Fewer than 75 days remain until Northwestern flies to Dublin, Ireland, to kick off its season against Nebraska on August 27. However, the ‘Cats are not completely ready to go yet. Pat Fitzgerald’s staff has ample questions to answer on both sides of the ball before August. Let’s dive into three of those.

Shoring up depth at safety

Losing Brandon Joseph to the transfer portal will undoubtedly hurt the Wildcats in the fall. But Northwestern will still have some experience on the back end. Coco Azema started next to Joseph throughout 2021, and his open-field tackling ability makes him one of the lone bright spots on a long-run defense that surrendered more rushing yards per game than any Power Five school besides Kansas, TCU, Stanford and Virginia.