The University of Wisconsin’s football program closed the last decade having won three Big Ten championships, played in six New Year’s Six bowl games, won five postseason bowls and finished with an overall 102-34 record, a .750 winning percentage.

Naturally, the Badgers sent a lot of really good players to the NFL and a bunch of those players turned out to be pretty good at their craft.

Three former Badgers – Houston Texans defensive lineman J.J. Watt, former Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Joe Thomas and former Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Travis Frederick - made the cut when Pro Football Focus compiled a list of the 101 best NFL players from the 2010s, which it released on Monday.

Following the likes of QB Tom Brady, DL Aaron Donald, QB Drew Brees, CB Richard Sherman, TE Rob Gronkowski, QB Aaron Rodgers, EDGE Von Miller and WR Julio Jones, Watt has overcome a plethora of injuries in his career to become a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

“Before Aaron Donald came on the scene, J.J. Watt was the most destructive defensive force PFF had ever graded in the NFL,” author Sam Monson writes. “Watt had a four-season run with PFF grades of at least 91.4, averaging 93 total pressures per year in that time, a figure which led the league in 2019. J.J. Watt’s best play is as good as anything the league has seen.”

Likely a first-ballot Hall-of-Fame selection when he comes up for selection in 2023, Thomas is the highest-ranked offensive lineman on the list at No.11. Holding an NFL-best streak of 10,363 consecutive snaps played, Thomas made 10 Pro Bowls and six All-Pro teams in his 11-year career blocking for a plethora of Browns quarterbacks.

“Joe Thomas is unquestionably one of the best players in NFL history; he was the gold standard for pass protection from the moment he entered the NFL,” Monson writes. “Thomas had three straight seasons in the decade with a PFF grade above 90.0 and will be Canton-bound before long.”

Retiring after last season, citing what he felt was a drop off in his play, Fredrick played every game in six of his seven seasons, earning five Pro Bowl selections and one All-Pro nomination.

“It’s a shame that illness curtailed a career that was trending towards being one of the greatest in NFL history,” Monoson said. “Frederick hit the ground running as a pro and graded above 85.0 for the first five seasons of his career before Guillain-Barre syndrome forced him to miss the entirety of the 2018 season…Even five years of Frederick’s best play is enough to see him rank among the best players of the past decade.”