with experience was able to do substantially better.
Frankly, I don’t see us doing well next year. Between the schedule, the gap left by the firing of Fitz, and the time to develop Braun’s recruits, it should hit us next season. But if all goes well, 2026 will be a really interesting year.
The caliber of recruit per other offers is a bit underwhelming. The one thing gives me hope is that this staff is used to taking recruits not wanted by P5 programs and developing them into NFL caliber athletes at a higher pace than we have historically and molded them into players who can regularly beat P5 programs. They know what they are looking for and they know how to develop. If they are replicating the formula used at NDSU and SDSU with a slightly higher talent bar with subsequently slightly better results, then maybe that’s a good formula for success.
Maybe but it takes them years to get them to that level and they get there because they get time on the field that they would not get at a higher level program. But in this new age of NIL, a lot of times they will bolt there last year or two, And the huge problem we have is big holes in the roster in another year or two
A lot of recruits took more than a season to take the field as a starter under Fitz, with some never attaining a starting role, so if that happens it will just be business as usual. The answer to your last question is probably a big fat yes when it comes to OSU, Oregon, Washington, and Michigan. I think we won't see a B1G title in a very long time to be honest. The best we can hope for is make a bowl and win it. I think everyone involved with the football team realizes that, hence the smaller stadium being built, etc. CFB is all about the $$$$$$$$$$$ anymore as is all college and pro sports. The NIL and the portal should not be allowed to exist, but there is too much money to be made by those on top of the food chain.
I am suggesting that the guys that they are bringing in, even if they can become what they coaches envision , are generally less physically etc mature and it will take them an additional year longer to see the field so we lose a year on the front end and more will redshirt and they will be closer to graduation by the time they start to make an impact. That exposes the second danger. As we have seen our hold on guys diminishes greatly once they have got that paper (the draw of the masters is much less than draw of getting the bachelors degree) so there is a big danger of losing them shortly after they start finally making an impact THe result is we lose a year off the front end and potentially off the back end as well.
