A lot of new faces to look out for on the both sides of the ball.
Northwestern football’s 2025 roster will feature 13 incoming transfers and 20 new additions from the recruiting class of 2025.
SMU transfer quarterback Preston Stone is, of course, the biggest name as the presumptive Week One starter, but there are immediate contributors to be found throughout that list of 33. The ‘Cats are expected to start at least five transfers on the offensive side of the ball, with the potential for that number to grow to seven if Chase Farrell earns the starting wideout role and Alex Lines emerges as the leading option at tight end.
Defensively, each of Northwestern’s five portal additions has a clear pathway to playing time if they are not plug-and-play starters already. Right now, I’d say that Northwestern will feature at least 12 of its 13 transfers against Tulane, and redshirt-freshman center Talan Chandler has an outside chance to earn some tick on the offensive line as well.
I wouldn’t project real playing time for any members of Northwestern’s freshmen class, but as we saw in 2024 with starting tackle reps for true freshman Ezomo Oratokhai, it’s more likely than not that at least one of the 20 will make an impact in 2025.
Here are five guys outside of Northwestern’s QB1 who are poised to make their presence known in 2025:
WR Chase Farrell, transfer from Stanford
This article could have very well been called, “Biggest impact newcomers for NUFB not named Preston Stone or Griffin Wilde.” The former Jackrabbit is a shoo-in at the WR1 slot against Tulane with a resume that includes a sophomore season with 1,154 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns, including a seven-catch, 150-yard performance in Stillwater against then No. 17 Oklahoma State. Wilde’s 150 yards in that game give him the most 2024 receiving yards against FBS opponents out of any returning Northwestern pass catcher, and he played his 11 other games in the FCS.
Stone is very good, but he will need guys to throw to outside of Wilde. Wilde is very good, but he will need guys to garner the attention of opposing defensive backs.
Farrell has a chance to start against Tulane in the slot. He has bona fide track speed, and our brief glimpses of spring practice showed he has the requisite hands to be a reliable option. Northwestern has other wide receivers outside of Farrell who are more likely to fill into that WR2 role (I’m thinking Frank Covey IV and Ricky Ahumaraeze), but Farrell’s quickness gives him a chance to feature heavily early-on as a redshirt-freshman with the potential to fill a quasi-AJ Henning role in short-yardage situations.
OT Xavior Gray, transfer from Liberty
The 6’8 340 lbs senior should anchor a retooled offensive line from the right tackle spot. He made the First Team All-Conference with the Flames in 2024 as a part of the third-ranked rushing offense in the country, and he chose the ‘Cats over offers from Ohio State and Miami. Northwestern fans should feel very lucky to have him.
The Wildcat offensive line was improved in 2024 after a brutal 2023 season that saw Northwestern finish at the bottom of the Big Ten in both sacks and pressures and second-to-last in rushing. Bill O’Boyle’s unit, however, was far from perfect. The 2024 ‘Cats o-line still finished at the bottom half of the conference by just about every metric, including another second-to-last finish in rushing yards.
Gray is a floor-raiser with the potential to elevate to one of the premier right tackles in the conference in his seventh year playing college football. The Northwestern offensive line will not be elite, but a strong year by Gray — along with good showings from returning All-Big Ten honorable mention Caleb Tiernan and transfer additions Martes Lewis and Evan Beerntsen — should give Preston Stone the opportunity to excel in his lone year in Evanston.
LB Yanni Karlaftis, transfer from Purdue
Karlaftis has Xander Mueller-sized shoes to fill in the middle of the Northwestern defense. The versatile linebacker had 112 tackles in his previous two seasons with the Boilermakers, and he has the tools to elevate a group that regressed slightly in 2024 after an excellent 2023 season.
Karlaftis’s best ability for the 2025 ‘Cats may be his availability, as he played all 24 games over the past two seasons for Purdue. The graduate transfer should slot in alongside Mac Uihlein as a day-one starter at the WILL. Like Gray, 12 games from the 2024 and 2023 versions of Karlaftis immediately elevate the floor of the Wildcat defense.
CB Fred Davis II, transfer from Jacksonville State
The 2024 Wildcat cornerback core ended the season looking relatively competent after a baptism by fire through the first six games, and I would say that the 2025 unit looks better on paper than last year’s group did heading into the summer.
Much of that comes down to Davis, who brings a four-star pedigree and ample experience to replace Theran Johnson in the Northwestern secondary. Davis saw some real playing time at Clemson as a true freshman before suffering a nasty ankle injury during his sophomore season that all but ended his time with the Tigers. His 2024 season at Jacksonville State saw him put up PFF numbers right around the likes of Johnson, and he allowed just 142 yards and 16 receptions in 245 coverage snaps over 14 games.
Davis chose the ‘Cats over offers from Missouri, Virginia and, most notably, West Virginia, given that the Mountaineers nabbed CB Garnett Hollis Jr. from Northwestern via the portal in the 2024 offseason. The addition of Davis, paired with the return of Ore Adeyi from injury, gives Northwestern far more depth than it had before the 2024 season, when sophomore Evan Smith made his first career start in Week One against Miami (OH). The ‘Cats now have three defensive backs with starting experience.
Edge Caden O’Rourke, true freshman
It’s hard to project any significant contributions from the Class of 2025, given that Braun hasn’t given true freshmen any real run in his first two years with the program, but O’Rourke is a guy to keep an eye on. He was a high three-star prospect out of high school — Northwestern’s second-rated recruit per 247Sports behind four-star defensive lineman Mason Mayne — and he turned heads in the spring as an early-enrollee. O’Rourke popped in the one-on-one d-line vs. o-line drills during Northwestern’s open practice in April.
Northwestern has solid depth on the edge going into 2025 with Aidan Hubbard and Michael Kilbane returning on the left side and Anto Saka and Richie Hagarty returning on the right. Yet Northwestern has historically run a deep rotation of guys on the defensive line, and Hagarty missed the entire 2024 season due to injury.
O’Rourke chose the ‘Cats over a litany of Big Ten offers that included Minnesota, Michigan State, Illinois, Indiana and Nebraska. I like the Illinois native to make that recruiting loss sting as soon as this fall.