Northwestern signed all 14 members of its Class of 2021, as expected, by 8 a.m. Central time on Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period.

We break down the Wildcats' class.

Head coach Pat Fitzgerald landed a trio of four-star recruits in the class in 2021. This is the most for Northwestern since they got four in 2014, headlined by Northwestern legends Justin Jackson and Clayton Thorson.

This year, the four-star talents are OL Caleb Tiernan, RB Anthony Tyus III, and LB Mac Uihlein.

Tiernan is offensive line coach Kurt Anderson's big prize in this class. He's a 6-foot-8, 260-pound offensive tackle from Detroit Country Day who chose Northwestern over offers from Midwest powers like Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Penn State. Tiernan looks to follow in the footsteps of Peter Skoronski, who was named all-Big Ten on Tuesday as a true freshman for the Wildcats this season.

Tyus is a 6-foot, 208-pound running back from Portage (Mich.) Northern. Tyus III just picked up his fourth star in Rivals' latest rankings update earlier this month. He finished his season with 1,801 yards rushing, averaging over 10.5 yards per carry. He also averaged over 200 yards per game, in addition to finding the end zone 22 times on the ground.

Uihlein, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound inside linebacker, is the top-ranked recruit in the state of Illinois. He played his high school ball for the Scouts of Lake Forest High School. This is the first time that Fitzgerald has landed the top-ranked player from the Land of Lincoln. The closest Fitzgerald had come before was with Devin O'Rourke in the class of 2018, the No. 3 player. Linebacker is arguably the strongest position on Northwestern's roster this season, and Uilhein will only add to that.

Michigan is home to the most 2021 Northwestern commits, with four. The Michiganders are three-star dual threat quarterback Brendan Sullivan, three-star offensive guard Josh Thompson, Tiernan and Tyus III.

Ohio is next, being home to three 2021 Wildcat commits, all three-stars: defensive ends Aidan Hubbard and Najee Story, and safety Garner Wallace. Story, who at one point was a four-star recruit and held offers from Ohio State and Alabama, headlines the Buckeye state recruits.

Illinois and North Carolina are both home to a pair of future Wildcats. From Illinois, three-star offensive guard Jackson Carsello and Uihlein are staying home. A pair of pass catchers come to Evanston from the Tar Heel state in three-star tight end Lawson Albright and three-star wide receiver Jacob Gill. None of the four got the opportunity to play this fall, as both states postponed football until the spring.

The Wildcats added a single recruit from Indiana, Massachusetts and Texas. From Indiana, three-star cornerback Theran Johnson makes the short trip to his neighboring state. From Massachusetts, two-star wide receiver Donnie Gray will be a Wildcat, and from Texas, two-star cornerback Ore Adeyi , a former Boise State commit, was the most recent addition to the class.

Northwestern's class comes in at 58th in the country in the latest Rivals rankings. That's par for the course for the Wildcats, who have ranked between 50th and 60th in their last five classes.

Fitzgerald's best class ever was the 2016 class, which finished 46th in the nation and featured one four-star, CB Roderick Campbell, as well as current Cat starters like Paddy Fisher, Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman, Nik Urban, Gunnar Vogel, Jake Saunders and Riley Lees.

Northwestern ranks 11th in the Big Ten for 2021, and in terms of star-average, the Cats are 10th.

This class represents a little bit of a drop-off for Northwestern, but that can be explained mostly by the size of the class. It's no surprise that the 2016 class ranks highest: it featured 20 commits and was one of Fitzgerald's largest classes. Any class smaller than 20 gets dinged in the Rivals rankings.

Of Northwestern's 14 commits, three were four-stars: Tiernan, Tyus III and Uihlein, as previously mentioned.

As usual, the bulk of the class was made up of three-star recruits. Of those nine three-stars, the two highest ranked are the two Ohio DEs: Hubbard and Story, who each have a 5.7 Rivals Rating, the highest ranking for a three-star prospect.

There were also a pair of two stars in Gray, the first commitment of the class, and Adeyi, the last verbal pledge.

Four Wildcats have already graduated high school and will enroll early at Northwestern in January. They are Sullivan, Tyus, Gill and Uihlein.

All four of them will not only start taking college classes next month and begin working toward their degrees, but they will also take part in both winter workouts and spring practice, all before the rest of their classmates arrive on campus.

The 2021 class for Northwestern started to come together on March 8, when Gray committed to become the first member of the class. That was just before the campus went on coronavirus lockdown and recruiting visits were banned across the country by the NCAA.

The Cats got two more commits in March: Thompson on the 24th and Tiernan on the 28th. In April, Uihlein committed on the third and Sullivan followed him on the 20th, rounding out the month for Fitzgerald.

Northwestern got three commits in a two-day span at the beginning of May, landing Hubbard on the second, and both Johnson and Story on the third.

June ended up being the month with the most commits, as five Wildcats joined the class. Albright pledged on the first, and Barryn Sorrell, who eventually decommitted in October, on the third. They were followed by Tyus on the 12th, Wallace on the 17th and, finally, Carsello jumped on his offer on the 24th.

After Carsello, things really started to slow down as Northwestern only added two more commits since the beginning of July. Gill committed on July 8, and then there was a long break until Ayedi decommitted from Boise State and make his verbal to Fitzgerald on Nov. 27.

Northwestern's newest Wildcats are some of the best in their home state, as well as some of the best at their positions in the nation.

In total, 13 of the 14 Wildcat commits are ranked in their state, with eight being in the top 25. In terms of positions, Uihlein was the lone top-ranked player, in Illinois. Among the others who made the Top 20 in their home states: Gray ranked 10th in Massachusetts, Tiernan 11th in Michigan, Johnson 12th in Indiana, Tyus 12th in Michigan and Story 16th in Ohio.

In addition, 11 of the 14 are Cats are ranked at their positions, with three in the top 25. The players in the top 25 at their positions are Uihlein, No. 13 among outside linebackers; Tyus, 17th among running backs; Story, 23rd among defensive ends; and Sullivan, 23rd among dual-threat quarterbacks.

Only one player, Mac Uihlein, is ranked nationally, at 181.

Here's the rundown of the class rankings by state and position:

Ore Adeyi: NR in Texas, NR in cornerbacks

Lawson Albright: 28 in North Carolina, 39 in tight ends

Jackson Carsello: 33 in Illinois, NR in offensive guards

Jacob Gill: 49 in North Carolina, NR in wide receivers

Donnie Gray: 10 in Massachusetts, NR in wide receivers

Aidan Hubbard: 25 in Ohio, 42 in outside linebackers

Theran Johnson: 12 in Indiana, 67 in cornerbacks

Najee Story: 16 in Ohio, 23 in strong side defensive ends

Brendan Sullivan: 19 in Michigan, 23 in dual threat quarterbacks

Josh Thompson: 32 in Michigan, NR in offensive guards

Caleb Tiernan: 11 in Michigan, 31 in offensive tackles

Anthony Tyus III: 12 in Michigan, 17 in running backs

Mac Uilhein: 1 in Illinois, 13 in inside linebackers

Garner Wallace: 40 in Ohio, 32 in athletes