Looking back at the Class of 2009

Pat Fitzgerald celebrated his 10th anniversary as Northwestern's head coach earlier this month. With that in mind, WildcatReport looks back on the Fitz Era by breaking down his recruiting classes on Fitz Flashback Fridays.

The story of Northwestern’s Class of 2009 is one of extremes.

There were some outstanding players in the group - Jeff Budzien, Damien Proby, Tyler Scott and Patrick Ward form as strong of a quartet as any class. Yet as a whole the group probably had more misses than head coach Pat Fitzgerald has ever had. We ranked nine, or one-half, of the 18 players as Overvalued, meaning that they didn't live up to their potential in purple. Injuries also derailed a few careers before they really got started.

Fitzgerald landed his first four-star (Ward) in this class, which was ranked 62nd in the nation by Rivals. Yet of his four three-stars with the highest 5.7 Rivals Rating (Davon Custis, Proby, Will Studlien and Evan Watkins), only Proby panned out.

Here's a look back at Fitzgerald's third class in Evanston.

Head of the Class: Tyler Scott. This was a close one, as we gave the nod to the defensive end by a nose over three-year starting tackle Ward. Scott was just a skinny, 220-pound, two-star prospect from Warren (Ohio) Howland with a couple MAC offers when he committed to Northwestern in November of 2008. But very few players had the work ethic and motor of Scott. He transformed his body into a 265-pound jackhammer and became a mainstay on the edge for the Wildcats, starting all 25 games of his final two seasons. He was named defensive MVP in 2012 and team MVP in 2013, when he was a team co-captain.

Honor Roll: Budzien, simply put, was the best kicker in NU history; Proby is often overlooked but was a stud middle linebacker; and Ward lived up to the hype as Fitzgerald's first four-star recruit.

Biggest Surprises: Scott and Budzien were both two-star prospects.