Head coach David Braun and his staff are set to host quarterback RJ Day in Evanston this weekend for an official visit. Day is a three-star recruit in the 2027 class, and he's also the son of Ohio State National Championship winning head coach Ryan Day.
Entering college with an obvious deep football background, Day is firmly a three-star recruit, according to both 247Sports and Rivals. The former lists him as the No. 90 QB in the class, while the latter has him as the No. 83.
Day's recruitment will be relatively high-profile for a guys ranked in that tier, but Northwestern appears to be in a decent spot. Other schools that are currently listed by 247 with outstanding offers include Boston College, Cincinnati, Purdue and Syracuse.
For Northwestern, finding a quarterback from the high school ranks should always be a priority. The recent strategy of replacing the roster's most important position through the transfer portal every offseason is semi-sustainable, but it's not necessarily the way to get the best out of the program.
Obviously, it would be helpful if the Wildcats could find a way to start the same passer in back to back seasons for once. The best way to do that? Find a guy in the recruiting process, and then actually develop him into a viable candidate.
Day isn't necessarily that guy, but he could be, and it's the kind of shot Northwestern wants to be taking. With new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly in the fold, who has ties to Ohio State and Day's father, their odds of both landing and being able to develop him are probably higher.
In addition to Kelly, the Wildcats can boast about their new stadium opening next year, and, of course, the academic benefits of coming to a school like Northwestern.
The 'Cats have always had a defense-first, run the ball mindset, and they aren't necessarily looking to change that any time soon. But it's been clear throughout this offseason that they want to be more explosive. They want to have weapons who can change the game, and they want to be able to get the most out of them through scheme design and quarterback personnel.
Adding Day gives them a chance to build that in the next couple of seasons and then, hopefully, finally have a young player turn into a starting caliber signal caller in the Big Ten. Maybe, then, they can move closer towards Braun's goal of competing for Big Ten titles against Day's father.