Yesterday, ESPN published an article listing every power-four team's most impactful incoming recruit for the 2026 season. Their choice for Northwestern was a bit of a surprise -- offensive tackle Jack Fuchs.
ESPN is the only site to list Fuchs as a four-star. Both 247Sports and Rivals agree that he's a three-star, but the world wide leader in sports thinks he's a little better than that, and it may be for good reason.
As the article points out, Fuchs comes from a football background -- his father is Tennessee Titans' offensive line coach Scott Fuchs.
Northwestern also flipped the younger Fuchs earlier this fall from Penn State after James Franklin was fired, and the fact that he was committed to the Nittany Lions is an endorsement in-and-of itself. Finally, Fuchs has a projectable frame, standing at 6-foot-7 and weighing 270 lbs.
Still, ESPN selected Fuchs for this article over two consensus four-stars in receiver Jaden McDuffie and offensive lineman Owen Fors. According to the article, though, Fuchs is ESPN's highest ranked Northwestern recruit since 2023.
The story is also about impact, and Fuchs has a chance to make an immediate one with the Wildcats next season. Both Martes Lewis and Caleb Tiernan, NU's starting tackles in 2025, are graduating and will not be back.
"With few proven tackles on the program's current roster, he could very quickly factor into the mix at Northwestern next fall," the article said.
Fuchs will also benefit from joining a program that specializes in developing talent at his exact position. Tiernan, who is likely to be selected fairly early in the upcoming NFL Draft, is just one example. In recent years, tackles like Peter Skoronski and Rashawn Slater have both been drafted in the first round.
The 'Cats are also not afraid to trust a young player with snaps if the talent is there. This season, guard Ezomo Oratakhai was a starter for Northwestern despite being a redshirt freshman. He was phenomenal, and NU deserves some credit for giving him the opportunity to shine.
Given this context, it makes sense that ESPN would select Fuchs as a potential impact recruit for Northwestern as early as next season. Fors would also have made a lot of sense, but ESPN evaluates the two players differently than other sites. McDuffie, while he's a consensus four-star, might need more time to develop into a capable Big Ten weapon at the receiver position.
Regardless, in other seasons this may have been an obvious choice, or ESPN would have been picking between a bunch of three-star level talents. This year, the choice was surely more difficult to make, and that's a credit to David Braun and his staff.