Northwestern football recruiting: Complete list of targets and scholarship offers

Pat Fitzgerald and Northwestern are more or less halfway through their 2017 recruiting class. It's only April 12, but the Wildcats picked up their 10th commitment of the class Monday in local cornerback Cameron Ruiz. Double-digit commits is impressive this early in the recruiting process, but there are several holes Northwestern needs to fill in, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

With Spring Ball having ended and several recruits narrowing down their choices, visiting schools and coming close to decisions, here's a complete list of all 2017 recruits holding a Northwestern offer, along with our analysis of who can be expected to become a Wildcat.

Throughout the spring and summer, we'll update this list every few weeks to track how Northwestern's class is coming together.

(NOTE: All star ratings are from 247 Sports. Offer lists are based on data from 247 Sports, Rivals and ESPN. If one or two of the three sites lists a player as holding an offer from Northwestern, but the other(s) doesn't, the player was included on the list.)

Quarterback

Name	Hometown	High School	Stars	247 Composite	Other major offers
Jack Sears	San Clemente, CA	San Clemente	★★★	.8755	ASU, Zona, Tenn., Utah, KSU, Wash

This is the most obvious point of need for Northwestern, especially after four-star target Kasim Hill committed to Maryland. Pat Fitzgerald has only had two quarterback-less recruiting classes in his time at Northwestern, and he will undoubtedly look to have one in this class. The question now is who? If Northwestern can woo Sears away from the West Coast, he could be the guy. If not, Northwestern is somewhat late to the recruiting party for other solid 2017 signal callers.

Running Back

Name	Hometown	High School	Stars	247 Composite	Other major offers
Eno Benjamin	Wylie, TX	Wylie East	★★★★	.9300	Iowa, Mich., Baylor, Boise St., Houston
Lamont Atkins	Burke, VA	St. Braddock	★★★	.8356	UVA, Vandy, Maryland, Harvard

Atkins seems to be down to UVA and Northwestern, and Benjamin seems out of reach for Northwestern at this point —€” of the 13 projections on 247, none of them have him coming to Evanston. With an incredibly deep stable of backs that will still include current players Justin Jackson, John Moten and Auston Anderson in 2017 (barring any transfers) and 2016 commits Jeremy Larkin and Jesse Brown, there will be a long line for playing time for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, adding Atkins, who has already committed to and decommitted from Vanderbilt, would be a nice pickup. A running back isn't necessarily a priority at the moment.

Wide Receiver

Name	Hometown	High School	Stars	247 Composite	Other major offers
Osiris St. Brown	Anaheim, CA	Mater Dei	★★★★	.9594	Cal, ND, Stanford, Mich., Mich. St.
Danny Davis	Springfield, OH	Springfield	★★★★	.9181	OSU, Kent., Mich. St., WVU, Iowa
Jeremiah Holloman	Covington, GA	Newton	★★★	.8955	UGA, Tenn, Alabama, Auburn
Jamire Calvin	Los Angeles, CA	Cathedral	★★★	.8637	Cal, Nebraska, BC, PSU, Utah, Tenn.
Cameron Sullivan-Brown	Laurel, MD	St. Vincent Pallotti	★★★	.8604	Maryland, Duke, BC, UVA, Illinois
Kolby Taylor	Chandler, Arizona	Chandler	★★★	.8570	ASU, Louisville, ND, Memphis

Northwestern is aiming high right now, hoping to perhaps find a guy who can start on the outside from Day 1. Having said that, the recent lack of offensive firepower through the air certainly isn't the most enticing thing for highly-ranked wideouts, so the players ranked lower down the list are more likely targets. Northwestern recently made Sullivan-Brown's "Top 10" list and should be in play for Calvin and Taylor as well. Prying the top three prospects on this list away from their favored schools would be a major surprise.

Tight End/Superback (one commit: Trey Pugh)

Name	Hometown	High School	Stars	247 Composite	Other major offers
Jimmy Jaggers	Roseville, CA	Roseville	★★★★	.9032	UCLA, Wash., Mich., USC, Utah

Recruiting for superbacks seemed to be wrapped up last week when Northwestern got commitments from Pugh and Bryce Wolma, but the script changed drastically after Wolma decommitted and chose Arizona instead. That leaves the possibility for another superback certainly in play, given that Jayme Taylor and Garrett Dickerson will both be out of eligibility by the end of the 2017 season. Expect to see Northwestern reach out to a prospect somewhat soon, as Jaggers, who Northwestern offered way back in April of 2015, looks to be headed elsewhere.

