National Signing Day: Northwestern Football inks largest recruiting class of the David Braun-era

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Northwestern football officially locked in the biggest recruiting class of the David Braun-era on Wednesday, signing 21 members of the Class of 2026 in a drama-free National Signing Day.

The ‘Cats succeeded in inking all 20 of their public commitments and added a surprise 21st recruit in defensive lineman Tre Hoskins.

“A tremendous amount of work went into this group,” said Braun in his Signing Day press conference. “I’m excited about this group’s talent, excited about their growth potential, but most importantly, excited about the quality, not just of character, but the football character of this group.”

Per 247Sports, the Class of 2026 is the highest ranked group in Braun’s three-year tenure as Northwestern’s head coach at 54th in the nation and 14th in the Big Ten. It also features Braun’s first consensus four-star recruit in wide receiver Jaden McDuffie, and highly touted three-star offensive tackle Jack Fuchs, who decommitted from Penn State after Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin was fired in the wake of a 22-21 upset loss to Braun’s Wildcats.

“Let’s go compete in this new landscape,” said Braun. “We have one young man on this list that was a Penn State commit that flipped to Northwestern…We were in the thick of it with one young man [where] it came down to us, Georgia Tech, Oregon and Texas A&M.”

Braun mentioned Northwestern general manager Christian Sarkisian within the first 30 seconds of his his opening remarks Wednesday evening, thanking the former Cincinnati Bengals scout for his role in guiding the ’Cats through that “new landscape.”

“This time last year, we still had a lot of work to do in terms of filling out our structure and and how we needed to operate in the new landscape of college football,” said Braun. “Having Christian Sarkisian on board and him feeling like he’s got a full staff operating in this space…We definitely have fine-tuned a lot of things.”

The press conference provided some clarity into Sarkisian’s role as the first-ever general manager in school history. A press release announcing the hiring of Sarkisian in May stated that he would oversee “the operational functions related to the NCAA House settlement” and “all aspects of salary cap management,” but the specifics of his role have been a little unclear.

The Class of 2026 is the first in college football history that is eligible to be paid for their commitments after the passage of the NCAA House Settlement this summer, which enables schools to share athletics revenue with their student-athletes.

Braun told reporters that Sarkisian was crucial in navigating “the finer details of contract language and revenue share,” while also helping to build out a long-term strategic plan.

Offensive line was a key point of emphasis for Braun and Sarkisian as Northwestern’s largest recruiting class since 2003 includes six new additions to the Wildcat trenches. It’s a safe bet that those six killed at least 20 combined plates at their respective Thanksgiving dinners, with an average height of over 6-foot-6 and an average weight of 268 pounds.

“There’s a lot of length there’s a lot of athleticism there’s a lot of growth potential, but there’s a lot of young men that you wouldn’t call a finished product,” said Braun of his new offensive linemen.

“This group is reflective of our commitment to being a developmental program with the offensive line and we ultimately have to get off the cycle of relying on transfers in that space.”

Braun said that he would still be looking to the transfer portal to shore up the Northwestern offensive line for the 2026 season. Of the five starters up front in 2025, all but redshirt freshman left guard Ezomo Oratokhai will be out of eligibility after Northwestern’s bowl game.

To quickly spotlight a few recruits of interest:

Johnny O’Brien

With Preston Stone being out of eligibility after the Wildcats’ bowl game, Northwestern’s quarterback room adds another guy into the mix in three-star recruit O’Brien from nearby Palatine, IL. The QB was a two-sport star at his high school (Fremd), winning the Daily Herald’s 2024 Cook County Player of the Year award in both football and baseball. O’Brien led his high school team to a program-record 11 wins in his senior season, alongside a state semifinal appearance (the first ever for Fremd in football).

Braun mentioned that O’Brien garnered interest from a few SEC schools after committing to Northwestern before his senior season. There’s a real chance the kid from Palatine is the long term answer for the ‘Cats at quarterback.

Jaden McDuffie

McDuffie comes in as Braun’s highest-ever rated recruit. The four-star wide receiver out of Edgewater, MD stands at a whopping 6-foot-3. In his senior season at South River high school, McDuffie hauled in 58 passes for a school-record 1,338 receiving yards and 21 touchdowns as he garnered First Team All-State honors. He wasn’t just a receiver in high school, as he recorded five interceptions, 31 tackles, three forced fumbles, two tackles for loss and 12 pass breakups at cornerback. McDuffie also has succeeded in basketball as he’s ranked the No. 3 combo guard in Maryland. McDuffie could start in year one.

Jack Fuchs

While Northwestern will look to the portal for immediate reinforcements in the trenches, how about some high-profile recruits. Fuchs was originally committed to Penn State, but after James Franklin was fired, he decommitted and then switched to Northwestern. The consensus three-star recruit from Hendersonville, TN is ranked as the No. 9 prospect in the Nashville area on the Tennesseean’s Dandy Dozen List and has the football pedigree in his family with his dad, Scott, coaching the Tennessee Titans’ offensive line. The No. 476 player in the 2026 class per Rivals Industry chose NU over other big football schools, including the previously mentioned Penn State and also Indiana. Fuchs may see playing time in year one, as he has both the football background to back it up and the size: 6-foot-8, 290 pounds.

Owen Fors

Labeled as a four-star recruit and the No. 24 IOL in the 2026 class by 247sports, Fors has the ideal build of an interior offensive lineman with his 6-foot-4, 295 pound frame. The 2025 Army All-American and two-time Illinois First Team All-State honoree chose to come play in Evanston over other high-profile football schools like Illinois and Cincinnati. With Fuchs above and Fors here, the path to building the offensive line of the future starts now.

The Rest of the class

OL Leighton Burbach

DL Nick Costa

SAF Gabe Davis-Ray

DL Ronald Derrick III

OL Hayden Flavin

DL Tre Hoskins

OL Owen Jakubczak

LB Amare Jordan

DL Calvin Lorek

TE Tom McGlinchey

OL Jacob Miller

LB Max Mohrig

RB Sean Morris II

WR Keaton Reinke

K Noah Sur

CB Jaden Vaughn

DL Nick Zalewski

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