Northwestern Football Post Season Review: Offense

Clayton Thorson's stats were vastly improved from his freshman season,
 but he has a few key areas he needs to work o

Quarterback: Clayton Thorson had a record setting season. He set the school record for touchdown passes (22) and also improved his yardage totals. While all these are fine and dandy, Thorson needs to work on two key areas. These would be his accuracy and how he handles pressure. Thorson's throws are consistently low which prevent his receivers from running after the catch. This really slows down the offense and can kill drives. Thorson also needs to work on leaving the pocket when he feels pressure. He needs improve upon what he does when he (every once in a while) actually leaves the pocket, as well. He tends to just throw it away. Instead, he should work on setting his feet again and look to throw down field.

Justin Jackson will continue tearing up the
 Northwestern rushing records

Running Back:  Justin Jackson is the best player on the team and it's not even close. That is all there is to say about the running back position this year. Jackson will look to solidify his place as the greatest running back in Northwestern history and further his case for the greatest player in Northwestern history.










Wide Receiver: Just like at running back, one player carried the wide receiver position this year. That would be Austin Carr. Carr had over 1200 yards and 12 touchdowns, to top it all off he was finalist for the Biletnikoff Award (awarded to the nation's top receiver). Lost in the shadows of Carr's monstrous season were some talented, but certainly not complete receivers. Solomon Vault showed promise as a deep threat. He made some very impressive, long touchdown catches. Vault's most impressive quality; however, was his blocking. Northwestern has, in my opinion, always struggled to get quality blocking from its wide outs. Vault (and Bennett Skowronek, for that matter) blocked tremendously all season long. Macan Wilson will be crucial to Northwestern's success next season. Wilson had some key catches, most notably on 4th & 3, in the bowl game.Wilson reminds me of Carr and he will need to play like Carr next season.
Superback: Garrett Dickerson is underrated. He was Thorson's favorite short yardage and red zone target (besides Carr obviously). Dickerson has tremendous speed for someone his size, he just needs Thorson to hit him in stride more often. I think Dickerson will have a huge year next year, as Thorson improves Dickerson's numbers can only go up.
Offensive Line: Northwestern's O-Line struggled at times this year (Illinois State), but they were reliable for the most part. Pass protection was more of a struggle than run blocking, but with 4 out of 5 starters returning the unit will continue to jell and get better.