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 continue with No. 4 on the rankings: The Class of 2014.
Total Points: 34
No. 10: 2012 | No. 9: 2007 | No. 8: 2010 | No. 7: 2011 | No. 6: 2015 | No. 5: 2016 |
Top recruit: Michael Dieter racked up plenty of honors: first-team All-America, according to FWAA and The Athletic; and second-team All-America by AFCA, AP, Sporting News, Walter Camp and College Football News. But maybe most impressive stat: Deiter started all 54 games of his career, a school record and No. 2 all-time among Big Ten players. A two-time consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection, Deiter was the No. 78 overall pick in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. T.J. Edwards was a close second.
Best surprise: Ryan Connelly is an easy pick here. The former walk-on played in 52 games with 26 starts at inside linebacker. He is now on the New York Giants roster.
Biggest bust: Jeremy Patterson just couldn't keep the weight off. And for as much hype as he commanded, there was zero production.
Wanted to see more from: We never got to see Dareian Watkins, Jaden Gault, Dominic Cizauskas, Ula Tolutau or Chris Jones, and injuries shortened careers for a few others. So for this category, I'll go with Austin Hudson, who played in all 14 games as a true freshman before he transferred to South Florida (and then to Oregon State).
Rivals.com class recruiting rank: No. 33
States represented (12): Wisconsin, Maryland, Florida, Ohio, Georgia, Utah, Arizona, South Carolina, Tennessee, Illinois, Hawaii and Massachusetts.
Decommitted: Rohan Blackwood (South Florida), Joe Keels (Nebraska), Craig Evans (Michigan State), Chance Stewart (Western Michigan).
Transferred: D.J. Gillins (JUCO/SMU), Krenwick Sanders (Jacksonville State), Jeremy Patterson (Tennessee State), *Chris Jones (Toledo), Caleb Kinlaw (South Carolina), George Rushing (Buffalo), **Dominick Cizauskas (JUCO/Glenville State), ***Ula Tolutau (BYU) and Austin Hudson (South Florida).
*Jones never enrolled due to grades.
**Cizauskas never enrolled due to legal issues.
***Tolutau never enrolled after his church mission.
NFL Draft Picks: *Nick Nelson, Natrell Jamerson, Michael Deiter, Ryan Connelly
First-Team All-Americans: Beau Benzschawel, Deiter, Edwards
*Nick Nelson transferred from Hawaii to Wisconsin.
LAST THOUGHT
In what was Gary Andersen's first full recruiting cycle at Wisconsin, the Class of 2014 was a huge group for the Badgers. UW signed 26 scholarship athletes, which, along with the 2008 class, was tied for the most during the Rivals.com era. While the number was high on Signing Day, a good chunk of this class had their respective careers at Wisconsin cut short for various reasons and circumstances. Only 12 from the 26 used up all their eligibility at UW.
Offensive line was clearly the biggest position of need in this cycle, but only three of the six signees finished their career at UW. On the defensive side of the ball, the Badgers found multi-year starters in Connelly, Edwards, Conor Sheehy, D'Cota Dixon and Derrick Tindal. The core of this class helped Wisconsin win a lot of games, including four bowl victories from 2015 to 2018.
