After Northwestern officially named Clayton Thorson its starting quarterback on Thursday, the case can be made without exaggeration that the Wildcats have as much or more raw talent in their backfield as any other team in the Big Ten West.
That might sound absurd for a program coming off its second straight losing season, but consider this: Northwestern and Nebraska are the only two Big Ten West programs to have former four-star recruits starting at both quarterback and running back. While Thorson is still an unknown — though he did beat out another former four-star and a senior for the job — running back Justin Jackson is well on his way to becoming an All-Big Ten contender.