NSD Preview: A look at Wisconsin's 2022 recruiting class

With head coach Paul Chryst scheduled to unveil Wisconsin's 2022 recruiting class on Wednesday, BadgerBlitz.com contributors Benjamin Worgull, Jake Kocorowski and Jon McNamara provided their insight on the expected group.

NOTE: This report reflects UW's scholarship recruiting class as of 12/14/21 and does not include prospects the Badgers could add on Signing Day.

RELATED: NSD Peer-to-Peer: QB Myles Burkett breaks down Badgers' offensive commits | NSD Five Cycles Later: Re-grading Wisconsin's 2017 Signing Class | Nation's No. 1 center, Carson Hinzman, talks Ohio State, Wisconsin |

Worgull: After signing nine four-star-or-better recruits in 2021, Wisconsin is slated to ink only one in 2022 (Joe Brunner), a big step back for the program considering the Badgers saw one four-star in-state linemen go elsewhere (Billy Schrauth to Notre Dame) and another one strongly considering it (Carson Hinzman and Ohio State). However, take one look at the performance of quarterback Myles Burkett for Franklin (Wis.) High in the Division 1 title game and it’s evident how skilled he is.

In the state final, Burkett completed 16 of 23 passes for a Division 1 title game record 276 yards in a 38-17 victory over Sun Prairie at his future home, Camp Randall Stadium. When his opponent closed the deficit to seven points entering the fourth quarter, Burkett threw two touchdown passes that included a 30-yard strike. Named the Associated Press player of the year for the state, Burkett completed 206 of 289 passes for 3,427 yards, 36 touchdowns, and four interceptions.

Committing in January, Burkett likely would have generated a higher rating had summer camps been available in 2020. No matter, because the Badgers have a talented prospect who can hopefully develop better than some more recent signees at the position.

Kocorowski: I'll go with Brunner on this one, and I'll reference what Burkett told me about his future Badger teammate this past weekend:

""First of all, Joe's one of my best friends, so I'm gonna probably give him more praise than he maybe even wants, but Joe's probably one of the most physically dominating o-linemen that I've seen. Talk about a guy that big, who can move that fast, that's pretty incredible. He's a tank. He sets the line of scrimmage, and he's a great run blocker, he's a great pass blocker. He's one of those guys who's not going to stop until the whistle, and that's something I saw that I kind of was like, 'Whoa.'"

Brunner is the only four-star commit as of Monday morning in this class, as Ben alluded to above, and he is the No. 72 player in the country and No. 9 offensive tackle for the 2022 class. Just when he'll find time on the line in the two-deep or a starting role remains to be seen with Nolan Rucci, Riley Mahlman, Logan Brown and others ahead of him, but he is the top name in this recruiting cycle.

McNamara: The clear answer here is Brunner, a four-year starter at Whitefish Bay who has drawn comparisons to Ben Bredeson in terms of how dominant he was at the varsity level since his freshman season. Bredeson finished his prep career at Arrowhead as the No. 60 player in the country; Brunner is currently No. 72. During the course of his recruitment, Brunner racked up offers from Florida State, Iowa, Iowa State, LSU, Miami (FL), Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State, among many others, are the expectations will be sky sky when he arrives in Madison.

Worgull: Both the receiver and the cornerback position are going to experience turnover following the Las Vegas Bowl. But while the Badgers have some decent options to replace cornerbacks Caesar Williams and, likely, Faion Hicks, UW has few quality options to replace seniors Danny Davis, Jack Dunn, and Kendric Pryor.

Tommy McIntosh has a lot of positive attributes working in his favor to impact UW’s offense next fall: size (6-5, 205 pounds), speed (4.47-second 40-yard dash), and athleticism (36-inch vertical jump). A member of Michigan’s AP all-state team, McIntosh finished his senior season with 64 catches, 1,328 yards, and 22 touchdowns.

"His ball skills are tremendous for someone at that size,” McIntosh’s high school coach, Rob Zimmerman, told BadgerBlitz. “He's an excellent athlete and an outstanding basketball player as well. So, his ability to stretch the field and also the ball skills that he possesses are certainly hard to find at any level.”

Kocorowski: Being honest, no one really popped out to me out of the 13 commits, mostly due to the depth at particular position groups heading into the 2022 season.

That said, I think someone like Cade Yacamelli -- even being listed as an athlete currently on Rivals.com and not knowing what position he'll start at -- could find a spot on special teams. We have seen Wisconsin utilize safety Hunter Wohler and inside linebacker Jake Chaney as first-year Badgers on those units during this year, and I think Yacamelli's athleticism could land him a role on some units.

