Wisconsin Football Lands Two 3-Star Recruits & Move Up in Rankings

This past week the Wisconsin Football Program has gotten two more commitments from 3-star athletes as they continue to move up in the recruiting rankings.

There was about a four or five-week stretch through April and most of May where the Wisconsin Football Program didn’t have any 2021 commitments. However, that hasn’t been the case recently as over the past week the Badgers landed two more 3-star recruits shortly after 4-star tight end Jack Pugh announced his commitment about a week ago.

The first commitment of the week came from the 6’3″ – 235 pound defensive end Darryl Peterson from Akron, Ohio. According to 247Sports Composite Rankings, Peterson is the 31st ranked stong-side defensive end in the 2021 class, and in addition to Wisconsin, he was also considering West Virginia and Alabama.

In a recent interview with Jesse Temple of The Athletic (subscription required),Peterson had this to say about his game and what he will bring to the Badgers:

"“I bring a lot of energy, and I make the game fun to watch,” Peterson said. “I get to the quarterback. That’s what I love to do. I love to sack quarterbacks. That brings me joy.”"

Well, if sacking the quarterback brings Peterson that much joy, he must have had the time of his life during his junior season where he would total an incredible 21 sacks along with 45 tackles, 24 of which were for a loss.

The next domino to fall this past week was another 3-star defensive end in Mike Jarvis from Medford, New Jersey. Playing for the Badgers has always been a dream of Jarvis’ and now it will become a reality as he is the 13th player from the 2021 class to commit.

Listed at 6’5″ – 250 pounds, Jarvis had several other offers including schools such as Florida State, Nebraska, Virginia, Duke, and Indiana among others. During his junior season, he would line up as a defensive tackle where he put up huge numbers that included 87 total tackles, 28 of which were for a loss, along with 10 sacks and four forced fumbles.

In a recent interview with Evan Flood of 247Sports, Jarvis’ high school football coach, Tim Gushue mentioned that Wisconsin’s winning tradition was a big reason that it was his “dream school” and that Jarvis just doesn’t like football, but he loves it.

When talking specifically about Jarvis’ game, Gushue had this to say:

"“He’s got a great first step, he can run to the ball, he’s relentless in pursuit,” said Gushue. “He’s got great football sense.”"

With these two new additions, Wisconsin Football’s 2021 class continues to climb the recruiting rankings and has a chance to surpass the 2020 class as the highest-rated group in program history.

Before the week began, the Badgers ranked 18th but they’ve now moved up to 16th nationally with their 13 commitments. They also rank sixth in the Big Ten at the moment, but as I’ve pointed out before, with 247Sports points ranking system that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are sixth in terms of quality. It simply could mean that some schools just have more commitments right now.

For example, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, and Maryland are all ranked ahead of the Badgers, but all four schools have between 15 and 18 recruits committed, while as I’ve mentioned, Wisconsin has just 13. Although they may not surpass all four schools, there is a very good chance they overtake Iowa, and Maryland, along with Minnesota.

With the buzz on Twitter from Saeed Khalif the Director of Player Personnel and Jensen Gebhardt a Recruiting Analyst for the Badgers, they are suggesting that more commitments are to follow in the very near future. And they could very well be some more high-profile players as well.

A few names to keep your eyes on are 4-star defensive end T.J. Bollers and 3-star cornerback Ricardo Hallman.

Since Barry Alveraz took over as Head Coach, the Wisconsin Football Program has been a consistent winner. But now with their last few recruiting classes, they have their sights set on the College Football Playoffs.

As Paul Chryst told 4-star safety Hunter Wohler, “why can’t it be Wisconsin?”