Does Hardy Watts' commitment make Wisconsin's class of 2025 its best OL class ever?

Wisconsin landed a commitment from top-ranked class of 2025 offensive lineman Hardy Watts on Monday.

Watts chose the Badgers over other finalists Michigan and Clemson. He is commitment No. 22 in the class of 2025, a group that now ranks No. 15 in the nation and No. 5 in the new Big Ten.

The Badgers earning the lineman’s commitment after a down-to-the-final-minute recruiting battle marks arguably the program’s biggest recruiting win of the Luke Fickell era. It is especially impressive when considering the context of Watts’ pedigree, his other finalists and Wisconsin’s desperate need for more blue-chip talent.

Monday was a defining day of Wisconsin’s class of 2025 recruiting cycle and should help the program in its pursuit of its remaining top targets.

Watts now leads a Wisconsin class of 2025 offensive line group that also includes four-star OT Logan Powell, three-star OT Nolan Davenport, three-star OT Michael Roeske and three-star OT Cam Clark. It is an impressive group that projects to help the program improve on its recent poor play at the position.

But one common reaction to Watts’ commitment was that his addition made it the program’s best offensive line class of all time. That, at least up to this point, is not the case.

Wisconsin class of 2025 offensive line commits (247Sports rating): Watts (0.9206), Powell (0.8976), Davenport (0.8776), Roeske (0.8878) and Clark (0.8714). That is good for an average player rating of 0.891 and 3.4 stars

Again, it is an impressive class that should lead to good on-field results from the position group in the coming years. But the group does not surpass that from Wisconsin’s program-best class of 2021.

Wisconsin class of 2021 offensive line commits (247Sports rating): five-star OT Nolan Rucci (0.9918), four-star OT Riley Mahlman (0.9379), four-star OT J.P. Benzschawel (0.9397). That group boasts an average player rating of 0.954 and 4.33 stars.

There are some who look back with the benefit hindsight and cite that Rucci never won a starting job and transferred to Penn State. But we are not comparing the best college careers, it’s a comparison of the best recruiting classes. For that comparison to mean anything it must ignore what the players do when they arrive on campus.

It will take several unforeseen commitments, including maybe a five-star, for Wisconsin’s class of 2025 offensive line group to surpass the 2021 trio.

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