Head coach Luke Fickell's first full recruiting class at Wisconsin - at least the early signing period portion - is in the books, and BadgerBlitz.com takes one final look at where needs were met or fell short.
We also assign final grades by position before officially putting a bow on 2024 and turning our attention to 2025 and beyond.
RELATED: In-State TE Robert Booker Rejoins Wisconsin's 2024 Class | NSD Inside the Rankings: Wisconsin Badgers' 2024 Recruiting Class | Rivals250 DL Ernest Willor chooses Wisconsin on Signing Day | NSD Preview: A look at Wisconsin's 2024 recruiting class |
DEFENSIVE LINE | B+
Needed: 4; Signed: 3
Breakdown: Wisconsin’s defensive line class went from average to quite intriguing with just one signature on Wednesday. The Badgers landed a late commitment from Ernest Willor, a four-star end who is now the second-highest ranked prospect UW has signed during the Rivals.com era, only behind five-star Justin Ostrowski.
“The thing about Ernest is, you see a guy who’s just scratching the surface," head coach Luke Fickell said. "I know he’s got a lot of talent and he’s a highly ranked guy, but when you look at him, it’s a guy that in another year and a half or a year will be completely different…what he provides when he walks in the door is a little different than what we have, but what he could be in another year and a half is what gives us the chance to go to the next level.”
The 2024 class also features Hank Weber, a three-star talent from Tennessee, as well as Dillan Johnson, who flipped to the Badgers from Northwestern this summer. Of the two, Johnson may have a bit more upside and be a potential early contributor for the Badgers.
“We’re looking for length and athleticism, and the other thing I’m looking for is wrestlers," Fickell said of Johnson. "It’s just the nature of the beast, guys that have a little different mentality. Obviously he might be the top rated high school wrestler, or heavyweight in the country. He might not be ranked No. 1 right now, but he also played 15, 16 football games…The thing that he gives us when he walks in the door here is the culture of what it is we’re continuing to push here…He’s a very physical guy, I’m not saying the length and athleticism that maybe we were talking about, but a guy that has an incredible amount of intangibles to be able to come in I think and play right away.”
Wisconsin missed on a handful of targets in this cycle, but landing Willor late should have fans excited.
Biggest Miss: Liam Andrews (Penn State), Joe Barna (Illinois), Dominic Nichols (Michigan), Dominic Kirks (Washington), Benedict Umeh (Stanford)
