Four takeaways from Northwestern football’s open practice

There was a lot to learn from NUFB’s morning on the lake.

Northwestern football took the field on Saturday morning for open practice at Martin Stadium in front of a strong contingent of Wildcat faithful in the West bleachers.

The ‘Cats ran through position drills and some seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 reps — in addition to scattered one-on-one action between the lines and wide receivers and defensive backs.

Head coach David Braun gave the quote of the day during his media availability after practice. “I’m abundantly confident,” he said, “that this group is in a much better spot today than it was a year ago.”

Braun set the expectations for the day pretty clearly from the jump. “If you expect any innovation or creativity to be shown out here today, you’re kidding yourself,” he said. “We basically went back to the first day, two days of install in practice today.”

Still, there was a lot to learn from Northwestern’s first and only open practice of the spring. We’re going to wring out every bit of football we can before the ‘Cats take the field against Tulane on Aug. 30.

Here are four takeaways from Northwestern football’s morning by the lake.

Preston Stone is the real deal

David Braun has waited until the morning of opening day to announce his starting quarterback in each of his first two seasons as Northwestern’s head coach. That will not be the case in year three.

“I anticipate us all being on the same page of who our starting quarterback is very early in fall camp,” said Braun with a chuckle addressing the media after practice.

That starting quarterback will of course be SMU graduate transfer Preston Stone.

Stone ran with the first unit in all team drills and has already showed some of the leadership chops that made him such a popular teammate in Dallas. The Texas native led Northwestern out in warmups to start the day — no surprise at all given that offensive coordinator Zach Lujan said he was the first elected captain to lead one of 10 offseason workout groups at Northwestern’s Pro Day one month ago.

Stone impressed on the field as well. He delivered a mouth-watering deep ball to South Dakota State transfer (and presumptive WR1) Griffin Wilde during position drills, and showcased his arm talent throughout seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 team action. In sevens, Stone elicited a pop from the sideline with a ridiculous throw on a scramble drill – rolling out to the right, he dropped the ball over Joseph Himon’s back shoulder between two defenders about 25 yards downfield.

“Preston’s ability to throw guys like Ricky [Ahumaraeze] open has been something that has stood out with his accuracy,” Braun said.

Stone wasn’t perfect — one of his first throws in 11-on-11 was a deep ball that nearly picked off by Josh Fussell (who was excellent yesterday, more on him later) — but any criticism here feels like picking nits.

Aside from Stone, early enrollee Marcus Romain stood out. His athleticism is eye-catching and, while inconsistent at times and visibly still very raw, Romain possesses many traits that are encouraging signs for the future of Northwestern’s quarterback room. The former three-star recruit led Northwestern’s second unit for almost the entirety of practice — Aidan Gray put together some really solid reps towards the end of the morning — and found room to showcase his track speed with a rushing touchdown in 11-on-11 action.

Ricky Ahumaraeze and Frank Covey IV taking first team reps

With Calvin Johnson II in the portal and Bryce Kirtz and A.J. Henning graduating, the starting wide receiver room for the ‘Cats will be fresh and new. Braun made a point after practice to note that he does NOT view wideout as a position of need.

Leading this group is South Dakota State transfer Griffin Wilde, who played under offensive coordinator Zach Lujan during his freshman season in Brookings.

“It’s very comfortable coming in, just being familiar with stuff,” said Wilde after practice.

Alongside the former Jackrabbit was Ricky Ahumaraeze. After going down in Week 1 of 2024 with injury, Ahumaraeze looked very promising and poised in the open practice. At 6’4, Ahumaraeze’s frame makes him an especially intriguing option for Stone.

As Braun put it, “Ricky is one of those guys that he’s covered, but is he really covered?”

Taking the first team slot receiver reps was Frank Covey IV. Covey IV showed flashes last season, amassing 31 yards on four catches in Northwestern’s Week 1 win over Miami (OH), but was unable to consistently see the field due to nagging injuries.

Stanford transfer Chase Farrell also stood out, but the redshirt freshman primarily ran with the second team. Farrell was being used in a pseudo-A.J. Henning role: excelling with quick screen passes and short-route man beaters with his fluid route-running. Freshman Drew Wagner excelled in the slot alongside Farell.

Both Wagner and Farrell took punt return reps to begin the day as well. Wagner ran a punt back 72-yards for a touchdown last season against Iowa, and Farrell ran a 10.38 100m dash in high school, which would have been good for seventh at last year’s Big Ten track and field championships. For the track nerds out there, Farrell’s 10.38 wasn’t wind legal, but he has a legal 10.42 to his name as well, which would also have been good for second. In summary, stupid fast.

Expect those two to give opposing special teams units some problems.

Josh Fussell and Damon Walters are going to be really good

Fussell and Walters were everywhere.

In the seven-on-seven’s, the redshirt freshman secondary duo looked like the two best players on the field. Both had acrobatic pass breakups against Stone, with Walters’ diving deflection of a sideline pass intended for tight end Hunter Welcing serving as one of the best few plays of the day.

Walters appeared in 10 games a season ago — earning an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention — and Fussell played in all 12. This year, look for the two defensive backs to be on the field from the first snap of the season.

Redshirt junior cornerback Ore Adeyi did not dress for practice, but all indications are that he will be ready to go against Tulane. With Adeyi healthy, the additions of Fred Davis and An’Darrius Coffey and the returns of Robert Fitzgerald and Braden Turner, the Northwestern secondary seems to be in a good spot for the near future — despite losing starters Theran Johnson, Devin Turner and Coco Azema this offseason.

The trenches

The highlight of the day was the one-on-one drills between the offensive and defensive lines. Edge rusher Anto Saka convincingly won his rep against projected starting left tackle Caleb Tiernan. Michael Kilbane also stood out with a strong rep of his own. Early enrollee Caden O’Rourke won his rep as well, something to look forward to for the future. On the other hand, Evan Beernsten and Ezomo Oratokhai had tremendously strong showings in their blocking reps.

Braun noted that freshman defensive lineman Callen Campbell had impressed throughout the spring as well.

Freshman Jace Borcherding, however, stole the show with a monstrous pancake block that fired up the rest of his offensive line unit. The former preferred walk-on will be really hard to keep off the field if he continues to put up reps like that.

It is of note that redshirt sophomore Deuce McGuire was taking first team reps on the offensive line, but it’s still too early to jump to any conclusions there.