Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 1 game
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 34-18vs South Dakota State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 1 tackles |
| Total | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 |
#5
Dominic Kirks
Two years at Ohio State got Dominic Kirks six games, two tackles, and seventeen defensive snaps in 2025 — a top-165 recruit stuck behind a wall of NFL-bound ends. The day after the Buckeyes lost to Miami in the Playoff, he hit the portal. Now he's at Northwestern, where the EDGE job is actually open.
6′5″ · 275 lb · Cleveland, OH · Riverside
Transferred Ohio State → Northwestern for 2026
The numbers
0
sacks · 2026
1 tackles
1 game into 2026 so far -- Best game: 1 tackles, vs South Dakota State
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Two years at Ohio State got Dominic Kirks six games, two tackles, and seventeen defensive snaps in 2025 — a top-165 recruit stuck behind a wall of NFL-bound ends. The day after the Buckeyes lost to Miami in the Playoff, he hit the portal. Now he's at Northwestern, where the EDGE job is actually open.
- Signed as a 4-star recruit to Ohio State in 2024.
- Transferred from Ohio State to Northwestern in 2026.
Two years at Ohio State got Dominic Kirks six games, two tackles, and seventeen defensive snaps in 2025 — a top-165 recruit stuck behind a wall of NFL-bound ends. The day after the Buckeyes lost to Miami in the Playoff, he hit the portal. Now he's at Northwestern, where the EDGE job is actually open.
The story isn't whether the talent was real — at 6-foot-4, 267 pounds, a four-star ranked the 33rd-best lineman in his class, with 11 sacks and 17 TFLs as a Riverside senior, it always was. The story is opportunity. In Columbus he was a developmental redshirt, then a rotation afterthought: six total appearances across two seasons and 17 snaps in 2025 buried under one of the deepest D-lines in the country. Northwestern is the inverse of that math. Aidan Hubbard left for the Seahawks and Anto Saka transferred to Texas A&M, and Inside NU has Kirks competing with UCF transfer Jamaal Johnson and sophomore Callen Campbell for the second starting EDGE spot opposite All-Big Ten honorable mention Michael Kilbane.
The Chip Kelly wrinkle gives it a familiar face — Kelly, Ohio State's 2023-24 offensive coordinator, is now the Wildcats' OC, so Kirks lands in Evanston with someone who watched him develop. He arrives with three years of eligibility, the most valuable thing a buried prospect can carry into a rebuild. The fan read on this one is patient rather than breathless; this is a bet on frame and pedigree, not a proven producer.
Which is exactly the question the Wildcat boards are sitting on. Pedigree doesn't tackle anybody, and Kirks has yet to put real reps on tape. The 2026 stake is simple and unavoidable: get the job, and four-star talent finally meets four-star snaps.
How he plays
A long-levered 6-foot-4, 267-pound edge whose recruiting profile read as positional clay — versatile enough to set the edge or slide inside to a heavy 3-tech if he kept adding mass, which Ohio State had him doing through a redshirt year. With no 2025 snap data to grade (17 defensive snaps, no sacks or TFLs logged), the read is projection: high-school production (11 sacks, 17 TFLs as a senior) points to first-step burst and a motor off the edge, while the bulk-up arc suggests a power-rusher who wins with length and leverage more than bend. Whether the get-off survives a jump in competition is the open question — there's no percentile sample yet, just the frame and the flashes.
src
- Eleven Warriors — Former Ohio State DE Dominic Kirks Transfers to Northwestern
- On3 / Wildcat Report — Ohio State transfer DE Dominic Kirks commits to Northwestern
- Inside NU — Where does Northwestern's roster stand after the transfer portal?
- Buckeye Huddle — 2024 Ohio State Freshman Class Report: Dominic Kirks
The story
The story isn't whether the talent was real — at 6-foot-4, 267 pounds, a four-star ranked the 33rd-best lineman in his class, with 11 sacks and 17 TFLs as a Riverside senior, it always was. The story is opportunity. In Columbus he was a developmental redshirt, then a rotation afterthought: six total appearances across two seasons and 17 snaps in 2025 buried under one of the deepest D-lines in the country. Northwestern is the inverse of that math. Aidan Hubbard left for the Seahawks and Anto Saka transferred to Texas A&M, and Inside NU has Kirks competing with UCF transfer Jamaal Johnson and sophomore Callen Campbell for the second starting EDGE spot opposite All-Big Ten honorable mention Michael Kilbane.
