Wisconsin football recruiting: UW set to host second major visit weekend on June 18th

While Wisconsin is still hoping to see some massive returns from their first official visit weekend two weekends ago, they have another group of heavy hitters coming to town this upcoming weekend (June 18th).

What this group may not have in (recruiting ranking) star-power compared to the first weekend, it makes up for in theoretical potential, as a couple of the players making their official visits are far from finished products and thus, less recruiting attention/stars and pomp and circumstance.

This weekend’s group has:

• 1 QB
• 1 WR
• 1 TE
• 1 OL
• 2 DL
• 1 DB
• 1 ATH (athlete designation)

Rather than last article where I broke them up into more traditional groups, we’re just going to go through the visitors in this linear sequence listed above.

Myles Burkett, QB, 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, Franklin HS (Committed)

Myles Burkett is the No. 652 rated prospect nationally by 247Sports, and the No. 40 ranked quarterback in the country. He’s currently the only committed player in the Class of 2022 for the Badgers, but that will be changing in short order as these weeks of visits are completed.

Burkett is the first in-state quarterback to be offered a scholarship by, and commit to, the University of Wisconsin since Tyler Donovan (Hartland Arrowhead) in 2003. Burkett, a two-time SEC (the real Southeastern Conference) Offensive Player of the Year, has a live arm and shows the willingness to hang in the pocket to deliver the football as opposed to getting antsy and bailing. While praising his ability in the pocket, he’s also a very solid athlete, and has the ability to thrive on the move and extending plays. Displays nice touch on his passes, and his prowess for getting the ball out quickly should quickly ingratiate himself with Paul Chryst and the rest of the quarterback room. It should also be noted that Burkett has already made himself a big recruiting tool for the Badgers, and has developed relationships with other potential recruits.
Does he become a Badger: Barring a catastrophic failure, absolutely.

Tommy McIntosh, WR/TE, 6-foot-5, 203 pounds, Dewitt HS (Dewitt, Mich.)

McIntosh is currently rated as the No. 813 recruit nationally, as well as the No. 104 wide receiver in the country, by 247Sports. While this is likely not the ringing endorsement you were looking for, McIntosh provides some reason for optimism, much more than his current recruiting rankings.

McIntosh, first and foremost, would be a completely unique member of the receiver room from a size profile. At 6-foot-5, the Badgers don’t have anyone of that stature in the room, and there has also been some rumblings that he could be a potential tight end convert down the line (he did lineup there occasionally in high school), but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

On his highlights, McIntosh immediately stands out from his ability to win contested catch situations. He’s much taller than any defensive backs he faced in high school, and while he doesn’t have much in the twitchy, burst department, he’s a build up runner whose long strides help him pull away from defenders with the ball in his hands.
Does he become a Badger?: Yes.

J.T. Seagreaves, TE, 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, Monroe HS

J.T. Seagreaves, who is currently unranked by 247, is exactly the type of recruit who was hurt the most by the pandemic last year. Without summer camps and other ways to get recruits on campus, guys like Seagreaves, who plays the single receiver in Monroe’s very run heavy offense, didn’t have the opportunity to display his athleticism at camps for schools.

Seagreaves was seen mostly as a basketball recruit prior to this summer, when the Badgers (seem) to have essentially picked offering Seagreaves over Waunakee 3-star tight end Andrew Keller. With the amount of scholarships that have gone to rebuilding the tight end position over the past couple of classes, it speaks volumes about how quickly Wisconsin has jumped on Seagreaves and gotten him back on campus multiple times after offering him a scholarship. This very much screams a “we know what we want, we don’t need to see anything else” approach from the Badgers.

As a player who won almost solely on athletic ability, he’s very raw and will need time to develop, which makes his situation perfect behind the likes of Jake Ferguson, Hayden Rucci, Cam Large, Clay Cundiff, Jack Eschenbach, etc.
Does he become a Badger?: Yes, maybe even this weekend.

Barrett Nelson, OT, 6-foot-6, 255 pounds, Fall River HS

Barrett Nelson, the younger brother of former 5-star OT Jack Nelson, is currently the No. 110 ranked offensive tackle in the nation, per 247Sports.

Nelson, who moved to Fall River from Stoughton last summer in order to play football in the fall, screams luxury pickup for the Badgers. Obviously, having a brother in the program and a father who played for the program doesn’t hurt, but Wisconsin isn’t offering kids for the fun of it. Nelson screams upside, as a player who is still filling out physically, but has the athleticism and length to be a major player at offensive tackle or guard in the future for the Cardinal and White.

