Northwestern’s needs in this late recruiting cycle were plain to see: the Wildcats needed playmakers on offense.
They had an elite defense, one that ranked fifth in the nation in points allowed. But their offense ranked 92nd in scoring and 107th in yards per play.
So head coach Pat Fitzgerald and his staff addressed that glaring need in the last month by recruiting players out of both the transfer portal and the more traditional high school route.
They added three speedy wide receivers who should add explosiveness to their offense in 2021 signees Calvin Johnson and Jordan Mosley, and grad transfer Stephon Robinson Jr. Plus, they landed a rocket-armed quarterback who can get them the ball in transfer Ryan Hilinski.
Suddenly, Northwestern’s offense looks a lot more dangerous.
The gap between Northwestern's defense and their offense in 2020 was never more apparent than in their biggest game of the year, the Big Ten Championship Game. The Cats' defense held an Ohio State offense that averaged 46.6 points per game to a season-low point total of 22. But NU's offense mustered a meager 10 points, turning the ball over three times and failing to score in the second half.
Northwestern's offense did a good job in general this year of taking advantage of short fields after turnovers, and they scored enough for Northwestern to win seven of their nine games playing the style of "complementary football" that head coach Pat Fitzgerald favors.
But the Cats were hamstrung by a lack of explosiveness. Evan Hull's 50-yard run against Illinois was their longest play of the year. Only UMass, which went 0-4 and was outscored 161-12 this season, had a shorter longest play from scrimmage.
Only 20 of 127 FBS teams averaged less than Northwestern's 4.7 yards per play. It's hard to grind out 10+ play drives consistently enough to win games, and almost impossible to do it against a team of Ohio State's caliber.
Northwestern's three new wide receivers will certainly help matters.
The Wildcats are losing all three of their starting wide receivers from last season, as Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman and Riley Lees decided to end their NU careers rather than take advantage of another year of eligibility, and Kryic McGowan transferred to Georgia Tech. So the Wildcats had to makeover their room on the fly. They signed Jacob Gill and Donnie Gray December, but they needed more receivers -- and more speed.
The first addition to Dennis Springer's receiver room was Robinson Jr., a graduate transfer from Kansas who committed earlier this month. He told WildcatReport that he brings "speed, explosiveness and the ability to make the big play" to Evanston.
In his career in Lawrence, Robinson caught 75 passes for 1,092 yards, an impressive average of 14.9 yards per catch, and nine touchdowns.
Robinson probably isn't the fastest member of the Wildcats' receiving corps because the two playmakers they signed on Wednesday can really fly.
Mosley, a three-star prospect from Mobile (Ala.) McGill-Toolen who was previously committed to Tennessee, ran a 4.33 hand-timed 40 during a camp at Ole Miss and a 4.47 on a laser. At 6-feet and 190 pounds, Mosley could play either in the slot or as an outside receiver. His combination of size and speed allow him to take the top off a defense consistently.
Johnson, a three-star from French Camp (Miss.) Academy, announced his intentions to come play in Evanston in a National Signing Day decision. A dynamic athlete, Johnson brings "something that we haven't had in that room," according to one source.
In high school, the former Navy commit played quarterback, safety and returned kicks. He scored 34 TDs (21 rushing, 11 passing, 2 returns) and had over 2,000 total yards to go along with 57 tackles and a pair of picks on defense.
Northwestern will use Johnson's explosiveness in anyway possible. He'll line up in the slot, as an outside receiver and even in the backfield. Think of a more explosive Kyric McGowan. Offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian showed an affinity for the Wildcat formation in 2020, and Johnson's quarterbacking past could make him a weapon in that role too.
On top of those three new additions, Northwestern also got an unexpected boost when wide receiver Malik Washington announced that he was taking his name out of the transfer portal and returning to the program.
The other piece to this playmaking puzzle was quarterback. The Wildcats lost grad transfer Peyton Ramsey, leaving Andrew Marty and Hunter Johnson, who each started games in 2019, to battle for the starting position.
Enter Hilinski, a former four-star quarterback who spent the last two seasons at South Carolina.
While there isn't much negative you could say about Ramsey's 2020 season, if you had to pick one, his lack of arm strength would be at the top of the list. Ramsey was efficient, completing 61% of his passes, but he rarely pushed the ball downfield. His longest completion of the year came on his 35-yard touchdown toss to Chiaokhiao-Bowman in the Citrus Bowl win over Auburn.
Hilinski, who has an elite arm, doesn't have that problem. Coming out of Orange (Calif.) Lutheran High School in 2019, he was rated as the No. 3 pocket passer and No. 45 overall prospect in the country by Rivals.
Hilinski's ability to accurately throw the ball downfield brings a new element to the Wildcats' offense. He will likely be the favorite in the battle with Johnson and Marty for the starting job, but whomever wins it will have three speedy new targets at his disposal.
In the last month, Northwestern has put the pieces in place to completely overhaul their offense. They added three explosive playmakers on the outside and a quarterback who can stretch a defense with his arm strength.
Bajakian will have no shortage of versatile weapons to work with next season as the Wildcats try to take some pressure off new coordinator Jim O'Neil and the Wildcat defense and become a team that can sometimes win because of, and not in spite of, its offense.
