Every year, Rivals.com ranks prospects and recruiting classes. But starting 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're starting with No. 10 on the rankings: The Class of 2012.
Total Points: 6
Top recruit: Vince Biegel turned out to be the best scholarship signee in this class. But Joe Schobert, a former walk-on, was probably the top college player in this cycle, overall.
Best surprise: This has to be Schobert, who was a headed to North Dakota just hours before UW snagged him that summer. The former Waukesha (WI) West standout was a first-team All-American, according to FWAA and ESPN, and a second-team All-American by the AP, Walter Camp, Sporting News and USA Today.
Biggest bust: Walker Williams was a pretty heavily-recruited prospect from the West Coast, but he didn't move well enough to play tackle and was overmatched at guard.
Wanted to see more from: People in Kenosha will tell you that Vonte Jackson had just as much talent in high school as Melvin Gordon. Knee injuries, though, destroyed his playing career.
Rivals.com class recruiting rank: No. 57
States represented (8): Wisconsin, Illinois, California, Florida, Washington, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Indiana
Decommitted: Kyle Dodson (Ohio State), J.J. Denman (Rutgers)
Transferred: Reggie Mitchell (Pittsburgh), D.J. Singelton (failed to qualify academically - ended up at Nebraska)
NFL Draft Picks: Schobert, Vince Biegel, *Ryan Ramczyk
First-Team All-Americans: Schobert, Ramczyk
*A member of the 2012 class, Ramczyk transferred from UW-Stevens Point to Wisconsin.
Last thought
This class was certainly hurt by lack of available scholarships and decommitments on the offensive line, which led to the addition of Jake Meador in the hours before Singing Day. Another huge theme when looking back: Injuries, which almost completely shut down Vonte Jackson and Meador, and prematurely ended the playing careers of Dan Voltz, Arthur Goldberg, Trent Denlinger, Hugs Etienne and Walker Williams.
On a positive note, Vince Biegel was a really good football player at Wisconsin and lived up to his four-star ranking. Bart Houston and Leo Musso both stuck it out and had a solid senior seasons for the Badgers. Joe Schobert is the walk-on everyone talks about from this class - and for good reason - but Dare Ogunbowale was little known defensive back who is now a running back in the NFL.
