Max Chapman, Northwestern Wildcats football, No. 89

Max Chapman is a 6'3 230-pound Floridian defensive end on Northwestern's roster. Yes, he wore 89, and there's only 88 days left in football season. Well, listen: with Quentin Williams gone, there isn't a No. 88 right now, and we did the walk-on yesterday, BECAUSE I WAS SAVING MAX CHAPMAN FOR TODAY. That's right. He's special. Okay? Jesus. Anyway, I'm probably still in Chicago, because I made my trip too long?

Origin myth

Chapman hails from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, which is a) home to TPC-Sawgrass and b) where Tim Tebow played high school football! The rest of this article should just be about how Max Chapman is like Tim Tebow, the greatest football player of our generation. Tim Tebow. Tim Teeeeebow. Tim Tebow.Anyway, Chapman had 11 sacks his junior year and ten his senior year, while also competing in both weightlifting and sprinting for his school, which is a) a nuts combo and b) he probably would've lost to Tebow in both. He was a three-star guy, ranked the No. 55 weakside defensive end in the nation per 247's composite, and committed to Northwestern over Stanford, West Virginia, Syracuse, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Iowa State, Oregon State, Duke, and some other randos in the June before his senior year.

At Northwestern

Chapman redshirted his freshman year and played in 11 games his redshirt freshman season last year, I believe on the punt-pro team. He only had one tackle on the season, but, as you'll see, he made it count.

Career highlights

Chapman only got ultra-reserve minutes, for really absurd situations. For example, let's say you've just put in defensive lineman/upback/enormous man of spirit Bo Cisek in the game at running back because you're up 48-14 against Illinois. This happened, and Chapman got some tick. Illinois started on the six, and a pass to somebody named Dami Ayoola lost a yard. Their next play was an option to Ayoola, and Chapman barrelled through Illinois' backup offensive line, read the handoff perfectly, and dropped an unblocked Ayoola a yard deep in the end zone for a safety to make the score a nice, clean 50-14. Since it was Chapman's only tackle of the season and it recorded two points, I posit that Chapman is college football's all-time leader in points-per-tackle with a nice clean 2.0 average. Most decent defenders post an average well below .01, if above zero at all, so Chapman blows them out of the water. It's impossible to record a tackle for more than two points, so Chapman can hold onto this record forever, provided he never makes another tackle again or continues to get a safety every time he drops the ballcarrier.

Anagram of choice

Discovering the Wildcats' true inner selves through spelling

Max Chapman, anagrammed, is:

CHAMP AXMAN

Dude won one of those lumberjack contests they used to show all day on ESPN2! Wait, why'd they stop showing lumberjack contests all day on ESPN2? Y'all prefer First Take?

Relevant musical selection

"Sometimes I Rhyme Slow", Nice and Smooth Is there anything lamer than sampling "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman? Methinks not.

How can he help

With Tyler Scott at one defensive end spot, Dean Lowry and Deonte Gibson fighting for the other, and Ifeadi Odenigbo a highly touted recruit as a backup, there isn't much room for Chapman to get anything more than a light bump on the depth chart, provided he hasn't developed handily. He does look to have the build of a speed rusher - 6'3, 230 and a former sprinter - but NU already has one of those in Gibson. It's a packed depth chart - remember that two defensive ends who had promise when they showed up at Northwestern, Davon Custis and Anthony Battle, both opted out of their senior years rather than play this season.

Depth chart projection

We don't have Chapman on the depth chart this season. He did show out on virtually his only play of the year, and had strong offers out of high school, so there's no reason he can't grow and make an impact after Tyler Scott graduates.