The Wildcats are targeting a pair of elite quarterbacks from the north suburbs of Chicago.
David Braun is aiming high while looking for his quarterback of the future, but he's facing a lot of competition for an elite recruit.
Jake Nawrot, a four-star passer from nearby Arlington Heights, is one of the top quarterbacks in the 2027 recruiting class. He is a junior at John Hersey High School, where he led the state of Illinois with 41 passing touchdowns last fall.
The Wildcats offered Nawrot back in October and have continued to pursue him throughout the recruiting process. Northwestern offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, quarterbacks coach Jerry Neuheisel and tight ends coach Bob Bicknell attended one of Nawrot's basketball games on Jan. 15, and Nawrot took an unofficial visit to Evanston two weeks later.
However, Nawrot has skyrocketed up the national recruiting rankings since the 'Cats originally extended their offer. A Big Ten foe has recently emerged as the favorite to land the 6-foot-4, 190-pound passer.
On Monday, Nawrot was named the No. 2 quarterback and the No. 32 overall recruit in the nation, according to the updated Rivals300 ranking. Just hours later, the junior quarterback picked up an "expert prediction" from Rivals' Steve Wiltfong that connected Nawrot to the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Nawrot's father, Paul, was a linebacker at Iowa from 1995 to 1997. His older sister, Leah, is a sophomore on the Hawkeyes' women's rowing team.
Iowa is one of the five schools that Nawrot has taken unofficial visits to, and the only school that he has visited twice. Nawrot also holds Big Ten offers from Wisconsin, Washington, Purdue and Rutgers, Big 12 offers from Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State, ACC offers from Syracuse, Boston College and Duke and SEC offers from Missouri, Kentucky and Arkansas.
According to the Rivals Prediction Machine, experts currently give Nawrot a 95.9% chance of picking Iowa, a 1% chance of committing to Northwestern and less than a 1% chance of going anywhere else.
Nawrot isn't the only top 2027 quarterback the Wildcats have targeted. The No. 3 quarterback in the nation, Israel Abrams (Lombard, Illinois), received an offer from the Wildcats in April of 2025. Kelly, Neuheisel and Bicknell similarly visited Abrams on Jan. 15, but Northwestern has a mighty hill to climb for the No. 42 player in the nation.
The 'Cats have less than a 1% chance to land Abrams, per the Rivals Prediction Machine. Auburn (88.1%) is the favorite, followed by Iowa State (3.0%), Purdue (2.2%), Florida State (1.5%), Kentucky (1.5%), Tennessee (1.1%) and Minnesota (1.1%).