Five things to know about new Northwestern QB commit Brendan Sullivan
Based on his commitment, we already know one quality that new Northwestern quarterback commit Brendan Sullivan possesses: He's decisive.
The three-star prospect from Davison (Mich.) received an offer from Northwestern just last Friday. Three days later, on Monday morning, he tweeted that he had committed to the Wildcats.
Sullivan is the fifth commitment in Northwestern's Class of 2021, a group currently ranked 36th in the nation by Rivals.
He chose Northwestern over offers from 13 other schools -- 11 from the MAC and just one from a Power Five program, Indiana.
Not that much is known about Sullivan, who managed to largely fly below the recruiting media radar despite putting up some impressive numbers and leading Davison (Mich.) to a state championship last season. There hasn't been a single story written about him across the Rivals network, and Rivals Midwest recruiting analyst Josh Helmholdt has never evaluated Sullivan in person.
Our attempts to reach Sullivan have been unsuccessful so far, so we'll focus on the things we know about the 6-foot-4, 190-pounder.
He's prolific: Sullivan last season threw for 3,045 yards, with 33 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, in a system that relied on him for a majority of its offense. In 14 games, Sullivan accounted for 3,451 of Davison's 5,,637 total yards, or 61.2%.
He's accurate: As productive as Sullivan was, he also showed striking accuracy. He completed 165 of his 247 throws, good for 66.8%. Sullivan completed at least three-quarters of his passes five times during the season and below 50% just once.
He's mobile: While Sullivan won't remind anyone of Lamar Jackson, he ran for 406 yards and 10 TDs for the Cardinals last year, third-most on a team that didn't have a 1,000-yard rusher. More than that, however, Sullivan's film shows an uncanny ability to elude the rush, escape the pocket, and then make accurate, often long throws on the run.
He's clutch: Sullivan proved to be a cool customer under pressure. He led the "Cardiac Cards" to four come-from-behind wins in the state playoffs, including a 15-point, second-half deficit in the semifinals. In the state title game win over Brighton, Sullivan went 14-for-19 for 291 yards and a touchdown through the air, and then ran for 40 yards and two more scores on the ground.
He's got bloodlines: Brendan's father, Mike Sullivan, was a three-year letterman at offensive tackle for Michigan from 1993-95. Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald played against Sullivan in college, and NU offensive line coach Kurt Anderson is also a former Wolverine O-lineman.