Dominic Kirks

#5 · DL · Northwestern6′5″ · 275 lb · Cleveland, OH · Riverside

Sacks0565th of 780 defensive linemenLast gameL 26–34at Oregon · Oct 31
Nextvs IowaSat Nov 7 · 7:30 pm ET
via nusports.com ↗

This week

  • RecordNorthwestern is 6-2.
  • Last gameOct. 31 · a loss to Oregon, 0 tackles for loss.
  • Next gamevs Iowa · Sat Nov 7

The story

Written , before the 2026 season

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.

Read the rest of the story

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

Style of play

Style of play

Play style, written June 30, before the season

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.

Fans

No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.

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