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. 6 on the rankings: The Class of 2015.
Total Points: 27
Top recruit: A lightly-recruited high school quarterback from Brown Deer (WI), Zack Baun finished his career at UW on a high note. As a senior, Baun was a first-team All-American selection by the FWAA and Walter Camp. He was also a second-team selection by the AFCA, AP and Sporting News. Last season, Baun, who was selected 74th overall by the Saints in the 2020 NFL Draft, led UW in sacks (12.5) and tackles for loss (19.5).
Best surprise: Chris Orr, a lightly-recruited linebacker who now has a shot in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers. As a senior, Orr registered 78 tackles, including 14 for loss, and 11.5 sacks.
Biggest bust: Arrington Farrar probably should have started at linebacker from the jump. Instead, the former four-star prospect tried to cut weight in order to stay at safety before he bumped around at both linebacker spots.
Wanted to see more from: A fully-healthy Bradrick Shaw would have been fun to see. He may get that opportunity at California this fall.
Rivals.com class recruiting rank: No. 37
States represented (11): Wisconsin, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Utah, Alabama, Georgia, California, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Decommitted: Dominic Sheppard (Virginia), Jordan Stevenson (Nebraska), Jordan Griffin (Vanderbilt), Sam Madden (Georgia), Nate Howard (Missouri), Brandyn Lee (UC-Davis), Elu Aydon (Oregon State), T.J. Griffin (Virginia), Mohamed Barry (Nebraska), Jake Pickard (Syracuse), Davon Crookshank (Blinn College/Houston), Takadrae Williams and Xzavien Ausborne.
Transferred: Kyle Penniston (Rutgers), Bradrick Shaw (California), Austin Kafentzis (Nevada), Titus Booker (Southern Illinois) and Alex Hornibrook (Florida State).
NFL Draft Picks: David Edwards, Zack Baun
First-Team All-Americans: Edwards, Baun
LAST THOUGHT
The Class of 2015, which started with Gary Andersen and finished with Paul Chryst, was absolutely the most entertaining to follow from this time frame (2007 to 2016). The difference in philosophies, both in Xs and Os and on the recruiting front, created an interesting last few weeks before Signing Day. Thirteen players who at one point were committed to Wisconsin never signed with the Badgers. That's an incredible number, even during a coaching transition.
From the group that make it to campus, all three four-star prospects (Shaw, Penniston and Farrar) had average careers, at best. Even after Chryst combed over the class when he took over in December of 2014, there were some signees - Estes, James, Kafentzis, Booker and Howe - who did very little in Madison. Thomas and Whalen were plagued by injuries.
There were some bring spots, though. Andersen deserves credit for identifying Orr, Sagapolu and Baun (originally committed as a grayshirt), and Ingold was a great addition by Chryst late in the cycle. Hornibrook didn't leave Wisconsin on great terms, but what would the Badgers have done had Chryst not brought him over from Pitt's commit list? Dietzen and Edwards were typical Wisconsin's recruits, regardless of the head coach, and Moorman's career ended on a positive note. Erdmann, Johnson, Allen and Hintze were all great gets as preferred walk-ons.