McNamara: Avyonne Jones is listed as a cornerback, but the standout from Southlake Carroll High School in Texas should also be able to help in nickel packages or even at safety for defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard. When asked where he projects best, Jones had a simple answer.

"I’m coming in as a DB," Jones, with a laugh, told BadgerBlitz.com.

"And that's one of the things that Coach Leonhard said he saw in my film was my position versatility and the reason why he wanted to recruit me right away," Jones added. "He said they could have as many as five starters leave from their DB room after this year, so they need guys to come in and step up."

I think Jones is one of the more intriguing commits in Wisconsin's 2022 class, and his versatility should allow him to get on the field early in his career at UW.

Worgull: Cade Yacamelli had 18 scholarship offers, but Wisconsin was the only one to offer from the Power-Five level. Part of the reason for the lack of major interest was likely because Yacamelli’s future position is hard to project. When he earned his offer at UW’s camp, he worked at running back, wide receiver and safety. He’s being labeled currently as an athlete and won’t likely know his position until he’s spent a few weeks on campus.

“(Paul Chryst) thinks that I'm a football player who can fit the program,” Yacamelli told BadgerBlitz.com. “He treated me really well and that was a huge thing for me. All the coaches, really. And I know I keep saying it, but the coaches are special. They showed me film, took care of my family and answered all my questions. It's really special up there and I'm really excited to be a part of it."

Possessing good size and explosiveness, Yacamelli could impact a lot of different areas for Wisconsin.

Kocorowski: Ben took my pick with Yacamelli, so I'll look at Aidan Vaughan. Rivals.com recently bumped up his rating from a two-star to three-star standout with a 5.7 rating. His recruiting journey blew up this fall with Power Five offers, eventually decommitting from Air Force before officially visiting Wisconsin.

Vaughan appears to have that frame where he will be able to add pounds to a 6-foot-3 build, and with his abilities on that second level of the defense, he should be able to develop into a contributing member of "Death Row."

"He's got a full toolbox when it comes to being a football player, especially at linebacker," Walled Lake (MI) Western head coach Kory Cioroch told BadgerBlitz.com last month. "Sometimes you can get kids who can play tackle to tackle and really strike, and then you get kids who can run sideline to sideline. But very rarely do you get them both, and Aidan is the rare kid.

"Aidan is very physical football player but he also runs like a safety or a defensive back. Pure athleticism, strength and physicality are things that contribute to him being successful. He's only played linebacker for a year, so continuing to be a student of the position will be big. Just continuing to learn and grow into that linebacker role. The sky is the limit for the kid there. You forecast him as someone who can really become a big-time kid at Wisconsin."

Wisconsin certainly has had luck with players fitting that description.

McNamara: Barrett Nelson, a three-star in-state prospect from Stoughton High School, doesn't get talked about too much in this recruiting class for the Badgers. Much of the offensive line attention - and rightfully so - has been focused on Brunner, Hinzman and Schrauth. But Nelson, a Wisconsin legacy, also checks off a lot of boxes in his own right. At 6-foot-6 and 280 pounds, Nelson likely projects to tackle, but there's also a chance he bumps inside to guard, a move his older brother, Jack Nelson, made for the Badgers last year.

Worgull: Keeanu Benton has shown over the past few seasons how a solid nose tackle can impact Wisconsin’s 3-4 defense. With Benton entering his senior season, UW landed his heir apparent in Curtis Neal. Picking UW over Ohio State and others, Neal is a 6-foot-2, 310-pound machine who uses his strength and motor to blow up plays up the middle.

“Coach Chryst said I’m a need for their program,” Neal told BadgerBlitz.com after his official visit. “He said that I can change their defense and they can do a lot with me as a true, powerful nose guard. He thinks I'm what they need and everyone is on board.”

Neal didn’t play last season after recovering from ACL surgery but should be close to 100 percent by the fall. After not signing a defensive tackle in the 2021 class, the Badgers securing a quality one in this class was absolutely needed.

Kocorowski: I'll kind of go with a combo here with two in-state kids in Burkett and Brunner.

Burkett became Wisconsin commit No. 1 on Jan. 30, and UW did not receive another pledge until the month of June. He also gave UW a quarterback in this class after the program missed out on out-of-state products Devin Brown (USC, then Ohio State) and Brady Allen (Purdue).

The Franklin, Wis., native put together a fantastic senior year as Ben noted above, winning a WIAA Division I state championship on way to multiple individual honors. You also hear great things from other recruits. Hinzman, undecided about his future, told BadgerBlitz.com on Sunday evening that he was "talking to Myles a little bit" and called him a "really, really great guy."

