VanDelaySports.com > MAC Football > MAC Football Recruiting > 2007 MAC Football Recruiting - NIU Huskies

2007 MAC Football Recruiting - NIU Huskies

Overview
The Huskies signed 19 players from seven different states. Ten players are listed on offense and nine are listed for defense. Per Joe Novak tradition, over half of the class comes from Illinois with most of those players being from the Chicago area. Four players are listed as OL with three prospects listed at each of these positions, DB, QB, LB and DL. Along with Illinois, players signed come from the following states; Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Below is a list of NIU football recruits with their listed position, height, weight, hometown and high school.

Chase Carter DB 5-11 180 Wichita, Kansas ( Wichita East/Coffeyville)

Landon Cox WR 6-3 195 Calumet City, Ill. ( Thornton Fractional North)

Patrick George DB 5-11 180 Chicago, Ill. (Gordon Tech)

DeMarcus Grady QB 6-1 195 Grand Rapids, Mich. ( East Grand Rapids)

Chandler Harnish QB 6-3 205 Bluffton, Ind. (Norwell)

Dan Hilbert LB 6-2 200 Plainfi eld, Ill. (Plainfi eld South)

John Hopkins DL 6-3 230 St. Louis, Mo. ( Oakville)

Adam Kiel OL 6-6 273 Wentzville, Mo. (St. Dominic)

Ron Newcomb DL 6-3 229 Wheatfield, Ind. ( Mt. Carmel [ Chicago])

Trevor Olson OL 6-6 260 Richfi eld, Minn. (Richfi eld)

Keith Otis OL 6-4 305 Chicago, Ill. (Hubbard)

Nathan Palmer WR 5-11 170 Elkhart, Ind. ( Elkhart Central)

D.J. Pirkle DL 6-1 295 Frankfort, Ill. ( Lincoln Way East)

Pat Schiller LB 6-2 210 Geneva, Ill. ( Geneva)

Kyle Skarb LB 6-0 210 Hawthorn Woods, Ill. ( Lake Zurich)

Alan Smith TB 5-10 190 Naperville, Ill. ( Neuqua Valley)

Boone Thorgesen QB 6-0 180 Elburn, Ill. (Kaneland)

Scott Wedige OL 6-4 275 Elkhorn, Wisc. ( Elkhorn Area)

Tracy Wilson DB 5-11 205 Harvey, Ill. (St. Francis DeSales)

Quarterbacks
NIU signed three players for this area. Indiana native Chandler Harnish put up huge numbers in high school and has the size (6-3, 205) to contribute right away to this position. Harnish proved to be a dual threat throughout his prep career and accounted for 83 TDs. DeMarcus Grady is the younger brother of Michigan RB Kevin Grady. The Grand Rapids (MI) product is a very good athlete who could end up playing one of several positions before his college career is over. He is a top-40 rated prospect in Michigan. Entering into the season, Boone Thorgesen from Elburn (IL) may have some of the most impressive prep stats you’ll find. The ‘Chicago Tribune’s Offensive POY’ Award winner accounted for over 4,800 total yards and 53 TDs as a senior. He was rated by most recruiting services as a top-50 player in Illinois and could end up as a slot back.

Receivers
Landon Cox earned 2nd team all-state honors and brings good size and athletic skills to the WR position. Cox not only excelled at wide out but also blocked six punts and returned three of those for TDs during his prep career in Illinois. Nathan Palmer is smaller than Cox but he was rated as a top-40 player in Indiana due to his speed & playmaking abilities.

Offensive Line
The Huskies signed four players in this area with Adam Kiel being the headliner. Kiel was rated the #22 player in Missouri this year and is an accomplished basketball player that was nominated for the McDonald’s All-American team. Trevor Olson is a top-20 rated player from Minnesota while Chicago native Keith Otis earned honorable mention all-state honors as a senior. Scott Wedge is from Elkhorn (WI), and like Kiel, he has excelled not only in football but in basketball as well. All four of these prospects have good size, very good agility, and the ability to get much bigger over their careers.

Defensive Line
John Hopkins is the #18 rated player from Missouri and earned first team all-state honors as a senior. He recorded 15 QB sacks as a senior from his DE position. Ron Newcomb is another DE prospect who is from outside of Chicago in Wheatfield (IN). He graduated from Chicago's Mt Carmel High and earned a prestigious Sports Illustrated Prep Player of the Week Award this past November for an outstanding game performance. DJ Pirkle is a true DT/NG who earned first team all-state honors as a senior in Illinois.

Linebackers
All three LB prospects come from Illinois with Pat Schiller the highest rated. Schiller was a first team all-state performer and also rushed for over 1,100 yards as a senior. He brings good size (6-2, 210) to the position and reported 4.5/40 speed. Kyle Skarb not only has excelled in football at LB and RB, but also in basketball and track. Dan Hilbert earned an area 'athlete of the year' award.

Defensive Backs
Patrick George may be the fastest player to enter the MAC this year. The 4.3/40 speedster from Chicago Gordon Tech comes from fast bloodlines – literally. Both of his parents had track and field scholarships from Wichita State. George was recruited to be a shut down corner. Chase Carter is originally from Wichita (KS) and is the lone JUCO of this class. He has two years of eligibility remaining. Tracy Wilson was a star QB who accounted for over 7,000 yards of offense at Harvey (IL) St Francis High. He also excelled at basketball and baseball, but will be a safety prospect entering college.

Specialists
No player marked as specialist is listed within this class.

Final Analysis
In the past four seasons this publication has really liked the NIU classes and had the Huskies rated in the upper quarter of the conference each season. This year’s class doesn’t seem to have the same 'headliners' as those but no one develops talent in the MAC as well as Joe Novak. While on paper this class rates as AVERAGE compared to other MAC programs, don’t be surprised if three or four years from now one or more of these listed prospects become the next Ryan Diem, Doug Free or Garrett Wolfe, and have people saying – "how did that get that guy?"

--> MAC Football Recruiting Homepage