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Wisconsin Football: Individual Players to Watch vs. Northwestern

By Noah Seligman

EVANSTON, IL - NOVEMBER 05: The offense for the Wisconsin Badgers prepares to take on the defense of the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on November 5, 2016 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
EVANSTON, IL - NOVEMBER 05: The offense for the Wisconsin Badgers prepares to take on the defense of the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on November 5, 2016 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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EVANSTON, IL – SEPTEMBER 02: Clayton Thorson
EVANSTON, IL – SEPTEMBER 02: Clayton Thorson /

Clayton Thorson, QB Northwestern

Northwestern’s redshirt junior quarterback Clayton Thorson may turn himself into a serious NFL prospect this year and next.  He has the desired size standing 6-feet-4-inches tall and 225 pounds.

With those metrics, you could be a law clerk and never played a snap of football and some anonymous scout would hype you as a late round steal.

In 2016, his 3,182 passing yards was good for fourth in the Big Ten.  His completion percentage (58.6 percent) was fifth in the conference.  Thorson’s 280 completions and 478 attempts were good for second best in the Big Ten.  His rushing numbers (97 attempts 98 yards) indicate he is not a real threat on the ground.

This season, Thorson is averaging 280.7 passing yards per game, best in the Big Ten.  He’s upped his completion percentage to 63.9 percent thus far in 2017.  However, he is just seventh in the Big Ten in passing efficiency.  Wisconsin’s Alex Hornibrook leads that category.

So the Wisconsin secondary will have a big challenge from Thorson and the Northwestern passing attack.  The Badgers had the luxury of facing a run-first first-time starter against BYU in its last outing.  No such courtesy is extended this week.

Given how strong the Wisconsin rushing defense is (3.1 yards allowed per carry), the Wildcats will have to lean on Thorson’s right arm.