The Chip Kelly wrinkle gives it a familiar face — Kelly, Ohio State's 2023-24 offensive coordinator, is now the Wildcats' OC, so Kirks lands in Evanston with someone who watched him develop. He arrives with three years of eligibility, the most valuable thing a buried prospect can carry into a rebuild. The fan read on this one is patient rather than breathless; this is a bet on frame and pedigree, not a proven producer.
Which is exactly the question the Wildcat boards are sitting on. Pedigree doesn't tackle anybody, and Kirks has yet to put real reps on tape. The 2026 stake is simple and unavoidable: get the job, and four-star talent finally meets four-star snaps.
SOURCES
- Eleven Warriors — Former Ohio State DE Dominic Kirks Transfers to Northwestern
- On3 / Wildcat Report — Ohio State transfer DE Dominic Kirks commits to Northwestern
- Inside NU — Where does Northwestern's roster stand after the transfer portal?
- Buckeye Huddle — 2024 Ohio State Freshman Class Report: Dominic Kirks
His career
A long-levered 6-foot-4, 267-pound edge whose recruiting profile read as positional clay — versatile enough to set the edge or slide inside to a heavy 3-tech if he kept adding mass, which Ohio State had him doing through a redshirt year. With no 2025 snap data to grade (17 defensive snaps, no sacks or TFLs logged), the read is projection: high-school production (11 sacks, 17 TFLs as a senior) points to first-step burst and a motor off the edge, while the bulk-up arc suggests a power-rusher who wins with length and leverage more than bend. Whether the get-off survives a jump in competition is the open question — there's no percentile sample yet, just the frame and the flashes.
Written by our staff.
2024
- Signed with Ohio State4-star out of Riverside
2026
- Entered the portal
- Entered the portal
- Entered the portal
Career arc
HS
Recruit
★★★★
CFB
College
2 teams
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
1 coach2024–2026
Northwestern
Played his entire career under David Braun.
Where He Ended Up · Transfer
Transferred to Northwestern
2025Ohio State
2026Northwestern
2026 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
2024Ohio State14-2HC: Ryan Day · Run-leaning, slow tempo
2025Ohio State12-2HC: Ryan Day · Run-leaning
2026Northwestern1-0HC: David Braun · Run-leaning, slow tempo
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: tackles (0th percentile).
Box-score production (6)
Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.
Splits & context
Splits
Per-game splits
Through 1 game: 1.0 TKL/g, 0.0 TFL/g, 0.0 SACK/g, 0.0 PD/g — splits start at 3 games.
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
David Braun
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 1 game in so far.
Awards
Player standing · 2026
Backup
On the two-deep and pushing for snaps.
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Northwestern | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2025 | Ohio State | 1 | -- | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2024 | Ohio State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2026
W 34–18
1 TOT · 1 SOLO
With A. Chiles — 273 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · 18 rush yds (8 car) · 1 TD · J. Himon II — 87 rush yds (4 car) · 1 TD
Game log
How he plays
Play style
A long-levered 6-foot-4, 267-pound edge whose recruiting profile read as positional clay — versatile enough to set the edge or slide inside to a heavy 3-tech if he kept adding mass, which Ohio State had him doing through a redshirt year. With no 2025 snap data to grade (17 defensive snaps, no sacks or TFLs logged), the read is projection: high-school production (11 sacks, 17 TFLs as a senior) points to first-step burst and a motor off the edge, while the bulk-up arc suggests a power-rusher who wins with length and leverage more than bend. Whether the get-off survives a jump in competition is the open question — there's no percentile sample yet, just the frame and the flashes.
The defensive line · Northwestern
- #47Michael Kilbane7.5 tackles for loss · 2025
- #90Carmine Bastone4 tackles for loss · 2025
- #24Jamaal Johnson1.5 tackles for loss · 2025
- #95Najee Story1 tackle for loss · 2025
- #5Dominic Kirks0 tackles for loss · 2025
22 more on the roster · Northwestern team page
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology