Wisconsin football recruiting: the 2022 QB situation

Most major FBS schools want to take one quarterback in every recruiting class. The Wisconsin Badgers are no different and took 4-star Graham Mertz (Overland Park, Kan.) in 2019, 6-foot-7 walk-on Daniel Wright (Sergeant Bluff, Iowa) in 2020 and 4-star Deacon Hill (Santa Barbara, Calif.) in 2021. With their 2021 class mostly filled out a lot of attention has turned to the 2022 class.

The Badgers had one commit for the 2022 class until 4-star in-state S Braelon Allen opted to reclassify to the 2021 class late last week. So now they are back to square one with the 2022 class, but still have a number of, as 247 Sports’ Evan Flood would put it, burgers on the grill. Quarterbacks tend to commit earlier than other positions during recruiting cycles which is why the only two QBs that Wisconsin has offered in 2022 have already committed elsewhere.

4-star Brady Allen (Fort Branch, Ind.) committed to Purdue back in July, which wasn’t a big surprise as the Badgers were never serious contenders for his services, while 3-star Devin Brown (Queen Creek, Ariz.) just committed to Southern Cal on Saturday which was a surprise.

As recently as Thursday of last week, Brown was getting Crystal Ball predictions to the Badgers so things clearly changed rapidly for him and now he is off the board.

Where do the Badgers turn now? They don’t have any other offers out in the 2022 class, but there are players they have been keeping tabs on. Who are they? Where does UW fit into their recruitment? Let’s take a look!

• The name Myles Burkett is now at the forefront of the QB discussion for Wisconsin recruiting followers. The Franklin native is rated as a 3-star (83 overall) by 247Sports and is listed as the No. 44 pro-style QB in the country. He currently only has one offer, from Central Michigan, but it is thought the Badgers may offer him now that Brown is off the board.

Burkett completed 70.9 percent of his passes for 1,824 yards and 24 touchdowns with only five interceptions as a sophomore while also running for 539 yards and another five scores. While 247 still lists him as a pro-style passer, he clearly has some running ability that would be enticing for the offense.

• 3-star pro-style QB Donovan Leary (Sicklerville, N.J.) is another potential offer for the Badgers. Quarterbacks coach Jon Budmayr saw Leary throw last spring ($) before in-person recruiting was shut down, but didn’t offer due to Wisconsin’s perceived standing with Brown.

Leary is ranked as the No. 485 player and No. 28 pro-style QB in the country by the 247Sports Composite and he holds offers from Boston College, East Carolina, Maryland, Rutgers, Temple, Virginia Tech and others. As a sophomore last season, according to MaxPreps, Leary threw for 3,054 yards (63.3 completion percentage) and 28 touchdowns. He also rushed for 168 yards and three more scores.

• Last, but not least, on the potential offer train is also the highest rated QB that 247Sports notes the Badgers have taken a look at. 4-star pro-style QB Cade Klubnik (Austin, Texas) out of Westlake High School is a player Wisconsin would be interested in now that Brown is off the board. You may know Westlake as the same high school that produced Super Bowl champion QBs Drew Brees and Nick Foles as well as presumed Wisconsin starting RB this year, Nakia Watson.

Klubnik is rated as the No. 251 player and No. 10 pro-style QB in the country by the 247Sports Composite and has offers from Baylor, Auburn, LSU, Miami (Fla.), Ole Miss, Michigan State, Nebraska, TCU, Utah and others to his name already. As the backup QB for the Texas 6A D-II state champion Westlake team, he threw for 680 yards (76.8 completion percentage), eight touchdowns and only one interception. He also ran for 271 yards (5.6 yards per carry) and four scores.