Every year, Rivals.com ranks prospects and recruiting classes. But continuing today, BadgerBlitz.com is looking at Wisconsin's cycles over a 10-year period and ranking them against each other.
Specifically, we're looking at the classes that UW signed from 2007 to 2016 and ranking them based on what players did in college. There's not enough evidence to judge the classes of 2017, 2018 or 2019 yet, so we cut off the rankings there and counted back 10 years.
In order to get a more well-rounded perspective, BadgerBlitz.com enlisted the help of former staff writers John Veldhuis and Jon Gorman; @zonemadison (96.7FM 1670AM) Sports Director Zach Heilprin; and current writers Jon McNamara and Benjamin Worgull. Each was asked to assign a point total (1 to 10) to each class, with 10 being the highest and 1 being lowest.
Today, we conclude with No. 1 on the rankings: The Class of 2009.
Total Points: 46
RELATED: No. 10: 2012 | No. 9: 2007 | No. 8: 2010 | No. 7: 2011 | No. 6: 2015 | No. 5: 2016 | No. 4: 2014 | No. 3: 2008 | No. 2: 2013 |
Top recruit: A two-time consensus first-team All-American (2011, 2012), Montee Ball was one of the best running backs to ever play at the college level, let alone for Wisconsin. The former four-star prospect was a 2011 Heisman Trophy finalist and the 2012 Doak Walker Award winner as nation’s top running back. Ball set the NCAA record for touchdowns in a career (83) and led the nation with 1,923 rushing yards as a junior. He was taken in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos.
Best surprise: There were quite a few players who played above their ranking at Wisconsin: Dezmen Southward, Jacob Pedersen, Travis Frederick and Chris Borland, among others. But Jared Abbrederis, a former walk-on quarterback, finished his collegiate career tied for UW's all-time receptions record (202).
Biggest bust: One of Wisconsin's more highly-anticipated signees of the Rivals.com era, Kraig Appleton caught three passes for 26 yards as a true freshman. The former four-star prospect was suspended from the team in February of 2010 for violating team rules and withdrew from school shortly after.
Wanted to see more from: Jon Budmayr, who currently serves as Wisconsin's quarterbacks coach, was the only player at the position UW offered in the 2009 class. Injuries, though, destroyed his playing career.
Rivals.com class recruiting rank: No. 43
States represented (10): Wisconsin, Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Minnesota, Michigan, Florida, Illinois and Nebraska.
Decommitted: Conor O'Neal (Boston College)
*Darious Thomas did not pass admissions and wound up at Kansas State
Transferred: Shelby Harris (Illinois State) and David Gilbert (Miami).
NFL Draft Picks: Ball, Fredrick, Borland, Southward, Abbrederis
First-Team All-Americans: Ball, Fredrick, Borland
LAST THOUGHT
Five NFL Draft picks and three first-team All-Americans, the class of 2009 was a special one for Wisconsin. In addition to those accolades, the group had very little turnover outside of the players who were lost due to injury (Budmayr, Jordan Kohout, A.J. Fenton and David Gilbert, to an extent). And in terms of complete busts, no one from the class, outside of Appleton and his off-the-field issues, fits the bill. A good chunk of these players played in three Rose Bowls at UW.
