Back-to-back years without a four-star recruit doesn't mean Northwestern has slipped in recruiting.
If you're looking for four-star recruits, you won't find any. If you're looking for those local under-the-radar prospects or the highly rated Chicago-area players that picked Northwestern over other national powers, you won't find any. Pat Fitzgerald didn't find a stud defensive end prospect like Ifeadi Odenigbo projected to be in 2012. Nor did he nab a Matt Alviti, like he did in 2013. Obviously, this year's coup has nothing on the 2014 quartet of four-stars, Parrker Westphal, Clayton Thorson, Justin Jackson and Garrett Dickerson.