Northwestern freshmen to watch in 2020

Predicting which freshmen will make an impact for Northwestern has always been a crapshoot.

In the past, head coach Pat Fitzgerald wanted to redshirt as many freshmen as he could, figuring that they'll be better as 23-year-old, fifth-year seniors than they would be as 18-year-old true freshmen. So only a handful of freshmen, who were ready to contribute in Week 1, saw the field.

Then, in 2018, the redshirt rules changed. Freshmen could retain their redshirts if they played in no more than four games. So Fitzgerald used a lot of players for four games or less to enable them to get their feet wet in college football while still preserving that all-important fifth year.

This season, all bets are off. In this bizarre, COVID-dominated landscape, everyone can retain this year of eligibility -- from true freshmen to fifth-year seniors -- regardless of how many games they play. That makes the predicting business even more confusing.

Fitzgerald said last week that Northwestern is "going to play everybody." We doubt he meant that literally, but the point is that the floodgates have opened and that we may see more first-year players than ever see playing time in 2020.

However, we have to temper the liberal rules with the fact that this is a veteran, experienced Northwestern team we're talking about, with some 17 returning starters. It won't be easy for any true or redshirt freshman to crack the lineup.

So we're focusing on freshmen who have a chance to make an impact this season. Defining a player's impact varies, but in our minds it's seeing significant playing time, making plays and/or appearing on the two-deep.

This year, in light of the new redshirt rules, we're going to identify six rookies, instead of the customary five, and they can be either true or redshirt freshman.

Here they are, in alphabetical order:

We didn't get to see much of Azema at safety last year, but we saw what kind of an athlete he is in the season-ending win over Illinois. Pressed into duty at running back because of injuries, Azema ran for 123 yards and a touchdown on just seven carries. Azema's biggest problem is that he's a safety behind senior starters J.R. Pace and Travis Whillock. However, he is just too talented stay on the sidelines. Coaches will find ways to get him onto the field.

It's not often Northwestern gets a true freshman lineman who is ready-made for Big Ten competition, but they've got one this year in Butler. It starts with his size: 6-foot-2 and 316 pounds. He also played against some of the best competition in the country every day at IMG Academy for the last two years and was good enough to earn offers from Notre Dame, Oregon and USC before committing to Vanderbilt, and then flipping to NU. Expect Butler to get some PT at defensive tackle, where position coach Marty Long likes to rotate guys to keep them fresh.

Rashawn Slater's decision to opt out of the 2020 season may have opened the door for Franks to earn the starting job at left tackle, where he is battling sophomore Payne He'bert. Franks was a big get in the 2019 class, a three-star prospect with more than 30 offers who originally committed to Penn State before the Wildcats flipped him. He has prototypical size for a tackle at 6-foot-6 and 305 pounds, with long arms and good feet. He also has NFL bloodlines. After a year of development, Franks could be ready for prime time.

We expect new offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian to use plenty of two tight-end sets, so Gordon should get a shot at ample playing time this season. The 6-foot-5, 240-pound Houstonian played in just two games last season, but has the size and athleticism to be a contributor alongside senior Trey Pugh and grad transfer John Raine. The position badly needs an upgrade after Northwestern tight ends totaled just seven catches in all of 2019.

We've been hearing good things about Heard since he arrived in Evanston as an early enrollee in January of 2019. Heard played in just one game last year but could see playing time as a third corner or possible nickelback in 2020. A former high school quarterback, Heard is an athletic, physical corner who has turned heads in practice and could push Cameron Ruiz for the starting job.

Like Patrick Ward and Slater before him, the 6-foot-4, 294-pound Skoronski may have what it has what it takes to play on the offensive line as a true freshman. A strong and athletic four-star prospect from local power Park Ridge Maine South, Skoronski chose NU over offers from Notre Dame and Michigan, among others. We expect him to be on the two-deep at guard or center, and the recent medical retirement of guard Sam Stovall's could enable Skoronski to see the field sooner than expected.