Inside NU - Five biggest questions for Northwestern in 2020Roll Damn 'Catshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52532/insidenu_fav.png2020-08-04T13:20:04-05:00http://www.insidenu.com/rss/stream/212763422020-08-04T13:20:04-05:002020-08-04T13:20:04-05:00Five Biggest Questions for Northwestern in 2020, No. 2: How will Northwestern’s starting quarterback improve this season?
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<p>The group looks to bounce back from a historically bad year.</p> <p id="zNF6Hm"><em>Over the past few months, we’ve covered nearly every aspect of the upcoming Northwestern football season. This week, we continue our offseason coverage by looking at the five biggest questions surrounding Northwestern football in 2020.</em></p>
<p id="zrfwCm"><em>At number two of these five ranked questions, we examine how the quarterback room will improve this season. We say “how will” as opposed to “will” because frankly it has to. </em></p>
<p id="7Y6uDs">Prior to 2019, Northwestern enjoyed a period of stability from its quarterbacks dating back to the start of the Pat Fitzgerald era. <span>C.J. Bacher</span>, <span>Mike Kafka</span>, <span>Dan Persa</span>, <span>Trevor Siemian</span> and <span>Clayton Thorson</span> were all solid, multi-year starters during their respective careers, leading NU to nine bowl appearances in thirteen seasons. Northwestern, despite not being a name brand school for NFL talent, is the only Big Ten school to have three quarterbacks drafted in the past decade — Kafka in 2010, Siemian in 2015 and Thorson in 2019.</p>
<p id="KNhFdK">The prevailing opinion was that <span>Hunter Johnson</span>, the five-star signal caller who transferred from Clemson in 2018, would be Thorson’s successor and continue the recent run of quarterback success. And while Johnson did succeed Northwestern’s all-time leading passer, taking the first snaps to open the 2019 season, he didn’t succeed on the field, instead struggling mightily. </p>
<p id="BuqEvX">Johnson spent a good part of the 2019 season dealing with injuries and family health issues, completing under 50 percent of his passes for just 451 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions in fairly limited action.</p>
<p id="kLPia7">The rest of the quarterback room didn’t provide much of a boost after Johnson relinquished the starting duties following the late September loss to Wisconsin. Backup quarterback <span>T.J. Green</span> suffered a season-ending injury in the first game of the season and junior <span>Aidan Smith</span> tossed three touchdowns to nine interceptions. </p>
<p id="zfi3sa"><span>Andrew Marty</span> was the only quarterback who saw any sort of success, leading NU to its only Big Ten win last season. However, he finished the year with more rushing yards than passing yards and doesn’t seem to be a long-term solution.</p>
<p id="YQl8up">The hope the quarterback room improves in 2020 largely lies in what happened during the offseason, and its success is dependent on the following three factors.</p>
<h3 id="72fXfk"><strong>The addition of Peyton Ramsey</strong></h3>
<p id="OWcW2y">Which quarterback would you rather have?</p>
<p id="3CplMs">Quarterback A threw for 17 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, with a 61.1 percent completion rate and a passer rating of 121.2 and averaged 6.5 yards per attempt. Quarterback B threw for 13 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, with a 68 percent completion rate and a passer rating of 147.7, and averaged 8.2 yards per attempt. </p>
<p id="o5GBxf">The answer is quarterback B, right? Well, quarterback A is <span>Clayton Thorson</span> in 2018, the year Northwestern won the Big Ten West, and sheriff B is <span>Peyton Ramsey</span> at Indiana last season, who played in three fewer games.</p>
