Northwestern finally has its quarterback.
After striking out on a number of other quarterbacks, the Wildcats finally got a commitment from a signal-caller in the class of 2015. NU offered Lloyd Yates two days ago, and now he's committed, according to Scout.com's Nick Medline.
2015 QB Lloyd Yates commits to #Northwestern. Cats have their quarterback.
— Nick Medline (@NickMedline) July 17, 2014
While Yates will come in as a quarterback, he could switch positions down the road, as he told our Josh Rosenblat after getting the offer:
Yates said that Northwestern's staff told him he may start his career at quarterback but a position change may occur depending on the team's needs and his performance.
Yates rooted for the Wildcats growing up and has family members who graduated from the school, so when NU offered, they were instantly the favorite:
"They've been on my radar since day one," he said. "They were actually the first school I talked to when I was a starter on varsity as a sophomore."
...
"My brother [Billy] graduated a few years ago," Lloyd said. "He was on the drum line at Northwestern so we would go to all the home Northwestern games. We'd sit right next to the drum line and it'd be fun."
Yates, who attends Oak Park River Forest, is a high school teammate of NU offensive tackle commit Adam Lemke-Bell. He's a three-star and rates as the 33rd best dual-threat quarterback in the country by 247 Sports. With his commitment, NU now has 17 commits in the class of 2015 and ranks 18th in 247's composite ratings, right between UCLA and Oregon.