Wisconsin Football: Takeaways From Luke Fickell’s Recruiting Thus Far

How has Wisconsin football done in recruiting under Luke Fickell thus far?

Madison, Wis. – Wisconsin’s athletic director Chris McIntosh made one of the most significant moves in the nation when he hired Luke Fickell as the new Wisconsin football head coach on November 28th, 2022.

Since the hire, Fickell has put on a masterclass in recruiting. Fickell has secured four high-school recruits and five transfer portal additions in just over a month. He shows no signs of stopping, as two transfer wide receivers, CJ Williams and Quincy Burroughs, are on visits this weekend.

The Fickell era has already brought plenty of excitement. With that said, here are some of the biggest takeaways in Fickell’s recruiting thus far.

Luke Fickell: The QB Whisperer

Since Graham Mertz departed from the program, fans have raised questions about who would be the new signal caller in 2023. Those questions were answered in Fickell’s short tenure and then some.

Three quarterbacks have committed to Wisconsin since Fickell took over. Those QBs include four-star recruit Mabrey Mettauer, Oklahoma transfer Nick Evers, and SMU transfer Tanner Mordecai. Each signal-caller brings unique abilities, giving Wisconsin’s quarterback room plenty of versatility.

With the excellent QBs committed, UW is looking at a deep quarterback room in 2023. It’s unknown who will step up to be the starter next season, but every quarterback in the room has the tools to become QB1 and make a significant impact in the air raid offense.

Defensive backs have been a point of emphasis for Wisconsin football recruiting

The Badgers faced a unique situation following the 2022 season. Starting cornerbacks Jay Shaw and Cedrick Dort II came in as graduate transfers and finished their college careers in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl game. Since both CBs will declare for the NFL Draft, UW faces a predicament without their two starting corners for the 2023 season.

However, Fickell found intriguing prospects through high school commitments and transfer portal additions. Fickell has put together a formidable group of young talent with commitments from four-star athlete/safety Braedyn Moore, four-star CB Amare Snowden, and three-star corner Jonas Duclona. It doesn’t stop there, though, as Boston College transfer Jason Maitre committed to Wisconsin last week.

Fickell has put together an excellent group of defensive backs who have the tools to make an impact on day one. With the youth in the defensive talent, it will be interesting to see which players can climb their way up the depth chart and get the starting nod.

Let Fickell cook in the transfer portal

There have been some exciting high school recruits Fickell has secured. However, the transfer portal is where he has made the biggest moves.

According to 247Sports, the five transfer portal additions land UW with the 25th-ranked transfer class in the nation. As stated before, there are multiple recruits on campus this weekend. If Fickell can secure commitments from Williams and Burroughs, Wisconsin will continue to climb the transfer rankings.

Fickell has stated that he doesn’t want UW to be known as a transfer program. However, his additions through the transfer portal have been valuable. If Fickell can continue to use his reach and secure team needs through the portal, Wisconsin football can build something special for years to come.

Contact/Follow us @Badger_Notes on Twitter, Subscribe to the BadgerNotes Newsletter here, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion, and analysis. You can also follow Jake Maier on Twitter. @JakeJMaier.

Join the Badger Notes watch party and stream Wisconsin games for FREE by clicking this link.

*Chat about this article over at Badgers After Dark