Ten Questions: 3. Will Anto Saka be an elite pass rusher?

Third of ten questions that will determine Northwestern’s 2025 season.

Defensive end Anto Saka burst onto the scene in 2024 with 2.5 sacks in his first three games for Northwestern. The four-star edge rusher from the Class of 2022 put his speed on full display, dominating Northwestern’s early games, especially against Duke, where he nearly sealed the game with a strip of a scrambling Maalik Murphy. (Murphy was ruled down and the Blue Devils went on to win in double-overtime.)

That twist of fate against the Blue Devils embodied Saka’s 2024 season. He missed the Eastern Illinois game the following week, then came back against Washington to record a sack. He then went sackless in the next seven games, only getting back on the board against Illinois in the regular-season finale.

Saka hasn’t started a game yet in his Wildcat career and was limited him to 24 or fewer snaps six times last season, and 18 or fewer three times, per PFF. A combination of injuries and fewer reps affected Saka’s impact, as bigger, more physical offensive lines and opponents’ running games limited how often the staff could get the 240-pound pass-rush specialist on the field in Big Ten play.

Still, Saka’s potential is undeniable, and his work in the weight room this offseason has transformed his body. He said at Big Ten Media Days last week that he’s added around 15 pounds of muscle, bulking up to 255 pounds in the hope of staying on the field as an every-down defensive end.

“I know if I’m going to help this team to the best of my ability, that being available on first and second down more consistently has to be a point of emphasis for me,” Saka said last week. “So I made it a goal to get my weight up and be more physical.”

If he can maintain his speed at that size, the offseason projections from outlets like The Athletic that put him towards the end of the first round of the NFL Draft won’t be far-fetched.

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Saka could push NU’s pass rush over the top

Northwestern’s pass rush was mediocre last season. The Wildcats finished 10th in the Big Ten and 74th nationally with 23 sacks as a team.

After a three-player committee of Aidan Hubbard (6 sacks), Saka (5.5) and linebacker Xander Mueller (5) all recorded 5+ sacks in 2023, only Hubbard reached that mark in 2024, when he finished with 6. Saka had the next-most with 3.5, and the defense fell from No. 52 to No. 78 in the FBS rankings.

If Saka can hit his ceiling this season as a disruptive playmaker, one who can become the focus of an offense’s blocking scheme and divert attention away from other edge-rushing talents like Hubbard and Richie Hagarty, the Wildcats could become an elite pass-rushing team.

Surprisingly, the last Wildcat to rack up more than 6 sacks in a season was all-time career sack leader Joe Gaziano, with 9 in 2019. The Wildcats have had NFL talent on their defensive line in recent years with Adetomiwa Adebawore, who was a fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft. But he often moved inside to tackle in college didn’t post big sack numbers, posting only 4.5 sacks in 2021 and 5 in 2022.

Following in Odenigbo’s footsteps

So far, Saka’s career has mirrored that of Ifeadi Odenigbo. Both came in as four-star talents who were undersized. Both had to gain weight over the course of their first three years to turn into every-down DEs and take their game to the next level for their fourth season.

After posting eight combined sacks in 2014 and 2015, Odenigbo had a breakout final season in 2016, setting the Northwestern single-season sack record with 10. He was selected in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings, and played seven years in the league.

The Wildcats wouldn’t mind if Saka has the same type of final season that Odenigbo did. But even if he doesn’t, he has the opportunity to lead the defense into uncharted waters.

If Hubbard maintains or exceeds his mark of six sacks from the past two seasons, and Saka ascends to meet him at 6+, it will be the first time Northwestern has had two players with six or more sacks in the same season since the NCAA started officially tracking sacks in 2000.

Northwestern has gone through a defensive roller coaster in the past five seasons under four different coordinators — from Mike Hankwitz’s dominant unit in his swan song in 2020, to the dark days of Jim O’Neil in 2021-22, to a resurgence under David Braun in 2023, to a mixed bag with Tim McGarigle in 2024.

If the Wildcats want to get back to an upward trajectory, getting Saka to realize his full potential and generating elite pass-rushing production will be crucial.