Wisconsin football recruiting: two offers go out in the 2023 class

Recruiting is the lifeblood of any major college athletics team, but following it closely as a fan can sometimes be difficult and can often be time consuming. We’ll try and condense all the recruiting news you can use into this bi-weekly (sometimes more) post. It’ll include updates on current commits, including stats from their high school games, as well as news on players the Badgers are still pursuing. Let’s get down to business!

New offers

• Both of these offers were earned at the end of January but slipped through the cracks here at B5Q ‘Crootin Headquarters. 2023 3-star OT Joe Crocker (Nashville, Tenn.) out of Franklin Road Academy was one of the offers that the Badgers handed out. Crocker has over two dozen offers with schools like Florida State, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Virginia Tech having thrown their hats into the ring.

Crocker is a big boy, standing at 6-foot-6 and weighing over 310 pounds. The 247 Sports Composite ranks him as the No. 361 player and No. 24 OT in the whole country while being the No. 11 player in the state of Tennessee. On3 has him ranked a bit lower while Rivals has him listed as a 4-star.

Crocker is certainly a guy that finishes his blocks. In almost every highlight on his tape he ends up basically laying on top of the guy he was blocking, sometimes pushing him back down after the play has already moved to the next level. It’s the type of nastiness you like to see in an offensive lineman. I would defer to someone more knowledgeable on the topic, but he doesn’t appear to be too athletic and needs some work on his technique. I’d imagine that is definitely something that can be fixed with some time in a Power 5 strength program and meeting room though.

• 2023 3-star CB Jonas Duclona (Naples, Fla.) out of Naples High School also received an offer from the Badgers. Duclona has other offers from Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina, Florida, Iowa, Iowa State, Ole Miss, USF and others. 247 also notes that Auburn and Florida State have shown interest but neither have offered yet.

Standing right at 6-foot and weighing around 175 pounds, Duclona is ranked as the No. 58 CB and No. 95 player in Florida by 247’s standalone rankings. According to his Hudl tape, he recorded 38 tackles, broke up 10 passes, recovered two fumbles and picked off four passes during his junior season.

Duclona, who has a brother who goes to a different high school and is also a 2023 prospect, has an intriguing tape here. He has good instincts, really impressive ball skills and isn’t afraid to stick his nose in the mix and make a tackle. This is a player I could see blowing up and attracting some bigger names.

Random recruiting notes

• 2025 DB/WR Tre Poteat (Verona) received his first FBS scholarship offer earlier this week. The son of Wisconsin’s CB coach Hank Poteat, Tre’s first offer came from the Toledo Rockets.

• 2023 4-star WR Anthony Brown (Springfield, Ohio) recently decommitted from Minnesota. The Badgers had offered Brown and will, presumably, at least reach out and see if he wants to visit Madison.

• Former Wisconsin WR Cooper Nelson signed on with Winona State on National Signing Day.