Northwestern’s Class of 2019 is about as good an example of a typical, nuts-and-bolts Pat Fitzgerald class as you will find, and it still may turn out to be the highest-rated class of his career.

The class has 18 members, and all 18 of them are three-star prospects. That has always been Fitzgerald’s sweet spot: the three-star with other Power Five offers. He may have had a few four-stars and a couple two-stars mixed in here-and-there, but his bread-and-butter has always been the three-star.

This class doesn’t have any four-stars, but it is solid top to bottom and, coming in ranked at No. 47 nationally, is one spot short of Fitzgerald's highest perch ever. The group won’t dazzle any recruiting experts, but it fills needs and provides talent and depth across the board.

Here are our "best of" awards for the 2019 class.

That word came from Fitzgerald himself, not just us.

Fitzgerald’s classes are usually balanced, and this one is just about perfect, with nine on offense and nine on defense. What’s more, the Wildcats got pairs of just about everything: outside wide receivers (Wayne Dennis and Genson Hooper-Price), slot wide receivers (Bryce Kirtz and Malik Washington), guards (Dominick D"Antonio and Conrad Rowley), tackles (Connor Foster and Zachary Franks), cornerbacks (Roderick Heard and Cameron Mitchell), safeties (Corien Azema and Brandon Joseph), linebackers (Bryce Gallagher and Michael Jansey Jr.) and defensive tackles (Jason Gold and Duke Olges).

There were only two one-offs: defensive end Adetomiwa Adebawore and superback Thomas Gordon.

Northwestern is always looking for playmakers at wide receiver, and they landed some in this class.

The Wildcats landed two big, physical outside guys in 6-foot-3 Wayne Dennis and 6-foot-5 Genson Hooper-Price, and two small, quick and explosive slot guys in Bryce Kirtz and Malik Washington.

The goal is to get the big guys to make plays downfield, and then use the inside guys -- "explosive guys, make-you-miss guys," as Fitzgerald calls them, to turn short throws into long gains. "I think it’s a really good group of receivers," said Fitzgerald.

We agree. We think Hunter Johnson probably does, too.

The Wildcats have had some big receivers before, like Kyle Prater and current Wildcat Bennett Skowronek. They have had plenty of fast guys, too. But they've never had a size-and-speed combo like Genson Hooper-Price.

Hooper-Price is 6-foot-5 and 206 pounds and his best time in the 100 meters is a blazing 10.57 seconds. Those are Megatron-type numbers.

Fitzgerald couldn't think of a player off the top of his head to compare to GHP. "With that size-speed combination, he's got the chance to make explosive plays."

And anyone who has seen the Wildcats offense the last couple years know how much they could use more explosive plays.

Running backs coach and recruiting coordinator Louis Ayeni arrived at Northwestern from Iowa State with a reputation as a strong recruiter. He certainly lived up to that billing in this cycle.

Not only does the first class he presided over as coordinator look like one of Fitzgerald’s finest, but he is also the primary recruiter for the five Houstonians who signed with the Wildcats (Corien Azema, Jason Gold, Thomas Gordon, Genson Hooper-Price and Brandon Joseph).

Ayeni recruited Houston for the Cyclones, so he hit the ground running once he took over the territory from former NU linebackers coach Randy Bates.

The Lone Star State wins the battle for the class’s favorite state going away. There are five Texans in this class (Azema, Gold, Gordon, Hooper-Price and Joseph), and all hail from the Houston area, which has been Northwestern’s most fertile recruiting ground for several years – since a linebackers coach named Fitzgerald called it his territory.

Next up among states is NU's home state of Illinois with three (Michael Jansey Jr., Cmaeron Mitchell and Duke Olges) and then Georgia (Dominick D’Antonio and Malik Washington) and Missouri (Tommy Adebawore and Conrad Rowley) with two apiece.

States with just one player include Florida (Wayne Dennis), Indiana (Bryce Kirtz), Maryland (Zachary Franks), Massachusetts (Bryce Gallagher), Michigan (Roderick Heard) and Ohio (Connor Foster). It's surprising to see Ohio included on the singles list, but this marks the second straight year with just one representative from the Buckeye State (Isaiah Bowser was the signee last year).

After several years of playing baseball, Dominick D'Antonio played his first year of organized football in 2017 at Woodstock (Ga.) Etowah High School.

It didn't take long for college coaches to find him.

By Week 7, D'Antonio had his first scholarship offer, from Charlotte. He eventually picked up 21 offers before committing to the Wildcats in April.

A fluid, natural athlete with quick feet and a 6-foot-4, 280-pound frame, D'Antonio has as big an upside as anyone in the class.

Northwestern worked as hard as any school in assembling this class. But it certainly didn't hurt when Hunter Johnson, a former five-star quarterback whose older brother played at NU, decided to transfer from Clemson with three years of eligibility remaining, either. His June commitment came gift-wrapped for the Wildcats.

Yes, the Wildcats had to beat out Purdue to land Johnson once he decided to leave Clemson, but having former walkon Cole Johnson sing the school's and Fitzgerald's praises to his younger brother gave them a decided advantage. And the timing couldn't be better -- after sitting out the 2018 season, he'll be eligible to play in the fall, just when NU is looking for a successor to four-year starter Clayton Thorson.

Sometimes, it's better to be lucky than good.

Northwestern still has a couple scholarships to give out for this class, even if Fitzgerald awards a couple walkons with full rides, as expected. And, without a doubt, the biggest remaining need is running back, where the Wildcats lost Solomon Vault and Chad Hanaoka to graduation and Jeremy Larkin to medical retirement.

Fitzgerald said that the Wildcats could add a running back and a best-available type of prospect in February, for the traditional signing day.

"We may take a running back," said Fitzgerald. "Or two, depending on who's that next best available player."