UW defensive line commit Tristan Monday said on Sunday that he speaks with Burkett more than any other player pledged to the program. The Arizona native watched his future quarterback's highlights, then stated, "all I can say is he definitely deserved that Gatorade player of the year for Wisconsin."

Brunner called the Sabers' signal caller's season "incredible."

"I don't think you could have a better season for a quarterback," Brunner said of Burkett. "He knows what he's doing. He doesn't fold under pressure.

"I wouldn't want to play for any other quarterback. He knows what he's doing every single time."

With Schrauth now committed to Notre Dame and Hinzman still working up to a decision between the Badgers and Buckeyes, locking down Brunner early secured another four-star, highly-touted lineman from within "The Badger State." That was absolutely huge for this class.

McNamara: Neal is probably the correct pick here, but it order to avoid being repetitive, I'm going with Austin Brown. A quick look at Wisconsin's projected scholarship breakdown shows that the Badgers may only have four scholarship safeties on the spring roster, though John Torchio could join that group at some point in 2022. With that, Brown, who has the versatility to play in coverage or closer to the line of scrimmage, is one of the most-needed signees for the Badgers.

Worgull: The only prospect Wisconsin has flipped in the 2021 class, Tristan Monday committed to the home school Arizona in March and his recruitment went quiet. It wasn’t until he showed up for an official visit for Wisconsin’s home game against Northwestern that he caught outsider’s attention. UW reportedly reached out to him in September, offered him in October, and spent time between then and his commitment building a relationship with defensive line coach Ross Kolodziej. He didn’t take long to commit, saying it was hard to turn down the No.1 defense in the country.

“Tristan is a phenomenal player and he’s a tremendous get for Wisconsin," Saguaro head coach Jason Mohns told BadgerBlitz.com. “Arguably the best pass rusher we’ve had in my time at Saguaro, and we’ve had some special players.

“He’s a team captain, a beast in the weight room, and plays football with his hair on fire. Tristan has a great frame to add size/strength and in my opinion, his best football is ahead of him.”

Kocorowski: Ben had a good one with Monday, whose news broke on a Monday in mid-November. I'll go with Wisconsin receiving some July 4th recruiting fireworks with safety Austin Brown. The high three-star defensive back chose the Badgers over Boston College, Cincinnati, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and others.

Brown officially visited UW early in June, and just a month later, announced his commitment via social media.

McNamara: JT Seagreaves' commitment to Wisconsin certainly wasn't a surprise, but his rise to the top of the Badgers' tight end board this summer definitely was. Prior to UW's camp in June, Seagreaves was viewed as a low- to mid-major Division 1 basketball player. But after Mickey Turner saw Seagreaves at camp twice, he quickly elevated past fellow in-state standout Andrew Keller, who had double-digit scholarship offers at the time. Turner chose to move forward with Seagreaves, which says a lot about his ability and high ceiling at the next level.

Worgull: Hindered by the lack of college camps across the country last season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, JT Seagreaves had little fanfare following his junior season. He committed to Wisconsin in June with only an offer from Illinois State, making him the UW prospect with the least amount of scholarship offers. However, Seagreaves impressed the Badgers coaching staff with his versatility as a multi-position football athlete and as a three-sport athlete.

Seagreaves doesn’t have a ton of experience playing tight end. During his senior season, Seagreaves had 135 rushing attempts for 1,294 yards and 16 touchdowns and just 11 pass catches. However, tight end wasn’t a major need in the 2022 class, which should allow Seagreaves time to add strength to his frame. As he continues to log more reps at the position, Seagreaves should fit the H-back option Wisconsin loves to use in its pro-style offense.

Kocorowski: I'll go with Neal here. He was a former four-star and Rivals250 prospect according to our service before being downgraded to a high three-star recruit (still with a 5.7 rating). Yes, he is working back from his ACL injury, but when looking at his "Ultimate Tape" on Hudl, he showcases a defensive lineman that can penetrate and get into the backfield at the high school level.

His abilities match up with the philosophy under new defensive line coach Ross Kolodziej. We'll see just what the road back looks like for Neal in terms of rehab and recovering when he gets to Madison as an early enrollee, but once fully healthy, his 6-foot-2, 310-pound frame could clog up not just the middle of the defense, but make opposing backs uncomfortable.

McNamara: I think Tommy McIntosh will outplay his 5.5, three-star rating during his time at Wisconsin. The Michigan standout, who blew up on the recruiting front this past spring, is one of the more intriguing athletes Wisconsin has recruited over the last handful of cycles. Simply put, the Badgers don't have anyone like McIntosh on their current roster.

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