<p id="Zjhocx">As those stats indicate, Ramsey brings to Evanston a fairly high level of consistency and proficiency. He makes good reads, fairly accurate throws and doesn’t turn the ball over too often. This bodes well for Northwestern, a team that has found success over the past decade with mediocre offenses that can make just enough plays. As our resident film analyst Dan Olinger put it in <a href="https://www.insidenu.com/2020/5/9/21250006/film-room-how-good-is-peyton-ramsey">his film study of Ramsey</a>:</p>
<p id="tNrzfm"><em>“All in all, Ramsey is not an electrifying presence that can lift those around him to greater achievement on the basis of his talent alone. However, he is fully capable of giving any competent team a chance.”</em></p>
<p id="RGW2DE">If you’re still not a believer in Ramsey as someone who can be good enough to start next season, watch his electrifying performance against Purdue at the end of last season, in which he threw for 337 yards and three touchdown passes while adding two more scores on the ground.</p>
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<h3 id="VAs7Zh"><strong>An improved offensive scheme</strong></h3>
<p id="kcAPvf">No one really knows what Northwestern’s offense will look like in 2020. There are question marks at nearly every skill position, and considering the extremely limited time there’s been to practice, team chemistry might pose an issue for a group that has already had its fair share of struggles.</p>
<p id="vqkzf1">However, as Dan wrote in <a href="https://www.insidenu.com/2020/7/18/21323692/film-room-what-does-a-mike-bajakian-offense-look-like-tennessee-football-boston-nba-bubble-covid">his piece on Mike Bajakian-coached offenses</a>, the newly hired offensive coordinator has a track record of raising the floor of his units. In his only season as Boston College’s OC, Bajakian improved the Eagles’ offense from 88th to 44th in SP+. The hope is that he can help Northwestern make a similar jump, which would simply mean lifting them comfortably into the top 100 offenses in the country.</p>
<p id="egnTHu">The ‘Cats should have the tools and talent to make that leap. The offensive line is finally taking shape, <span>Isaiah Bowser</span>’s health isn’t a question and Peyton Ramsey should fit well into Bajakian’s system. As noted above, Ramsey completed an impressive 68 percent of his passes last season while averaging 8.2 yards per completion. Considering Bajakian’s past emphasis on making reads simpler for the quarterbacks, that type of accuracy will be vital to the team’s success.</p>
<h3 id="lI9ZoX"><strong>Competitive depth</strong></h3>
<p id="9U7lPX">The Wildcats enter 2020 with a crowded quarterback room. Ramsey is the presumed starter based on his resume, but Hunter Johnson, TJ Green, Aidan Smith and Andrew Marty will fight for a spot on the two-deep — and as we found out last year, those might not be the only two guys who play. Northwestern sorely lacked this competitive depth at QB last season, and it would hopefully elevate the level of play at the position no matter who is starting.</p>
<p id="6h7zOm">Fitz has prioritized fixing the quarterback room, <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-northwestern-football-pat-fitzgerald-quarterbacks-20191118-7mdgwk3ctvginaqia6keurqju4-story.html">saying in November of last year</a>: “It’s not hard, it’s not complicated, it’s painfully obvious. Those are all great kids. But they were not prepared for what it takes to be the starting quarterback, and it shows.”</p>
<p id="rru8VC">It’s anyone’s guess if we’ll get to see whether or not that point of emphasis pays off this September (or October, or November, or February).</p>
https://www.insidenu.com/2020/8/4/21354313/five-biggest-questions-for-northwestern-in-2020-no-2-how-will-northwesterns-quarterback-room-improveDidi Jin2020-08-03T14:42:18-05:002020-08-03T14:42:18-05:00Five Biggest Questions for Northwestern in 2020, No. 3: Will Mike Bajakian fix the issues McCall left behind?
