With the early signing period for high school football players beginning on Dec. 21, BadgerBlitz.com dives into a closer look at the commits who have signed with the Wisconsin Badgers.

Let's take a look at Bloomfield (CO) High quarterback Cole Lacrue, who officially signed with Wisconsin on Wednesday after committing to the program in November 2022.

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The 8th commitment in Wisconsin’s 2023 class, Lacrue is a three-star prospect by Rivals.com. He is rated the No.9 dual-threat quarterback in the country.

Lacrue committed to the Badgers over a final three that included Colorado and Tulane. He also had offers from Central Michigan, North Colorado, and South Dakota.

Not seeing the major offers he thought he could receive, Lacrue pushed off committing early in 2022 to play out his senior season. He took several visits to Power Five schools, planning visits to California, Kansas, Oregon State, Rice, UNLV, and Washington State. He visited Wisconsin on September 10, becoming one of at least six uncommitted senior quarterbacks to visit the Badgers early in the season as former offensive coordinator Bobby Engram looked for prospects.

Even with Paul Chyrst recently fired, Engram decided Lacrue was the next choice for a scholarship and extended the offer on November 1. Less than a week later, Lacrue announced he was committing to Wisconsin, choosing the Badgers over his dad’s alma mater and a Group of Five school playing in a New Year’s Six Bowl. Lacrue was the only 2023 prospect the Badgers landed while defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard was the interim head coach.

“I love Coach Fickell and it’s not often that you get to play for a coach who has made it to the playoffs in college football. He compared me to Desmond Ridder as a guy who was under-recruited in high school. Coach Fickell said I was better than him coming out of high school, so that was pretty cool to hear. Getting compared to a guy like that is really special.

"It was good to see how his program is going to be run with the guys he’s bringing along with him. I loved the assistants he’s bringing with him, and I thought Coach (Phil) Longo and I really bonded this weekend. He loves my game and loves my tape … definitely going to be an exciting staff and I think a lot of Wisconsin fans are going to be excited about what Coach Fickell is going to get done here.”

“Cole does a great job of keeping his poise in the pocket. He can adjust in the pocket and still keep his eyes down field. For a lot of high school quarterbacks, when things break down in the pocket, their eyes tend to come down and they are just looking to escape.

"What Cole does until the very last second is keep his eyes upfield so he can find that last receiver who is breaking open. But at the same time, he can tuck it and run and really put the hurt on defenses with his legs."

- High School coach Blair Hubbard

Lacrue entered this past season knowing he had a lot of room in which to grow, but that he was also a better quarterback than what college coaches were giving him credit for. Believing he could play at the major college level, Lacrue bet on himself and improved his arm strength, footwork, and release time, and doing a lot of it on his own.

“I thrive with pressure,” he told us at the beginning of the fall. “It brings out another gear in me, I believe. I think it will only make me play better knowing what I’m playing for. My approach will be to just do me. When I’m in the zone and confident, I believe I’m one of the best.”

As a result, Lacrue helped Broomfield capture a Class 4A championship in Colorado. During a 14-0 season, he completed 167 of 261 passes for 2,648 yards and 26 touchdowns with just six interceptions. Having a baseball background, the right-handed quarterback has arm strength but also displays touch on his throws, using good footwork to make the right throws rolling to his left or his right.

And as a nod to his skill set, Lacrue rushed for 808 yards and 20 touchdowns on the ground (62.6 yards per game). That ability to extend plays or pick up yards when a play breaks down, going off script to make something out of nothing, is what attracted Wisconsin in the first place to Lacrue and why the new staff wanted to hang on to him.

Lacrue has some of the same characteristics as four-star Lincoln Keinholz, UW's top target at quarterback for much of the spring and summer before he committed to Ohio State. With Lacrue enrolling early to get a jump on offense, it’ll be interesting to compare those two players’ stats down the road. The Badgers haven’t had a quarterback gain over 175 yards on the ground since Tanner McEvoy in 2014, so Lacrue’s ability as a true dual-threat quarterback could be the punch that UW’s offense has been missing.

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