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During the summer doldrums of sports news, many college football fans are starved for news and information regarding their favorite teams.
With that in mind, we at B5Q have decided to take a more detailed look at each walk-on contributor and scholarship player on the Wisconsin Badgers football roster for 2020 in a running feature, our 2020 returnee profiles.
Each weekday we will breakdown one player on the football roster to look back at their recruiting process, their career as a Badger to this juncture and lastly preview their potential contribution to the team in 2020 and beyond.
Today we turn our attention to Quan Easterling.
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Name: Quan Easterling
Position: fullback
2020 eligibility: redshirt freshman
Recruiting info out of HS: 247 composite 3-star, No. 102 ATH, Akron, Ohio
2018 recruitment: At Archbishop Hoban High School, Easterling played a lot of fullback, but also played some tight end and defensive line over the course of his career. In June of 2018 Easterling committed to his hometown team in the Akron Zips. Recruiting appeared to slow for Easterling until Joe Rudolph recognized the potential for him at the fullback position and offered a scholarship in October. December was a big month for Easterling as he took an official visit to Akron on December 7th, and then to Wisconsin on December 8th. It appeared the visit worked well as the following day Easterling decommitted from Akron and committed to Wisconsin.
Career statistics: one game played
2019 statistics: one game played
Player overview: In high school, Easterling took on the role of a thankless job at the fullback position. Joe Rudolph clearly took noticed to the sheer size of Easterling at 6-foot-2, 236 pounds. In addition to size, Easterling possesses a very physical game that is needed at the fullback position. His play is very much downhill, and in his high school tape you see quite a few kids being tossed around by Easterling’s pure strength. Easterling saw a little time last season, and could be a really strong player to take on the fullback role in the future. You can see the potential in his block below.
Best case scenario for 2020: 2019 was a relatively quiet year for Easterling who came into Fall camp battling injuries to his foot and leg. Easterling was healthy enough to play at Illinois and was thrust into the fullback role after John Chenal and Mason Stokke we’re both banged up in the game. Best case scenario for Easterling would be to be fully healthy and compete for the fullback spot. His physical game could really be a good one when he gets his opportunity.
Likely role on team in 2020: With Stokke back as a redshirt senior and John Chenal behind him, Easterling may not see much of the field in 2020 barring injuries. All three fullbacks have different strengths so maybe certain packages will be developed for Easterling, but the roster structure appears that 2021 may be Easterling’s year to see the field.