2014 Badgers recruiting class proving rankings aren’t everything

[Da-news-now]

It is always hard to immediately judge a recruiting class, but by the standards of 2014 the first full class of the Gary Anderson era appeared to be all set to be one of the best ever in Wisconsin Badgers history.

UW finished as the No. 33 ranked class in the country and the No. 5 class in the Big Ten in large part thanks to landing big prospects like Jaden Gault, D.J. Gillins and George Panos. There was even a foray in to the state of Georgia and it appeared momentum was on the side of things changing for the Badgers on the recruiting trail.

But, all of those stories and hopes seem to have been misguided as we enter the third season past this class coming to Wisconsin.


Some of the class is already gone, with the leader of the group, Jaden Gault never playing a down in the Cardinal and White thanks to severe depression issues that forced him off the field (we hear he’s tearing up the golf courses around Wisconsin these days as well as attending school at UW).

Quarterback D.J. Gillins was expected to be the transitional quarterback to Andersen’s desired dual-threat look. Instead, Anderson left and Gillins’ skill set wasn’t exactly needed in Paul Chryst’s return to a pro-style offense.

He has since landed at Pearl River Community College in the hopes of returning to FBS football next season.

Those highly-hyped Georgia boys…not so highly thought of today.

Krenwick Sanders? Couldn’t even make the 105 of the 2016 roster and has announced his plans to transfer.

Jeremey Patterson? Struggling to make the two-deep three years in to his career at UW and was passed over by a freshman last season on the depth chart and it may be happening again with Garrett Rand in 2016.

Hell, three players never even made it on to campus for a single fall as 4-star athlete Darien Watkins struggled with some issues off the field, Chris Jones couldn’t make it academically and has transferred twice since. There was also fullback Ula Tolutau, who went on a Morman mission and was not part of the Badgers plans once Chryst got to UW.

In total, this group has seen five players transfer and another player never make it to UW thanks to a conviction on sexual assault chargers (Dominic Cizauskas) in addition to those who never made it on campus at all or never played in a game.

But, it is further down the 2014 class where you really begin to see the talent evaluation of Andersen and staff paying off.

UW has benefited from the likes of T.J. Edwards, Micah Kapoi, Jacob Maxwell, Michael Deiter and Beau Benzschawel on the offensive line. This class also includes key defensive contributors like Derrick Tindal (starting cornerback in 2016), D’Cota Dixon (likely starting safety), Connor Sheehy (starting defensive end) and Billy Hirschfeld.

But, injuries have also taken its toll on this class, with George Panos continuously hurt and unable to get in to the rotation because of it.

Classes are often judged by the top talent production, as much as contributions from those at the bottom of the rankings. In that respect, the Badgers struck out big time as just two of the top six ranked players are even contributors to this team.

Those players, Sheehy and running back Taiwan Deal could be key pieces to UW’s puzzle in 2016, but will likely be anchors in 2017 and beyond.

Even kicker Rafael Gaglianone appears to have been a good pick up, as he was one of the better kickers as a freshman and after struggling in 2015 has rededicated himself to sliming down and hitting balls between the uprights on a consistent basis once again.

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[57packer]

I know people love to dump on GA, not without reason, but he wasn't a total waste of time on the recruiting trail. He recruited some solid players but he also had a number of "epic fails" that sort of taint what he did.

He gets partial credit for the 2013 and 2015 classes and full credit for 2014. There's a solid group of players in those classes. I just wish there was a QB in those 2013/2014 classes but both "option" type QBs have moved on.

It's even hard to carp about his O-line recruiting. Estes seems like a clear miss, but the rest that are on the squad seem to be OK. Much of the current o-line weakness goes back to BB's last 2 classes. His last class and the one he mostly recruited the year he left should be the red-shirt juniors and red-shirt seniors right now. The only contributor from those classes is Voltz. Bad recruiting, bad luck and attrition really decimated the depth. The 5 guys mentioned above are all in what looks like a solid 2-deep o-line and it would look even better if Gault had not had to leave the program and Panos was not chronically injured.

I think long-term he probably would have hurt the UW, but that short 2-year term really didn't set the program back all that much. That said, I'm glad he's gone and happy with Chryst so far.

 

[TW]

I'm not too certain that class was nearly as good as they want to believe. I don't see any of them that stand out. Even if one or two do, in the end, it doesn't look like a class that could lead the team in competing for a conference championship.

Don't get me wrong. I agree on the level of assistance and potential of a couple of guys in that class, but I'm not convinced it's the kind of class that has offered enough to actually produce wins through their involvement. I've seen Alvarez and Beilema classes that had better walk-ons then Anderson brought on as top level recruits. Just my opinion.

And by the way... I thought Beilema was an average coach at best, who was smart enough to surround himself with some of the best assistant coaches in college football.