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<p>Rome wasn’t built in a day.</p> <p id="Il1Mst"><em>Over the past few months, we’ve covered nearly every aspect of the upcoming Northwestern football season. This week, we continue our offseason coverage by looking at the five biggest questions surrounding Northwestern football in 2020.</em></p>
<p id="FZkFvK"><em>In the middle of these five ranked questions is whether the offense can revive itself after five largely poor years to end offensive coordinator Mick McCall’s tenure.</em></p>
<p id="sW6QLT">Let’s start with a chart (these Tweets may look familiar).</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Northwestern's horrific 2019 offense was UNIQUELY horrific -- they did a strangely decent job of not moving backwards. They just never moved forward either. Either way, I am legitimately intrigued by the Mike Bajakian hire. Big + burly + fast = fun. <a href="https://t.co/o63m8SZnPV">pic.twitter.com/o63m8SZnPV</a></p>— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPN_BillC/status/1280903378495836160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 8, 2020</a>
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<p id="IvMFoP">The bottom one is most relevant to this article, so focus your attention on that Jordan-with-a-unicorn horn shape. See all those points clustered around the intersection for the worst in the country? I get it can be confusing, but look at the ranking key — points closer to the border of the circle are good — closer to the center is bad. There was a lot of bad last season for Northwestern’s offense, not that this is breaking news. </p>
<p id="IgBqq1">Most NU fans know SP+ isn’t necessarily kind to the Wildcats and isn’t totally indicative of the type of season they’ll have. Why? Well, Northwestern under Pat Fitzgerald tends to defy numbers and logic. The Cardiac ‘Cats nickname exists for a reason.</p>
<p id="nNjKbJ">But 2019 was different. The bottom finally fell out. The outdated, predictable offense Northwestern employed was unceremoniously exposed after years of being masked by enough timely plays, bail-out defenses and a bit of luck.</p>
<p id="ig5H0D">Heading into this potential season, there are reasons for optimism about Northwestern’s offense, the simplest being it can only get better. The ‘Cats lead the nation by returning 88 percent of their offensive production from 2019. Clearly, production was low last year, but the key players are back and there is talent on that side of the ball.</p>
<p id="OZ2mwY">The chief complaints during McCall’s final few years were the lack of explosive plays, the conservative and often downright repetitive play calling, and the lack of separation created by receivers leading to a hamstrung air attack. The offensive line was hardly a position of strength during that time but is morphing into one of the team’s more reliable units under new coach Kurt Anderson.</p>
<p id="LSFSWk">Offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian has his work cut out for him. There’s one clear thing that will look different to NU fans under the new OC, and that’s pace of play. Bajakian has said the offense will still focus on ball control, meant to wear down defenses. That’s not a new term for the program, and while the team’s time of possession averaged 29 minutes and 52 seconds per game over the last five years, Northwestern didn’t exactly keep defenses off balance or on their heels with the McCall playbook.</p>
<p id="C7ZKCg">That system was somewhat successful at keeping the ball from the opposing team, and that’s what frequently running up the middle will do, but rarely did it attack. McCall peaked in 2012 — since then the Wildcats have ranked an average of 94th nationally in total offense. During those seven years, the highest they’ve ranked is 55, and they’ve ranked lower than 100 four times. No one is disputing the point that offensive shortcomings aren’t limited to last year, but this is the situation Bajakian is assuming.</p>
<p id="FWQRmt">Now, as Connelly said, big + burly + fast = fan. Fans can only hope that is the new equation on offense. The three issues listed below are most definitely interconnected. </p>
<h3 id="eyPLtg"><strong>Explosive plays</strong></h3>
<p id="9Ka0ug">Northwestern logged just 27 plays of 20 or more yards in 2019, slotting in dead last of the 130 FBS teams. Unsurprisingly, this isn’t an outlier. The six years prior, NU placed an average of 99th in the country in recording plays of 20+ yards, according to cfbstats.com. It’s reasonable to expect a ball control offense won’t be terribly explosive since scoring quickly gives the ball right back to the other team, and the idea is to be methodical and grinding. However, that doesn’t excuse the inability to move the ball to which fans have grown accustomed.</p>
<p id="pNmZhK">NU’s new offensive coordinator has rarely stayed in one place for long. He’s spent nine seasons as a college OC across four different schools. Using available data from 2010 on, Bajakian’s six offenses ranked an averaged of 50th nationally in plays of 20 or more yards. He’s no Lincoln Riley, but Northwestern doesn’t need him to be. </p>
