The Wildcats came into National Signing Day with 19 commits and were able to convert all of them to signed financial aid agreements, plus the cherry-on-top addition of running back Daniel Anderson.

The day began with Northwestern announcing the addition of Jonathan Stevens Jr., who was also the first commit of the class, at 6:03 a.m. Central time. It was all over by 11:40 a.m., when the football program posted the signing of Anderson, which came as a slight surprise.

The days of the National Letter of Intent (NLI) are over, but the aid agreement serves nominally the same purpose of cementing a player's commitment to the program and banning other school's from continuing contact.

Here is a breakdown of the Wildcats' 2025 class:

Northwestern's class ranks 52nd in the nation at the time of publication and 15th in the Big Ten, ahead of Minnesota, Iowa and Purdue. This marks a major jump from the 81st ranked Class of 2024 that head coach David Braun put together in his first year after the firing of Pat Fitzgerald.

Braun has yet to sign a four-star prospect in the Rivals database, but this class is much more line with Northwestern's standards, and 19 of the 20 signees earned a three-star designation from Rivals.

The five previous classes under Fitzgerald, from 2019-23, averaged 50th in the country.

The 20 signees are also an increase from last season. The Class of 2024 had 15 additions on the first signing day and ended at 17 by the closing of the second window.

For the fourth straight class, Northwestern picked up their most commitments from their home state of Illinois.

After three commits from the Land of Lincoln in the Class of 2024, the Wildcats upped their game and picked up five signees from their home state for 2025. It's the first time Northwestern has had five players from the state since the Class of 2018.

After signing cornerback Timi Oke from London, England, last year, the Wildcats kept it in the contiguous United States this season, and actually shrunk their footprint further.

All 20 commits come from states and schools east of the Rocky Mountains. In fact, other than two players from Texas, all of them came from states bordering the Mississippi River or to the East.

Here is where all of the new signees call home:

Northwestern is bringing in 11 offensive players, eight on the defense and one specialist.

Leading the way by position group is the offensive line and tight end, with three apiece. There are two each of running backs, wide receivers, defensive ends, defensive tackles and safeties, and one quarterback, linebacker, cornerback and punter.

OFFENSE (11)

Quarterback (1): Marcus Romain

Running back (2): Daniel Anderson, Ronny Johnson

Wide receiver (2): Braden Blueitt, Dube Enongene

Tight end (3): Tyler Kielmeyer, Noah LaPorte, Robby Preckel

Offensive line (3): Trey Boyd, Michael O'Connell, Hayden Wright

DEFENSE (8)

Defensive end (2): Jonah Hayes, Caden O'Rourke

Defensive tackle (2): Mason Mayne, Tanner Jumpp

Linebacker (1): Josh Veldman

Cornerback (1): Marquet Dorsey

Safety (2): Alijah Jones, Jonathan Stevens Jr.

SPECIAL TEAMS (1)

Punter: Nikola Dugandzic

Only three new Wildcats are ranked nationally by position. Romain is the No. 20 dual-threat quarterback, Blueitt is the 91st wide receiver and, though he's not ranked by Rivals, Dugandzic is the No. 1 punter in the nation according to special teams authority Chris Sailer Kicking.

In terms of state rankings, five Cats received recognition as one of the top overall prospects in their state. Boyd is ranked fifth in Minnesota, O'Rourke is 20th in Illinois, Dorsey is 20th in New Jersey, Stevens is 35th in Ohio and Romain is 93rd in Georgia.

Once again, Northwestern landed the majority of its commitments in the spring and summer, during the official visit season.

The class began with Stevens' surprise commitment on Jan. 28, a day before O'Rourke pulled the trigger, and it ended on Signing Day itself with Anderson's decision at 11:38 am.

Two Wildcats committed on the same day, March 9: Romain and Veldman.

May and June were the busiest months, as seven signees made a verbal pledge in May and six more in June.

Kielmeyer added his name to the list in July, and then came a long waiting period until Wright hopped on board in October.