David Braun continues his recruiting process.
Yesterday and today, head coach David Braun and the Northwestern Wildcats offered two recruits in the 2027 class. Both are interesting for different reasons.
The first, and higher ranked, player is linebacker Matthew Brady out of Bloomington, Illinois. The local product is a three-star prospect, according to both 247Sports and Rivals. The former lists him as the No. 122 linebacker in his class, while the latter views him as the No. 103.
Brady has a lot of Big Ten interest, currently fielding offers from Michigan State, Nebraska, Illinois and Minnesota. He also has a power conference offer from James Franklin at Virginia Tech in the ACC.
Currently, Rivals thinks the Illini have the best chance, and that makes sense as the flagship university in his home state. However, neither site has taken Northwestern's offer into account, and while it is a private institution, it's similarly close to home for Brady.
Any time Northwestern and Illinois get into a recruiting battle, it has the potentially to be very tight. The 'Cats offer better facilities, a higher-ranked education and a brand-new, state-of-the-art stadium. But Illinois is the bigger brand, and it has recently been the better football team.
Brady is a projectable linebacker, standing at 6-foot-4 and weighing 220 lbs. Any of the teams looking to sign him would be adding a development project to their roster, but one that seems like it has a pretty solid chance of working out. At Northwestern, linebackers tend to develop well, so that's also something to keep in mind.
Today, Northwestern also offered an unranked recruit at offensive tackle named Aidan Ray. He's more interesting than the typical unranked offer, though, because it doesn't seem like he's going to keep that label for very long.
Players earn star rankings all the time, and Ray's offer list is starting to be hard to ignore. A Texas native, he has offers from Houston, Baylor and Kansas State. Add Northwestern to the list, and that's four power-four offers. Typically, these recruiting websites feel the need to reward that.
Again, convincing Ray not to go to one of the schools in his home state might be tough. In Texas especially, players can have a lot of allegiance to in-state football. Baylor, especially, feels like a good fit for Ray.
But if the 'Cats can bring him in, Ray is the perfect fit for them. He's already 6-foot-6 and 301 lbs, so it's obvious what these programs see in the unranked prospect. He's clearly got the size to perform at the next level -- it's just about developing the technique.
Frankly, there aren't a lot of programs that have done that better in the entire country than Northwestern in recent seasons. The 'Cats have churned out a few NFL Draft picks this decade, now, and it seems like they're destined for more in the coming drafts.
Both Ray and Brady would be quality additions to a recruiting class that grows weekly. Northwestern is still in the thick of making offers and hoping for more commitments.
