Northwestern releases its official 2017 football roster

With Big Ten Media Days in the rearview window and Camp Kenosha quickly approaching, Northwestern released its new roster for the 2017 season. With the inclusion of freshmen, new numbers and a few notable changes from last year, let’s take a look at what you need to know from the new roster.

A few takeaways:

1. Kyric McGowan is pleasantly bigger than he looks on tape. 5-foot-10 and 189 pounds is slot receiver material. Same goes for Berkeley Holman who is listed at 5-foot-11 and 182.
2. Cameron Ruiz is really, really light. Jelani Roberts was 160 his freshman year and has since bulked up to 170. Ruiz replaces him as the lightest player on the roster; he also might be the fastest.
3. Austin Hiller is 6-foot-2 and 202 pounds? For comparison, fellow safety Travis Whillock came in at 6-foot and 180 last year.
4. Chee Anyanwu is the only linebacker below 207 pounds, and he’s 196. Anyanwu projects as a SAM with tremendous speed and athleticism.
5. There’s an abundance of size on the offensive line with Sam Gerak, Rashawn Slater and Ethan Wiederkehr.
6. Trey Pugh enrolled early and it seems to have paid off. At 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, he compares favorably to 6-foot-4, 248 pound starter Garrett Dickerson.
7. Trevor Kent is the team’s tallest defensive lineman. Earnest Brown IV shortly follows. These two might see the field early and often.
8. Joe Spivak’s height must have been taken in cleats, unless he’s grown a couple of inches since high school.

Number Changes

No. 7, Marcus McShepard: With the departure of Ifeadi Odenigbo, McShepard switched from 17 to 7. He’ll be playing defensive back this season after a brief stint at wideout.

No. 8, Auston Anderson: Jack Mitchell’s graduation opened the door for Anderson to switch. After wearing 33 his freshman year, Anderson rocked 12 the past two seasons.

No. 11, Parrker Westphal: Westphal will make the switch from 22, taking Matt Harris’ old number and joining Aidan Smith as the 11’s on the team.

No. 12, Alonzo Mayo: Mayo wore 28 the past two seasons and he’ll be the lone 12 for Northwestern.

No. 19, Riley Lees: The wideout wore 86 for his redshirt season, he’ll take Jayme Taylor’s old number.

No. 42, Paddy Fisher: Fisher should see plenty of playing time at MLB this season, and he’ll be taking the field in 42 after wearing 40 his redshirt year.

No. 86, Cody Link: Link wore 48 during his redshirt season, but will join the majority of Northwestern’s superbacks in the 80’s.

No. 90, Jake Saunders: With C.J. Robbin’s graduation, Saunders will switch from 98 to 90.

Other noteworthy pieces

• Jalen Brown is listed at 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds, five pounds less than he was listed at last season at Oregon. He’ll wear No. 17.
• Trey Klock is not listed yet and hasn’t arrived at school, but Georgia Tech had him at 6-foot-4, 285 pounds.
• Western Illinois graduate transfer Luke Otto is 5-foot-8, 228 pounds. He’ll wear No. 31.
• Flynn Nagel is listed at 192 pounds, up 11 from last year.
• Clayton Thorson is listed at 226 pounds, up six from last year.
• Roderick Campbell is listed at 193 pounds, up 13 from last year.
• Jeremy Larkin is listed at 194 pounds, up 19 from last year.
• Travis Whillock is listed at 205 pounds, up 25 from last year.
• James Prather is listed at 267 pounds, up 37 from last year.
• Mark Gooden is listed at 245 pounds, up 15 from last year.
• Xavier Washington is listed at 254 pounds, up 11 from last year.
• Cam Green is listed at 223 pounds, up 13 from last year.
• Alex Miller is listed at 275 pounds, up 15 from last year.
• Blake Hance slimmed down 10 pounds from 305 to 295.

Of course we don’t know just how accurate all the listed information is, but this is the best idea we have.

Non-seniors from 2016 that are not on the 2017 roster

• Jr. Anthony Walker Jr.
• Jr. Quinn Baker
• Jr. Tommy Odell
• Jr. Josh Roberts
• Jr. Sam Coverdale
• Jr. Cole Johnson
• So. Tommy Vitale
• R-So. Jayme Taylor
• R-Fr. Jake Murray
• R-Fr. Cameron Queiro
• R-Fr. Simba Short