Watching his highlights, you see he’s at a lower level of competition and just physically overwhelms his opponents without a ton of technique. That’s fine with Wisconsin, as they’ll redshirt him, and take this big piece of moldable clay, and put him into the “OL Factory”, as RB coach Gary Brown often calls it.
Does he become a Badger?: Yes. A matter of when, not if.

K.J. Miles, DL, 6-foot-3, 286 pounds, St. Peter’s Prep (Jersey City, N.J.)

Miles, the only recruit rated higher than a 3-stars on this weekend, is ranked as the No. 350 overall player in this class, and the No. 50 rated defensive linemen.

Miles, who is also an accomplished offensive lineman, shows impressive movement ability for a man nearing 300 pounds. Unlike Quentel Jones who you’ll read about next, Miles is more in the three-technique (outside shoulder of the guard) mold, where he can play more upfield and use his athleticism, as opposed to a nose guard. Think of an Alec James or Chikwe Obasih type of player.

The way the Badgers so consistently stunt and move their defensive linemen, Miles is the type of player who could see time early, or at the very least get on the field in the Badgers’ 4-2-5 nickel fronts, when they use two outside linebackers as the typical “40 front defensive ends”.
Does he become a Badger?: Yes, but it’s going to be competitive. Certainly not an immediate commitment.

Quentel Jones, NT, 6-foot-2, 315 pounds, Peach County HS (Fort Valley, Ga.)

Jones is currently the No. 573 overall recruit nationally by 247Sports, as well as the No. 87 rated defensive lineman.

Other than being a thick young man, watching Jones’ tape you’ll see a plus-sized athlete who was asked to not only play on the inside for his HS, but also on the edge, which is exciting. Now, I very much doubt that Jim Leonhard will ask him to do the same, but the fact that his high school gave him the freedom to play outside speaks to his movement ability at 300 plus pounds.

Jones will be a nose tackle for the Badgers, but if he can provide some juice as a pass rusher (see: Benton, Keeanu), he’ll have the ability to stay on the field in long and late down situations. Also, Jones wears the number nine as a defensive lineman, and studies done by various scientists have proven that if you wear a single digit as a 275 plus pound human you’re simply better at football. My sources? 1. You know it, 2. I know it, 3. We all know it.
Does he become a Badger?: Tentatively no, but hopefully(!!!)

Avyonne Jones, CB, 5-foot-11, 185 pounds, Southlake Carroll HS (Southlake, Texas)

Avyonne Jones is currently ranked as the No. 100 cornerback in the nation by 247 Sports. Jones’ recruitment has been an odd one, as this is his second time he’s been slated as an official visitor for the Badgers. Jones had previously committed to Oklahoma State back in April, but would recant on that decision, and re-open his recruitment. Re-enter the Badgers.

Jones is from Southlake Carroll HS, a national power and the alma mater of the No. 1 quarterback in the 2022 class in Ohio State commit Quinn Ewers. While obviously the Badgers are targeting Jones because of his merit as a player, getting a member of Southlake Carroll into the Badger pipeline never hurts for future recruiting purposes.

Jones’ tape is littered with making plays on the football, which is obviously something Wisconsin covets in their cover corners. While he’s not to the Rachad Wildgoose end of the physicality spectrum, Jones will do just fine in Madison. Also, his connection with current UW corner Caesar Williams is notable, as the two train together down in Texas.
Does he become a Badger?: Yes

Cade Yacamelli, ATH, 6-foot, 185 pounds, Penn Trafford HS (Harrison City, Pa.)

Yacamelli is currently unranked by 247 Sports, and listed as a quarterback, but Wisconsin is recruiting him as an athlete (very similar to current Badger safety, and fellow Pennsylvanian, Preston Zachman).

Unironically, I see Yacamelli as a similar athlete to Zachman. His highlight has him mostly at running back for his high school, and while he’s not staggeringly fast or twitchy, he’s a very fluid athlete and pulls away from his competition on long runs. Safety is likely his end destination, but athletes like Yacamelli are great, low risk additions for programs like Wisconsin to make.

Sticks at safety? Cool. Bulks up and plays some linebacker? Awesome. Never really finds a home but is a demon on special teams? They’ll take it. Yacamelli is another kid, like Seagreaves, who benefitted greatly from his ability to camp with Wisconsin and work individually with Badger coaching.
Does he become a Badger?: Yes, could be this weekend.