Is Jack Lausch's football career over?
Has Jack Lausch played his last football game for Northwestern?
It’s a fair question to ask because all the signs over the last few months increasingly indicate that the Wildcats’ presumed backup QB may be giving up football for baseball. Look at the evidence.
First, the redshirt junior, who started 10 games for the Wildcats last fall, elected to play baseball this spring. He missed several practices, including the only one open to fans on April 19. The fact that head coach David Braun let a quarterback play another sport and miss reps was telling in and of itself, especially one that he said was battling for a starting job.
Then, just last week, the Wildcats surprised everyone by signing a second transfer quarterback out of the portal in Gavin Frakes. The redshirt junior previously played for New Mexico State in 2022, transferred to Virginia for 2023 and 2024, and had committed to Oklahoma in May.
The move was curious because the Wildcats already picked up their presumed starter out of the portal in grad transfer Preston Stone. Why would they bring in Frakes just to be a backup when they already have a seasoned veteran like Lausch on the roster?
Lausch is currently playing in the Major League Baseball Draft League for the Williamsport Crosscutters. He has already played in eight games and the Crosscutters’ season runs through Sept. 3.
Many experts believe that Lausch will get selected in the Major League Draft later this month. If that happens, you can be sure that he has put on shoulder pads for the last time.
WildcatReport reached out to the Northwestern program about Lausch but they didn’t respond. However, one source said that, while he doesn’t know anything for sure, he doesn’t think that Lausch will play football for the Wildcats this fall.
Add it all up, and it sure sounds like Lausch has traded in his football helmet for a batting helmet. And really, we don’t blame him.
Lausch spent three years in the program and earned his NU degree last month. He knows at this point that, barring an injury to Stone, he will only be a backup for Northwestern. He ran the show for 10 games last year and, while he showed some flashes, he still had the lowest passer rating in the Big Ten and Northwestern finished 128th out of 133 teams in the nation in scoring offense.
That clearly didn’t cut it. So at the end of the season, Braun – who has praised Lausch at every opportunity during his two years in charge – didn’t hesitate to go out and get a veteran former starter to replace him. Lausch no doubt would have gotten occasional reps this year as a Wildcat quarterback, but he played that role in 2022 and 2023 already.
It certainly appears that Lausch may have a brighter future in baseball than he does in football.
Considering that he didn’t pick up a bat for three years, Lausch had a successful 2025 season for the diamond Cats as a centerfielder. He started 43 of 44 games and hit .268, with an OPS of .795. He hit six homers, drove in 28 runs and was the team co-leader in both steals (five) and sacrifice flies (five).
He also led the team in strikeouts with 56. That’s something he needs to work on because in eight games with the Crosscutters, Lausch already has 15 Ks in 27 at-bats.
Regardless, it makes sense for Lausch to take a swing at baseball full-time. He was regarded as a better baseball than football prospect coming out of Chicago (Ill.) Brother Rice in 2022. He devoted three years to football; why not give baseball a fair shot? Plus, there won’t be any 300-pound, angry men chasing him in the outfield.
The football team should be fine. They have Stone as the No. 1, and now Frakes, who started five games for New Mexico State in 2022, to replace Lausch as the No. 2. They also still have inexperienced development QBs like Ryan Boe, Aidan Gray and Marcus Romain. Romain, an athletic, dual-threat type, may be able to handle any Wildcat QB duties in Lausch’s stead.
So if that’s it in terms of his football career, Lausch can hold his head high. He was a last-minute addition to the Wildcats’ 2022 class, a guy whose only other offer came from Indiana State. He wound up playing in 21 games, starting 10, and generating more than 2,000 yards of total offense and 10 touchdowns. Not bad for a two-star prospect.
Lausch is smart, tough and athletic. Those traits should serve him as well between the foul lines as they did the sidelines.