<h3 id="KvwtkO"><strong>Play calling </strong></h3>
<p id="23Rg8j">Mike Bajakian can quickly gain the trust of Northwestern fans by doing two things: eliminating the speed option and throwing past (or at least to) the sticks on third down. Those were two McCall/Thorson-era specialities. </p>
<p id="BTLi4Y">NU won’t be going to an air raid system but instead an up-tempo power run game. That should fit the personnel fairly well, as the Trench Cats up front had an underrated 2019 and should be even stronger going forward. It’s been a while since that group could be considered a strong suit, but it’s in the process of becoming just that.</p>
<p id="6fIPMq">We broke down what a <a href="https://www.insidenu.com/2020/7/18/21323692/film-room-what-does-a-mike-bajakian-offense-look-like-tennessee-football-boston-nba-bubble-covid">Bajakian offense might look like</a>, and there are definitely patterns to it: early-down runs or run-pass options and carefully planned play-action passes. As Dan said in his piece, Bajakian raises the floor of the offense. </p>
<p id="Wj5ehF"><em>“There’s not a ton of elite, five star-caliber talent that comes through Evanston, so a system that safeguards against total self-destruction should be welcomed by Wildcat fans, even if it means simply returning to 7-5 and 8-4 seasons rather than revolutionizing the program and becoming a perennial 10-win squad.”</em></p>
<h3 id="OyMARH"><strong>Fixing the passing game</strong></h3>
<p id="i5BEWH">We’re going to learn a lot about Northwestern’s pass catchers this season. Under McCall, there wasn’t a ton of creativity employed to get wide receivers open, even with multiple speedsters on the roster. <span>Kyric McGowan</span>, for example, frequently ran deep routes but without much variation and with few distractions created by other receivers. </p>
<p id="ue59zN">How much of the blame should be put on the position group versus the scheme itself? We’ll begin to find out since there’s a new system and the same returning talent. </p>
<p id="5yoeIt">McCall’s system was also notorious for being complex and giving the quarterback a lot of autonomy at the line of scrimmage. That didn’t work so well last season, and those taking the snaps looked left on an island. At times it seemed like <span>Hunter Johnson</span> didn’t know his protections and <span>Aidan Smith</span> simply didn’t know where to go with the ball.</p>
<p id="nlaUSM">Thus, it’s not surprising one of Coach Jake’s focal points with his signal callers is decision making. While the quarterbacks played poorly last year, it’s only fair to give them so much criticism. The pass catchers (and coaches) have to meet them halfway. </p>
<p id="YRTcj2">Bajakian’s got a room crowded with proven and unproven talent, and if the position can get back to competent, Northwestern will once again be a formidable foe in the Big Ten West. </p>
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https://www.insidenu.com/2020/8/3/21352582/five-biggest-questions-northwestern-football-2020-no-3-mick-mccall-mike-bajakianEli Karp2020-08-02T10:49:38-05:002020-08-02T10:49:38-05:00Five Biggest Questions for Northwestern in 2020, No. 4: Can the defense force turnovers?
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<p>Much improvement is needed in this department.</p> <p id="Il1Mst"><em>Over the past few months, we’ve covered nearly every aspect of the upcoming Northwestern football season. This week, we continue our offseason coverage by looking at the five biggest questions surrounding Northwestern football in 2020.</em></p>
<p id="FZkFvK"><em>Next up, we’ll take a look at the defense and its turnover margin this fall.</em></p>
<p id="2bNlTS">Considering how abysmal the 2019 season was, the defense was the lone bright spot as they often did all they could to try and help the offense out. The Wildcats return nine starters of what was a top-30 defense in the nation last year, in terms of yards per game. </p>
<p id="RobOht">Of course, context is important: given the huge margins that NU was often down by, opposing offenses would take their foot off the gas often and switch to a more run-heavy offense. But with the expected improvement overall, there is much to be excited about with this defense.</p>
<p id="etgQM1">However, for Northwestern to make the leap into an elite Big Ten defense, the ‘Cats must force turnovers. Now that Northwestern will be facing ten conference teams, the defense must do all it can to help out the offense in terms of field position. This is where the turnovers come in. </p>
<p id="vkeieP">Northwestern was towards the bottom of the FBS in terms of turnovers forced as they were tied for 114th with only 14 turnovers. Even more concerning is that <span>Joe Gaziano</span> by himself forced three fumbles and recovered two others. It is going to be a committee effort to replace the turnovers by Gaziano but also increase turnovers forced in general. There are some big shoes to step into, but the ‘Cats have the talent to be towards the top of the Big Ten in terms of turnovers forced.</p>
