Stellar WR prospect Griffin Wilde to face former team in week 1

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College football scheduling is always done ahead of time; far ahead of time. Week one of the 2026 season sees at least one game with major #narratives due to a wild coincidence in the scheduling department. Wide receiver Griffin Wilde is Northwestern's best player om offense.

Named third-team All-Big Ten last season and 2026 Biletnikoff Award Watch List this preseason, he's arguably the Wildcats' top NFL Draft prospect.

Wilde and the rest of his NU teammates will take on the South Dakota State Jackrabbits in the season opener on Saturday night. It just so happens that Wilde spent his first two seasons at South Dakota State, helping the Jackrabbits win a FCS national championship in 2023.

So this game, which was scheduled in 2018, is very special for Wilde.

“I know how good they are," Wilde said of his former team, in an interview with Draft Wire and one other media member. "Those guys are really good at football, so it’s going to be a good challenge. It’s going to be really fun to see those guys again.”

During his weekly Monday press conference, Northwestern head coach David Braun described the Jackrabbits as having "a championship culture" and the ability to "challenge you in all three phases."

We asked Wilde to expound upon what Braun said about his former school.

"They recruit kids that are used to winning and want to win football games and they expect to win a national championship every year," Wilde said of SDSU.

"They've earned that right. They've done an unbelievable job going back-to-back a couple years ago and then just continuing to be the top of the pack in the FCS."

So although this is a P4 versus FCS matchup, don't assume the result will be this weekend just yet.

"They know what they need to do," Wilde said. "They know how to play. They have a bunch of different coverages. They hide it well. They do all this stuff to maybe throw the receivers off, the quarterback off.

"You just got to be ready for everything.”

Wilde projects as a day three prospect in the draft as he landed a spot on the 2027 Senior Bowl Top 300 List. The 2025 GameAbove Sports Bowl MVP, he now has a historical award on his CV.

The Detroit based bowl game is now defunct, so Wilde is guaranteed to be the final MVP in the bowl game's history. Wilde was a key component of Northwestern's offense last season, and he's a smart route technician with good size, and decent speed. Maybe he can play his way above his round 4-6 draft grade, under the tutelage of NU's new Offensive Coordinator and offseason home run hire, Chip Kelly.

"Obviously a very smart guy," Wilde said of Kelly, who is arguably the true star of this Northwestern football team.

"Knows everything, and he's going to want things done a certain way. And his way is the right way, because he's Chip Kelly, he knows what he's doing."

Very few colleges have a coordinator with NFL head coaching experience, and Kelly previously led two teams, the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers.

"He knows the ins and outs of football," Wilde continued.

"A lot smarter than me, a lot smarter than a lot of the guys on the team, so when he says he wants it one way, if you run it the way he wants it, it's going to be a good play."

This article originally appeared on Draft Wire: Stellar WR prospect Griffin Wilde to face former team in week 1

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