Northwestern Wildcats Offer Athletic 2027 Rusher From Ohio

The recruit is currently unranked, but he's intriguing nevertheless.

Aug 31, 2024; Evanston, Illinois, USA; Northwestern Wildcats head coach David Braun on the field after a score against the Miami (Oh) Redhawks during the second half at Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

Northwestern's 2025 regular season kicks off in a week on the road against Tulane, but recruiting never stops.

The 'Cats have been working on a few different classes this summer, making offers to members of the 2026, 2027 and 2028 groups of high school recruits. Head coach David Braun has been vocal about his desire to build up Northwestern's program, and he's leaned into searching for high school talent thus far.

Today, the 'Cats offered 2027 running back Devlan Daniel from Cincinnati, Ohio. Wildcat Report's Matthew Shelton reported the news on X.

Northwestern offers 2027 RB Devlan Daniel from Cincinnati (Ohio) Indian Hill.https://t.co/e2y9g8b7JG https://t.co/wWWA8mw3xI

— Matthew Shelton (@M_Shelton33) August 23, 2025

Currently, Daniel is an unranked prospect, according to 247Sports. That doesn't tell the full story; however, and there's an important distinction between an unranked 2026 prospect and an unranked 2027 prospect.

If a player is still unranked in the 2026 class, odds are that's where he will stay. But in the 2027 class, with more time for development, scouting and recruiting, players can certainly "pick up" rankings along the way.

The biggest indicator that something like that may happen is when an unranked player starts to recieve interest from programs that seem like reaches for an unranked recruit. Northwestern isn't necessarily one of those schools, but if it's part of a group in the mix, sometimes that means something.

In Daniel's case, there are some intriguing schools that have already submitted offers. According to 247Sports, both Cincinnati and Miami have already offered the running back.

Cincinnati is less of a surprise, seeing as it's Daniel's home city and, while it is a power conference team, it isn't an elite program. On the other hand, getting an offer from Miami as an unranked recruit means something.

Daniel has solid size for a high schooler, standing at 6-foot and weighing 205 lbs. That's a good frame already, and he has even more time to build on it and become even more of a bruiser running the ball.

However, he may not want to do that. On 247, Daniel is actually not listed as a running back, and the site chooses to designate him as a "ATH" or athlete instead. That would suggest Daniel has some quickness and some shiftiness to his game.