<p id="V70WzA">Here is what needs to happen for Northwestern to force more turnovers and become the elite defense it has the potential to be:</p>
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<span><strong>Paddy Fisher</strong></span><strong> must bounce back</strong>
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<p id="h6THT0">Let’s address the elephant in the room: by Fisher’s standards, he had a subpar 2019 season across the board. From tackles to forced fumbles, it was all down. After consecutive seasons with 100+ tackles, he regressed to 88 this past season along with his forced fumbles dropping from four the previous two years to just one last year. This defense will go as Fisher goes, and he has a lot to prove to NFL scouts. </p>
<p id="rYh5VM">There is no doubt in my mind that he’ll bounce back and as captain, he is going to have to lead the defense to force more turnovers. Fisher, along with <span>Blake Gallagher</span> and <span>Chris Bergin</span> must forced fumbles and be competitive in pass coverage. This is arguably one of the most experienced linebacker rooms in the Big Ten, and they must demonstrate their veteran savvy by forcing turnovers.</p>
<h2 id="1wq2Ua">
<span><strong>Earnest Brown IV</strong></span><strong> must live up to his potential</strong>
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<p id="LdudNC">The defensive line suffered a massive loss of Joe Gaziano, but there is more than enough talent to replace him. Northwestern was tied for 72nd in the nation in sacks last year with Gaziano by himself contributing over a third of those sacks. </p>
<p id="IS5Zro">The gap he left behind must be filled by Earnest Brown IV who has the potential to be an elite pass rusher as evidenced by his preseason All-Big Ten honors. To live up to his potential and make the necessary impact for the defense, avoiding injuries is imperative as Brown IV. Brown has NFL potential if he can piece it all together in his final season in Evanston.</p>
<p id="XGcJBw">If the Wildcats want to force turnovers, it all begins in the trenches. Brown and Samdup Miller must lead the charge in pressuring opposing QBs and forcing them into mistakes. Brown, and this unit as a whole, has the talent to help the rest of the defense out. Marty Long should be able to rotate guys in and out to keep the entire line fresh which is going to be especially important in a 10-game conference grind. With too much time, QBs will punish secondaries, no matter how talented they may be. The defensive line is the most critical piece of the defense in forcing turnovers for this upcoming year. </p>
<h2 id="5btACd"><strong>The secondary must take the next leap</strong></h2>
<p id="h8EUSH">Northwestern now has seasoned veterans at the safety positions in <span>Travis Whillock</span> and J.R. Pace. Along with an elite corner in Greg Newsome, the question comes in who will be the other corner. Between AJ Hampton or <span>Cameron Ruiz</span>, there will be quality options that emerge and more depth as a result. </p>
<p id="nLD15w">However, the returning starters had zero interceptions last year, and that is unacceptable. The linebacker corp had more interceptions, which must change if Northwestern wants to up its poor seven-total interceptions from this past year. The defensive line pressuring the opposing quarterback means nothing if the secondary cannot capitalize on poor decisions and passes. </p>
https://www.insidenu.com/2020/8/2/21351405/five-biggest-questions-for-northwestern-in-2020-no-4-can-the-defense-force-turnovers-paddy-fisherLouis Yang2020-08-01T07:08:08-05:002020-08-01T07:08:08-05:00Five Biggest Questions for Northwestern in 2020, No. 5: Which pass catchers will step up?
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<p>The Wildcats, despite inconsistent production at the position, have plenty of talent to use through the air.</p> <p id="Il1Mst"><em>Over the past few months, we’ve covered nearly every aspect of the upcoming Northwestern football season. This week, we continue our offseason coverage by looking at the five biggest questions surrounding Northwestern football in 2020.</em></p>
<p id="FZkFvK"><em>We start the series by examining which pass catchers have the tools to step up for the Wildcats this fall.</em></p>
<p id="TBzItd">It should be safe to say Northwestern’s passing game can’t get worse from 2019. After all, NU finished with the fourth-worst passing offense in the FBS. </p>
<p id="UBT572">Now, offensive coordinator Mick McCall is gone, and the quarterback room has a proven commodity in Peyton Ramsey. Although last year’s receiving numbers may not indicate it, Northwestern has a plethora of competent pass catchers.</p>
<p id="ulObIB">The wide receiving core looks largely the same as last season, and losing the big-bodied <span>Bennett Skowronek</span> (1417 career receiving yards and eight touchdowns) is a blow. However, Fitz addressed several needs this offseason by bringing in a new offensive coordinator, a quarterback ranked as the <a href="https://twitter.com/pff_college/status/1285243569494618117?s=12">fourth highest-graded returning player in the Big Ten according to Pro Football Focus</a>, and a tight end who single-handedly racked up the same amount of receiving touchdowns as all of Northwestern last year. Seeing how poor play calling and scheme design, dismal quarterback performance and a lack of reliable receiving options were the major offensive issues last year, these three additions point to an improved passing offense in 2020.</p>
