I cannot remember a recruiting class that presented the fans with so much uncertainty. We have a large number of student-athletes in this class, headed by Igwebuike, who enter without a clearly expressed position. Several players are listed at one position in databases but were seemingly recruited to play another (North, Watkins, Harris, et. al.) and several more are listed as athletes. I am sure that the coaches have a much more established idea of where these guys will end up - I'll be anxious to hear what Fitz says later today.

They've pretty much already answered those position questions in the press release:

Northwestern's 2013 Recruiting Class
Player	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Hometown	High School
Matt Alviti	QB	6-0	185	Park Ridge, Ill.	Maine South
Sam Coverdale	OT	6-6	265	Chagrin Falls, Ohio	Kenston
Tom Fuessel	WR	6-4	185	Mokena, Ill.	Lincoln-Way East
Matthew Harris	CB	5-11	180	La Grange Highlands, Ill.	Lyons
Godwin Igwebuike	RB	6-0	190	Pickerington, Ohio	Pickerington North
Eric Joraskie	DT	6-4	260	Mount Carmel, Pa.	Mount Carmel
Blake King	OL	6-3	250	Shorewood, Ill.	Minooka
Tyler Lancaster	DT	6-3	275	Romeoville, Ill.	Plainfield East
Warren Long	RB	6-0	180	Union City, Calif.	James Logan
Marcus McShepard	CB	5-11	185	University Heights, Ohio	Cleveland Heights
Xavier Menifield	RB	5-10	190	Valencia, Calif.	Sierra Canyon
Hunter Niswander	P/PK	6-5	210	Peninsula, Ohio.	Woodridge
Brad North	OL	6-2	280	Allen, Texas	Allen
Kyle Queiro	SAF	6-3	190	Verona, N.J.	Bergen Catholic
Jayme Taylor	SB	6-4	225	The Woodlands, Texas	The Woodlands
Anthony Walker	LB	6-1	200	Miami, Fla.	Monsignor Edward Pace
Brett Walsh	LB	6-1	205	Monrovia, Calif.	Monrovia
Keith Watkins II	CB	5-11	170	Cincinnati, Ohio	Archbishop Moeller
Macan Wilson	WR	6-0	185	Houston, Texas	Kinkaid

2013 Walk-Ons
Player	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Hometown	High School
Graham Bullmore	OL	6-7	275	Kenosha, Wis.	Bradford
Zack Guritz	OL	6-3	285	Darien, Ill.	Hinsdale South

Thanks - obviously I had not seen that. The only big surprise for me is that Lancaster will play defense. I also thought we had heard of some other walk-ons earlier. Given this list, it seems like our needs next year are pretty clear: DE, WR, LB, in that order, and we always need at least one QB. When was the last time we brought in three RBs? I am guessing it was under Walker.

Regarding walk-ons, the NCAA rule is that coaching staffs can announce their intent once the prospect makes a financial commitment to the school (usually a tuition and/or room and board deposit).  These two young men are likely the only ones that met that requirement in time for Signing Day.

The need at DE is pretty clear, but I don't think nearly as pressing at WR or LB.  We should instead focus on taking the best available prospects in what will be an extremely small class.

We need a DE who will literally eat baby pandas for breakfast... a mean beast that causes left tackles to lose their bowel control.

I always project 3-5 years out for the needs of a recruiting class. I assume very few true frosh will even burn shirts and very few RS frosh will break the 2-deep. Looking at our roster and the needs 3,4, and 5 years from now, I think WR and LB are needs for the class of 2014. While I do not give great credibility to the rankings, they do indicate some sense of value. Look both at the numbers and the rankings of our LBs and WRs in last year's class and this year's class. We have a total of three LBs and 5 WRs and none are among our top recruits. I further assume that at most maybe 60% of the recruits ever make the two deep, meaning that you must recruit three players for every two that play a considerable amount of time. Given that, and assuming no injuries, in four years we will have only two LBs and three WR whom we hope we can count on - that indicates need.