Offensive Tackle

Name	Hometown	High School	Stars	247 Composite	Other major offers
Walker Little	Bellaire, TX	Episcopal	★★★★	.9377	Alabama, Auburn,Baylor, LSU, Mich, Mich St.
Joel Honigford	Sugarcreek, OH	Garaway	★★★	.8570	Mich. St., OK, UNC, Neb., PSU, WVU
Ethan Wiederkehr	Shoreham, NY	Shoreham-wading River	★★★	.8317	UCONN, Louisville, Mary., Purdue
Shane Clenin	Festus, MO	Festus Sr.	N/A	N/A	Arkansas, Iowa St., Colo. St., E. Mich.

A clear area of need in 2017, tackle is one position at which Northwestern can't afford to miss out on its top targets. Northwestern currently has just three offensive linemen that would be eligible to play in 2019 (all redshirt freshmen heading into the 2016 season). One of them, Jared Thomas, is a guard/center. With high three-star prospect Blake Andries recently committing to Minnesota, Wiederkehr, who is high on NU according to 247, is the most reasonable target. Clenin has an NU offer according only to Rivals. At 6-foot-6 and 285 pounds though, he is a bigger lineman, something Northwestern has been trending toward in its recruiting.

Offensive Guard (one commit: Rashawn Slater)

Name	Hometown	High School	Stars	247 Composite	Other major offers
Michael Miranda	Stow, OH	Stow-munroe Falls	★★★	.8570	PSU, Mizz, Pitt, Neb., UVA, Vandy

Center (one commit: Sam Gerak)

None.

With both Slater and Gerak on board, there's a decent chance Northwestern is done recruiting inside linemen. The Class of 2015 only had three linemen, so getting three in 2017 wouldn't be too low of a number. Additionally, Northwestern is bringing in four linemen in 2016, two guards and two tackles.

Defensive End (two commits: Earnest Brown and Trevor Kent)

Name	Hometown	High School	Stars	247 Composite	Other major offers
Logan Rudolph	Rock Hill, SC	Northwestern	★★★★	.8954	UNC, SC, Auburn, Alabama, OK St., Mich.
Drew Jordan	Suwanee, GA	North Gwinnett	★★★	.8570	UNC, Cal, Mich. St., Miss. St., Neb., Duke
Kam Jones	Suwanee, GA	Peachtree Ridge	★★★	.8330	UCONN, Miss. St.

Defensive Tackle (one commit: Sam Miller)

Name	Hometown	High School	Stars	247 Composite	Other major offers
Dalyn Wade-Perry	Englewood, NJ	Pope John XXII	★★★	.8697	Stanford, Alabama, ND, Oh. St., PSU

As Martin Oppegaard wrote a few weeks ago, Brown and Kent were very important commitments that also represented a major step forward for Northwestern on the recruiting trail. Couple that with the early commitment of Sam Miller (whose brother Alex is in the Class of 2016), and Northwestern has an impressive group up front already. Adding a fourth, and even a fifth lineman isn't out of the question —€” Fitzgerald loves to stockpile in the trenches —€” but this position certainly isn't in dire need of another top commitment. Brown, Miller and Kent are, in that order, Northwestern's top three 2017 commits, according to 247.

Middle Linebackers (one commit: Blake Gallagher)

None.

Based on the fact that Northwestern usually runs a four-three scheme, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Gallagher remain the lone ILB commit.

Outside Linebacker

Name	Hometown	High School	Stars	247 Composite	Other major offers
Santino Marchiol	Englewood, CO	IMG Academy	★★★★	.9070	Ole Miss, Tenn., TX A&M, Fla. St., LSU, Oh. St.
Josh Clarke	New Orleans, LA	Riverdale	★★★	.8625	Tenn. Ole Miss, Baylor, Georgia, Fla.,
Terrel Bernard	La Porte, TX	La Porte	★★★	.8367	Baylor, Houston, Colo., TX Tech
Michael Scott	Tallahassee, FL	North Florida Christian	★★	.7889	Cal., Illinois, Memphis, UCF, USF, Utah

Marchiol is playing his senior year at IMG Academy, much like 2016 commit Jango Glackin. He has a list of impressive offers, but so did Glackin, who could be a helpful piece in swinging Marchiol toward Evanston. Clarke has an NU offer according to ESPN, but not according to 247 or Rivals, and he already holds a bevy of SEC offers. Northwestern has had at least three linebackers in its last three recruiting classes, so expect Fitzgerald and co. to extend another offer or two in the coming weeks.

Cornerback (one commit: Cameron Ruiz)

Name	Hometown	High School	Stars	247 Composite	Other major offers
Lamont Wade	Clairton, PA	Clairton	★★★★	.9807	Oh. St., UNC, PSU, Pitt., Tenn., WVU, Mich.
Deommodore Lenoir	Los Angeles, CA	Bishop Mora Salesian	★★★★	.9641	Mich., Nab., Oregon, TX A&M, Wash.
Cheyenne Labruzza	Albany, LA	Albany	★★★	.8596	LSU, Baylor, Fla., Tenn., OK ST., TX A&M
Tyriq Hardimon	Marietta, GA	Lassiter	★★★	.8578	Cal., Rutgers, So. Miss., Army
D.J. Brown	Fairburn, GA	Creekside	★★★	.8430	Cal., Indiana, Kansas St., Purdue, UCLA, Wisc.
Mahkai Lee	Wilmington, DE	Alexis I. Dupont	none	none	none

This is an interesting spot for Northwestern. The Wildcats will start a senior (Matthew Harris) and a junior (Keith Watkins) this year, with Montre Hartage, Alonzo Mayo and Trae Williams (all Class of 2015 recruits) manning the inside positions and backing up the upperclassmen. With Parrker Westphal's move to safety, there are no class of 2014 cornerbacks on the roster. Northwestern has highly-touted Roderick Campbell coming in the 2016 class along with Brian Bullock, so at least two cornerbacks in 2017 would seem optimal. The Wildcats currently have offers out to six uncommitted class of 2017 corners, but none of them have Northwestern especially high on their lists according to 247. Cameron Ruiz's commitment was somewhat unexpected and difficult to assess in terms of future cornerback commitments; he was unrated by 247 at the time of his commitment, and Northwestern was his first FBS offer.

Safety (two commits: Austin Hiller and Bryce Jackson)

Name	Hometown	High School	Stars	247 Composite	Other major offers
Jaylen Kelly-Powell	Detroit, MI	Cass Technical	★★★★	.9066	Mich., Mich. St., Oh. St., ND, Iowa, Stanford
J.R. Pace	Atlanta, GA	Woodward Academy	★★★	.8604	Duke, Vandy, Minn., Purdue, Wake
Scott Nelson	Detroit, MI	University of Detroit Jesuit	★★★	.8563	Mich., Mich. St., Iowa, PSU
Garret Wallow	New Orleans, LA	John Curtis	★★★	.8467	Zona, Duke, Kansas St., Mich., Vandy
Kyle Nunn	Findlay, OH	Findlay	★★★	.8430	WVU, Indiana, Miami (OH), Iowa St.

With Hiller and Jackson already in tow, Northwestern might be set at safety, but don't count out any of the guys on this list yet; Northwestern could still add a third safety —€” the Wildcats only had one in 2016, so there's certainly room —€” or be looking at these players as potential cornerbacks or even linebackers at the college level. Nelson is "warm," according to 247, but Northwestern will have to beat out in-state Michigan and Michigan State to get him.

Athlete

Name	Hometown	High School	Stars	247 Composite	Other Major Offers
Malcolm Askew	McCalla, AL	McAdory	★★★★	.9275	Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, OR St., Stanford
Jordan Genmark-Heath	San Diego, CA	Cathedral Catholic	★★★	.8422	Cal, BC, OR St., Nevada

Genmark-Heath is not listed as holding an offer according to 247, but he does hold one according to both Rivals and ESPN. Based on his film, he plays safety and running back, although he seems more comfortable at safety, and if the past is any indication, he would play there for NU. Askew seems to be out of reach.