Ad Disclosure
Wisconsin recruiting primer: Surprise surprise — Badgers load up on O-line
Published:
With college football’s Early Signing Period set to get started on Wednesday, the Wisconsin Badgers have put together one of the better classes in the online ranking era. Headlined by 5-star offensive lineman Nolan Rucci and 5 4-star recruits, Wisconsin has never put together a class quite like the 2021 version, which ranks 16th in all of college football.
Let’s take a closer look at the 2021 signing class:
By the numbers
- B1G rank: 3
- National rank: 16
- 5-stars: 1
- 4-stars: 5
- 3-stars: 15
Top player: OL Nolan Rucci, 5-star
Wisconsin’s lone 5-star recruit is Rucci, an offensive lineman from Warwick High School in Lititz, Pa. The 6-foot-8, 295-pound Rucci committed to the Badgers on Sept. 8 despite having offers from the best of the best in college football, including Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and essentially all the top programs in the sport. The decision came down to the Badgers and Penn State, both of which have significant family ties for Rucci.
Rucci comes from an athletic family, which includes his father Todd, who was an offensive lineman at Penn State from 1989-92, and his mother Stacy, who was an All-American field hockey player at the school. Rucci’s brother Hayden is currently a redshirt freshman tight end on the Badgers’ roster, which played a key roll in him committing to the program.
Class strength: Offensive line
This is certainly the expectation for Wisconsin after so many years of success at the position, putting plenty of talented players into the NFL, where many have had long careers. It’s hard to go with any other unit here considering the Badgers’ top 3 ranked players are offensive linemen, including Rucci as well as 4-stars JP Benzschawel and Riley Mahlman.
Benzschawel also has brothers who have played at Wisconsin in Luke and Beau, though neither is still on the team. He is a 6-foor-7, 285-pound player from Grafton, Wis. Like Benzschawel, Mahlman has been committed to Wisconsin for more than a year and is expected to sign with the Badgers on Wednesday. He is listed at 6-foot-7 and 270 pounds from Lakeville, Minn.
One unique item to note about this group is that each player is ranked as the No. 1 high school prospect in his state.
Class weakness: Wide receiver
The wide receiver situation could’ve been a lot worse, but wide receivers coach Alvis Whitted has done a great job in his short time at Wisconsin. He was hired in March when the Badgers did not have a single commit at the wide receiver position. During a pandemic that still is leading to recruiting restrictions, Wisconsin landed 3-stars Skyler Bell and Markus Allen.
It’s not the most impressive haul, but this could’ve been a lot worse. While redshirt freshman quarterback Graham Mertz has struggled in his 1st year as a starter, a large part of that is the lack of playmakers, especially with starting wide receivers Danny Davis and Kendric Pryor dealing with injuries. I am a believer in what Mertz can do over the next few years at Wisconsin, but it would be a real shame if the Badgers cannot get him any next-level difference-makers on the outside.
Grading the QB class
Wisconsin is bringing in 1 quarterback in this class, and it’s Deacon Hill from Santa Barbara, Calif. He’s ranked as a 4-star according to 247Sports but is a 3-star according to the composite rankings. Hill is a big kid at 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, and he committed to the Badgers in June 2019 with offers from UCLA, Kansas State and Nevada.
No matter what happens in the 2021 season, it’s unlikely Hill will get much meaningful playing time in his 1st season with the program. Mertz is the future at the position, and we don’t quite know what senior Jack Coan will do as there is an eligibility freeze across the sport for this strange year. If both come back, Hill would be the 3rd-string QB at best, but he could have a future as a starter as he develops in the Wisconsin system.
Did they close the borders?
Wisconsin isn’t exactly the state to go to when you’re looking for an abundance of elite-level college football players, but it’s incredibly important the best players inside the state stay home. It makes it easier with the Badgers being the only Division I program in the state, and this has been crucial to the success Wisconsin football has had ever since Barry Alvarez took over. Keeping kids in state was important to him and Bret Bielema, not so much for Gary Andersen, but Paul Chryst returned to that mentality when he took over.
Wisconsin did a good job of getting the best talent in the state to commit to the Badgers. Of the 7 highest-rated prospects in the state, all are expected to sign during the Early Signing Period. This was a good year for high school talent in Wisconsin, with 3 4-stars, including Benzschawel, safety Hunter Wohler and inside linebacker Braelon Allen, who decided to reclassify from the 2022 class to get started earlier.
Final thought
Once Signing Day comes and goes, the Badgers will have set program records for recruiting rankings in each of the past 3 years. Wisconsin went from 29th nationally in 2019 and 26th in 2020 to where they are now. Chryst and his staff should be incredibly proud of what they were able to do on the recruiting trail, which could ultimately raise expectations for what the Badgers can be moving forward.
Erik Buchinger brings his vast experience covering Wisconsin and B1G football to Saturday Tradition. Follow him on Twitter @DeceptiveSpeed.