<h3 id="X9P43Q"><span><strong>Riley Lees</strong></span></h3>
<p id="NJreG9">Despite last year’s inconsistency at quarterback, one wide receiver quietly improved: Riley Lees. In 2019, the Illinois native caught 51 balls for 430 yards and two touchdowns, building on his 214 yards on 22 catches from the year before. Lees showed off a propensity to both create separation and to make some difficult catches throughout his 2019 campaign.</p>
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<p id="06HhHp">Given the lack of proven pass catchers on the team, Lees should be the number one passing option come this fall, no matter who is throwing him the ball. As we wrote about in <a href="https://www.insidenu.com/2020/6/17/21294026/northwestern-wide-receivers-2020-season-riley-lees">our 2020 wide receivers preview</a>, Lees could be well-positioned to make a leap similar to that of <span>Flynn Nagel</span> as he enters his final season in Evanston. The two had remarkably similar junior seasons (Nagel caught 48 balls for 489 yards and two scores), and they also share similar physical attributes (Lees is 6-foot, 200 pounds while Nagel was 5-foot-11, 195 pounds). </p>
<p id="KcWXrY">The senior has thus far proved to be an effective possession receiver, a safety blanket of sorts. Nagel showed a bit more of a deep threat when healthy, but it isn’t crazy to say Lees could put up numbers similar to that of Nagel’s senior year (68 catches for 780 receiving yards). This isn’t to say Lees hasn’t already stepped up, but he can take his production a step up. </p>
<h3 id="00KIew"><span><strong>John Raine</strong></span></h3>
<p id="khzdPm">The superback position simply couldn’t be found last year: <span>Charlie Mangieri</span> accumulated only five receptions for 21 yards. That looks to change this year with the addition of John Raine, the incoming graduate transfer tight end from Florida Atlantic.</p>
<p id="cvAVKk">Raine will likely serve as the secondary passing option this season after a strong 2019 campaign that saw him catch 38 passes for 343 yards and six touchdowns, all while playing alongside the nation’s best tight end in Harrison Bryant. At FAU, he established himself as a consistent and reliable player, both as a blocker and as a pass catcher, which is already reason enough to vault him towards the top of the depth chart. As you can see in these clips, he has some impressive skills and is not afraid to take hits after the catch.</p>
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<p id="Uv5Vav">It is important to note that Mike Bajakian has enjoyed utilizing his tight ends as primary pass catchers in the past as well. Last year at Boston College, he often employed a 12 personnel (one RB, two TE). The tight ends combined for 62 receptions, 943 yards and eight touchdowns. Raine’s red zone effectiveness should also help a Northwestern offense that <a href="https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/703">ranked 101st in red zone offense in 2019 according to NCAA.com</a>. With that in mind and with minimal competition for snaps, expect there to be a heavy dose of Purple Raine within the Northwestern passing game next season. Maybe we see the next Cam Green?</p>
<h3 id="AIGA3b"><strong>Dark Horses</strong></h3>
<p id="QJWXdZ">Still, Lees and Raine aren’t the only two viable receiving options. Several other guys could help lessen the load. Who will separate themselves from the pack? We don’t know, but these are the most likely candidates:</p>
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<span>Ramaud-Chiaokhiao Bowman</span> and <span>Kyric McGowan</span> return for their senior seasons having made some big plays during their time at NU, and should see the field a lot during their final year in Evanston. McGowan with his speed could be an x-factor at both running back and receiver if the coaches use him creatively.</li>
<li id="qWRKhG">Juniors <span>Jace James</span> and <span>JJ Jefferson</span> have shown the ability to make plays. Jefferson has good speed and caught the team’s longest pass of 2019 before getting hurt, and James made two impressive touchdown grabs—one against Purdue and the other at Minnesota—toward the end of the year.</li>
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<span>Genson Hooper Price</span> and <span>Bryce Kirtz</span> are the redshirt freshmen who are the highest-rated wideout recruits in NU ranking history. They didn’t make a splash in their first season, but that isn’t unusual for true freshmen. Hooper-Price has impressive size at 6-foot-5, while the 6-foot Kirtz’s strengths lie more in his speed and route-running.</li>
</ul>
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https://www.insidenu.com/2020/8/1/21348675/five-biggest-questions-northwestern-football-wide-receivers-riley-lees-john-raineDidi Jin