Credit Northwestern football coach David Braun, he understands what Big Ten Media Days are all about- marketing and promotion. It’s an event where you bring your best and brightest; the faces of your program. Yesterday saw the announcement of Big Ten Media Days player attendees, and this is who will be representing the Northwestern football program:
redshirt-junior running back Joseph Himon II, redshirt-junior defensive lineman Anto Saka and graduate quarterback Preston Stone.
Braun made the perfect selections, in that he’s bringing his QB1, the back who will be the focal point of the Northwestern offense and the team’s most talented overall player, regardless of position. If you look at what the betting app experts are saying about the Cats prospects this season, well, they are not very bullish. Most futures bets on Northwestern total wins, for this upcoming season, are around over/under 4; which is where they finished up last.
NU went 4-8 in 2024, and apparently the consumer sentiment believes they’ll have a similar finish this season.
Anto Saka
In addition to being the team’s, for lack of a better word, best player, Saka is also the team’s top NFL Draft prospect. If you peruse NFL mock drafts on the internet, you’ll often see Saka’s name appearing somewhere in the late first round.
Tim McGarigle, the Wildcats’ defensive coordinator, has a great centerpiece to build around in Saka, who will likely take on the same leadership role that linebacker Xander Mueller had the past couple seasons.
“Coach McGarigle has been a huge part of our scheme the past four years that I’ve been here,” Mueller said in an exclusive conversation with RG. “He’s helped the defensive coordinators I’ve had in the past making these calls, especially up front in the run game stuff.”
It will be interesting to see how McGarigle utilizes Saka this season.
As we profiled over at USA Today’s Draft Wire:
“He is a tad light for a NFL edge though, at 247 pounds. He’s really more of a speed rusher, who’s going to beat opposing blockers with quickness, and a great first step, instead of simply over-powering them.”
You can see where we slotted him in our mock draft, over at this link.
Preston Stone
At any level of football, the starting quarterback is the face of franchise. So you got to bring him to Media Days. Although he lost his starting gig at Southern Methodist University last year, 2023 was truly epic for Stone. Yes, two seasons ago, Stone led SMU to a 10-2 record while throwing for 3,197 yards, with 206 completions in 344 pass attempts.
He had a very impressive 161.3 passer rating, on 9.3 yards per attempt, with 28 touchdown passes against just six interceptions. His statistics from that season were extremely stellar and you can see why the Northwestern football program brought him in via the transfer portal.
Joseph Himon II
Given the way last year’s offense went, it’s safe to say that this year’s Northwestern football team will have a run-first approach on offense. After featuring in all 12 games last season, starting in two of them, it is now Himon’s turn to be the feature back.
As a redshirt sophomore last season he carried 52 times for 257 yards (4.9 ypc) and two touchdowns.
He also won All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honors as a kick returner, as he finished the season ranked third in the league in kick return yardage.
No Real Reason to Have Big Ten Media Days in Vegas
Finally, with the extreme overexpansion of the conference, 2025 Big Ten Football Media Days will be a three-day format, instead of one or two. It will be staged at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, and all I can ask is why?
There is no Big Ten school in Nevada or the Vegas area. UCLA and USC don’t count. Los Angeles and Las Vegas are 272 miles apart; and a four hour drive.
Also, who wants to go any desert location in July anyway?
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter