MADISON, Wis. — When Wisconsin’s preseason practices began in 2017, running back Jonathan Taylor’s name barely registered as a viable option to play given how buried he was on the depth chart as a true freshman. Four more seasoned tailbacks were considered ahead of Taylor: Taiwan Deal, Chris James, Bradrick Shaw and Rachid Ibrahim.
Over the next month, however, Taylor steadily imposed his will with a combination of skills that wowed teammates. Taylor then ran for 223 yards and three touchdowns in a Week 2 victory against Florida Atlantic and never looked back.
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Taylor’s ascension is an extreme example in Wisconsin history. He ran for 1,977 yards that season and compiled one of the most productive careers by a running back in college football history on the way to winning the Doak Walker Award twice. But the moral of the story is that you never know which freshmen will emerge to make a major impact on the program.
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Wisconsin welcomed its latest freshman class to campus over the weekend, with 11 of the 22 signees in 2024 moving in to join the other half who previously arrived as early enrollees for winter workouts and spring practices. Can any of them join the ranks of key freshman contributors? Here’s a look at Wisconsin’s true freshman scholarship players.
The newest Badgers have made it to Madison.📍🦡 pic.twitter.com/VZX1yFpQIe
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) June 9, 2024
Quarterback (1)
Mabrey Mettauer, a 6-foot-4, 232-pound four-star prospect from The Woodlands, Texas, exited the spring as the third-team quarterback after Nick Evers entered the transfer portal. There is a clear delineation between the top two quarterbacks — Tyler Van Dyke and Braedyn Locke — when compared to Mettauer, who was the first committed prospect in the class under the new coaching staff. But Mettauer’s decision to enroll early allowed him to earn important reps, including all the third-team snaps over the second half of the spring.
“I’m going to say about halfway through the spring, he looked like a typical inexperienced freshman learning how to make good decisions and getting some of the throws down and pulling when he needs to pull the ball,” Wisconsin offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Phil Longo said late in the spring. “But right around the middle of spring ball, probably from practices seven, eight, nine to now, he’s taken a huge jump and he seems a lot more comfortable with what we’re doing. So right now, we can run a lot more and do a lot more with him than we could early on. So I’ve been happy with Mabrey.”
Running back (3)
Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell said he told his staff the most important priority for the 2024 class was adding running back depth. The Badgers answered that challenge by signing three-star prospect Gideon Ituka (Gaithersburg, Md.), as well as four-star tailbacks Dilin Jones (Laurel, Md.) and Darrion Dupree (Chicago). Ituka, a bowling ball of a running back at 5-9 and 235 pounds, enrolled early and earned snaps with the third-team offense. He broke a 41-yard touchdown run during the team’s spring scrimmage, though he also lost a fumble on a speed option pitch.
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Jones and Dupree are two of the most intriguing players in the class because of how their talents could impact the offense. Dupree tallied 1,092 yards rushing and 755 yards receiving with 24 touchdowns as a senior at Mount Carmel. Fickell said in December that Dupree possessed “incredible ball skills” and could be dynamic in Wisconsin’s offense. Jones, who also wrestled and ran track in high school, has a leaner, longer body and runs hard. Wisconsin has a 1-2 combination entering the preseason of Chez Mellusi and Tawee Walker. But both players are seniors, and the door is open for a young player to earn some snaps and establish himself as the future at the position.
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Wide receiver (1)
Wisconsin signed just one scholarship receiver in the class with Kyan Berry-Johnson, a 5-10, 178-pound speedster who plays in the slot. Despite his smaller stature, Berry-Johnson displayed tremendous leaping and playmaking ability on the high school summer camp circuit, consistently winning 50-50 balls against bigger defensive backs.
The Badgers have lined up their slot receiver recruiting well under Longo, who especially loves to utilize the position. Will Pauling produced a breakout campaign last season, and redshirt freshman Trech Kekahuna looks like the next big thing. Kekahuna will serve as Pauling’s backup but could pair with him in different combinations within the offense. Berry-Johnson, an early enrollee, earned considerable reps with the second-team offense during the team’s spring scrimmage and produced a handful of eye-opening plays, including a leaping grab for 12 yards on a pass from Van Dyke and consecutive catches on a series with Locke, one of which Berry-Johnson bobbled on the right hash but still snagged while falling to a knee.
