Northwestern is on fire in the portal today.
Northwestern is having an active day in the transfer portal. After securing the services of former Oklahoma linebacker Kobie McKinzie, the 'Cats are now also adding to their edge rusher ranks.
This afternoon, former UCF EDGE Jamaal Johnson took to X to announce his commitment to the Wildcats. Johnson will head to Evanston in 2026 with one remaining season of eligibility.
A pattern is starting to develop here. Both McKinzie and Johnson are additions at positions of need for Northwestern. At linebacker, Braydon Brus needed a new running mate after Mac Uihlein ran out of eligibility following the season. At EDGE, Anto Saka and Aidan Hubbard are both gone, so that's now a gaping hole for the 'Cats.
Johnson isn't necessarily coming in with a ton of production to his name in Florida. He has 38 career total tackles and just one sack. He also has 3.5 TFLs in four seasons of action with UCF, but some of these numbers come down to opportunity.
For the first three seasons of his career, Johnson didn't get consistent run, playing five games in 2022 and 2023. In 2024, he played nine games, but it was still an inconsistent snap situation.
Last season was his first 12-game year, and he had 24 tackles, the most of his career to date. He's going to look to build on that in Evanston, where he's likely to continue seeing playing time.
Exactly how often he's on the field comes down to continued investment at the position. Northwestern will likely continue to poke around on talented pass rushers in the portal -- this isn't nearly as obvious of a plug-and-play as McKinzie.
Johnson marks Northwestern's fourth incoming transfer, so the process is still just beginning. That number will likely balloon by the end of the portal season, especially given Northwestern's stated goal to invest more into its football program.
After convincing Chip Kelly to join the team as its offensive coordinator, the 'Cats have invested more heavily on the defensive side of the ball early. It's probably too soon to make an assumptions about that, though, especially because quarterback is quite obviously the most important position of need.
The Wildcats have long had a defensive identity, and Kelly's arrival seems unlikely to change that. Northwestern knows it needs production on both sides of the football in order to compete in this conference, so the goal is to maintain a quality defense while improving on offense.