11/6/2018 football Edit

Wisconsin fills big position of need with four-star DT Rodas Johnson

Jon McNamara • BadgerBlitz

Editor

Jon McNamara is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has covered UW athletics since 2002 and has worked at Rivals.com since 2006.

Wisconsin hit on arguably its top remaining target in the 2019 class.

Tuesday evening, Rodas Johnson, a four-star defensive tackle from St. Francis DeSales in Ohio, become commit No. 17 for the Badgers in the 2019 class. The Rivals250 lineman ultimately chose UW over Texas and Penn State, but he also had scholarship offers from Michigan, Oklahoma, Iowa, Northwestern, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh, among others.

Wisconsin was the first school Johnson, a 6-foot-4, 285-pound prospect, officially visited back in June. He took that trip with his parents and was surrounded by a handful of other UW commits.

“I liked (the official visit), and more so how they treated my family than me,” Johnson told Rivals.com in a previous interview. “Obviously they are a great football program, but besides that they are great academically and my mom really liked that.

“They knew that I was a laid-back person and they showed me around and showed me everything campus has to offer. It was fun."

Johnson joins in-state senior Keeanu Benton as projected defensive tackles in the current cycle. Defensive lineman Gio Paez could play end or nose guard at UW, as well.