Tight end (2)
Wisconsin added Grant Stec (Sleepy Hollow, Ill.) and Rob Booker II (Waunakee, Wis.) to a position that needed an infusion of talent. Both players enrolled early, and Stec looked further ahead of Booker based on spring practices because of his physicality. Stec is listed at 6-6 and an impressive 260 pounds, while Booker is 6-5 and 235 pounds.
Stec’s reps came with the third-team offense, but that doesn’t mean he can’t break through and find a role during the season, depending on the level of productivity from other players. Wisconsin will rely on Riley Nowakowski and Tucker Ashcraft, with LSU transfer Jackson McGohan and JT Seagreaves the other players battling for snaps. Those players have combined to catch 16 career passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns.
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Offensive line (5)
Five of the 14 scholarship offensive linemen on the roster can be found in the 2024 class. Rare are the true freshmen who are physically and mentally ready to play at Wisconsin along the line, but left tackle Kevin Heywood sure looked the part while earning backup left tackle snaps this spring. That’s why offensive line coach AJ Blazek said Heywood, a four-star prospect, was “going to be one of the special ones that’s played here.”
Colin Cubberly, also an early enrollee, worked as the second-team right tackle in the spring but projects long-term as an interior lineman. The other three players who arrived this summer are Emerson Mandell, Derek Jensen and Ryan Cory. Jensen projects as a tackle, Mandell as a guard and Cory likely as a center. Casey Rabach, the director of scouting and a former Badgers offensive lineman, described Mandell on signing day as a player who brings “some physicality and some toughness and some ruthlessness.”
Defensive line (3)
The defensive line is the position group that probably faces the most questions entering the season simply because there isn’t a lot of proven production at the Big Ten level outside of James Thompson Jr. Curt Neal and Ben Barten earned first-team reps alongside Thompson in the spring, while Cade McDonald and FCS transfer Elijah Hills closed the spring as second-teamers. Wisconsin has since added FCS transfer Brandon Lane from Stephen F. Austin with the hope that he can either immediately start or provide a lift off the bench.
Whether any of the three 2024 signees on the defensive line — Ernest Willor Jr., Dillan Johnson and Hank Weber — play right away remains to be seen. Willor was a major recruiting win and worked with the third-team defense in the spring alongside redshirt freshman Jamel Howard. Johnson, a four-time state wrestling champion in Illinois and the No. 1-ranked heavyweight in the country, arrives this summer with Weber and carries major playmaking potential.
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Linebacker (3)
Inside linebacker Landon Gauthier and outside linebackers Thomas Heiberger and Anelu Lafaele were early enrollees who participated in spring practices. Gauthier is well down the depth chart because Wisconsin returns Jake Chaney, Christian Alliegro and Tyler Jansey and brought in three transfer portal players: Jaheim Thomas, Tackett Curtis and Sebastian Cheeks.
Heiberger and Lafaele, meanwhile, each showcased impressive ability off the edge this spring. There are four scholarship upperclassmen at outside linebacker with Darryl Peterson, Aaron Witt and transfers John Pius and Leon Lowery. When Witt was sidelined with an injury in the spring, Heiberger earned those second-team snaps, with Lafaele pairing with Heiberger on occasion in the backup unit. It won’t be surprising if Heiberger earns a special-teams role, but he has breakout potential on defense. Fickell said on signing day that Heiberger “is exactly what it is that we want to target with the length and athleticism.”
Secondary (4)
None of Wisconsin’s four scholarship true freshmen in the secondary were on campus this spring, so their potential roles are tougher to pin down. Wisconsin signed safety Raphael Dunn, as well as cornerbacks Xavier Lucas, Jay Harper and Omilio Agard. Director of recruiting Pat Lambert said on signing day that Dunn was viewed more as an athlete and the staff didn’t want to pigeonhole him as a safety or a player who could occupy the dollar position in Mike Tressel’s defense, though it’s clear that Dunn (6-4) has hybrid-type skills. Wisconsin’s safety group is loaded with veterans, led by Hunter Wohler, as well as Preston Zachman, Kamo’i Latu and Austin Brown, with redshirt freshman Braedyn Moore also in the room.
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The cornerback room is full with 11 scholarship players, and it would seem difficult for a true freshman to immediately break through. Lambert described Harper as the rawest of the three incoming corners. Wisconsin did well to keep Lucas, a four-star Florida native who committed to Wisconsin but later visited Miami just before the early signing period. Agard, another four-star prospect, may be the readiest to play early but will have to earn opportunities in a deep group.
(Photo: Ron Johnson / USA Today)
