With Wisconsin’s first summer camp is in the books, BadgerBlitz.com provides some insider notes and analysis from Friday’s action at Camp Randall Stadium.
Badgers get big-time 2020 quarterback on campus
The top prospect on campus Friday was likely Max Johnson, a sophomore quarterback from Georgia who already owns offers from Florida, Michigan, Miami, LSU, Georgia and Wisconsin, among others. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound four-star prospect was joined at camp by his younger brother, Jake Johnson, an elite tight end in the 2022 class.
Max Johnson was head and shoulders above the rest of the quarterback field Friday. The lefty displayed a strong and accurate arm in an array of drills. He also moves well and position coach Jon Budmayr worked a lot on footwork and maneuvering around the pocket during camp. As expected, Johnson, who is the son of former NFL signal caller Brad Johnson, received plenty of one-on-one attention from Budmayr throughout the day.
When camp concluded, Johnson’s parents met with head coach Paul Chryst near the south end zone. Those three spoke for a good amount of time with Budmayr showing the Johnson brothers around other parts of the stadium.
The feeling right now is eldest Johnson favors both Miami and Florida State at this point in his recruitment. But it will be interesting to see if this weekend’s visit pushes the Badgers up his list. He and Harrison Bailey are the only two QBs in the 2020 class with known offers from Wisconsin at this point.
Strong group of linebackers at camp
A talented group of in-state linebackers headlined the defensive prospects on campus Friday. Jeremiah Jordan (Madison Memorial), Dylan Hendricks (Pulaski), Jake Raddatz (Homestead), Thomas Brunner (Whitefish Bay), Derik LeCaptain (Southern Door) and Matthew Wedig (Beloit Memorial) all received a good amount of attention from assistants Bob Bostad and Bobby April. From those five, Johnson needs to add some strength while Raddatz, who plays with his hand in the ground in high school, was a bit raw. Wedig may have been the best of the group, though not by a large margin.
Friday's top performer at linebacker, though, may have been Indiana’s Clayton Coll, who is still in search of his first FBS offer. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound prospect worked at both inside and outside linebacker and received a good amount of face-time with both Bostad and coordinator Jim Leonhard after camp.
The makeup of his Coll’s body is probably better suited for outside backer, meaning the Badgers may want to wait on decisions from [URL='https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2019/lance-dixon-203196']Lance Dixon [/URL]and Spencer Lytle before offering. But after Friday’s performance, it would appear Coll is now in the scholarship discussion moving forward. He's also got a head of hair that rivals Mason Platter from the 2018 class.
Rudolph takes a long look at Engstrand
Offensive line coach Joe Rudolph, who likely has two more scholarships to play with in the 2019 class, took a very long look at 2019 in-state tackle Leif Engstrand. The 6-foot-7, 290-pound junior from Oconomowoc received some one-on-one attention from Rudolph during testing at the start of the day, and that carried through to positional work inside the McClain Center. Engstrand, who has worked his way into double-digit scholarship offers, has the frame to add more good weight. He may not have the ideal “bend” coaches look for in edge players, but he’s certainly someone who had his moments Friday. When Engstrand locked into defenders, he was able to move that at will.
As we’ve said before, the Badgers feel very good about long-time target Bryce Benhart, who grades out higher in comparison to Engstrand at this point. But if he commits elsewhere or gives the impression he’s leaning away from the Badgers, Engstrand could be next in line.
Staying with the OL…
Each year, offensive line is usually the most talented unit at camp. In addition to Engstrand, Friday’s group also included 2020 prospects Dylan Barrett, who was offered just recently, and Nash Hutmacher, who flashed at times. In-state junior Tyler Cooper was also in attendance, though a back injury shut his day down before it even got started.
Barrett was very good and showed solid footwork throughout the day. He needs to get stronger but there's a lot to like there. Hutmacher, who was recently offered by Nebraska, looks like an interior line prospect. His strong wrestling background was apparent in one-on-one drills.
Ertl lays it all on the line
Austin Ertl looked like a man working for a scholarship Friday. The 6-foot-3, 290-pound lineman from Wauwatosa West was first in every drill he participated in and took part in a ton of reps at defensive tackle. With the ability to get lower than the man in front of him, Ertl looked very good on a handful of reps. He also took a lump or two in reps against the top offensive linemen at camp.
With Keeanu Benton already on the commit list and Isaiah Gibson and Gio Paez set to visit officially this month, Ertl may have to continue to wait for a scholarship His decision, though, could already be made before the start of his senior season.
Odds and Ends
*Friday’s camp also provided an opportunity for other Division 1 and Division 2 schools to view the prospects in attendance. Coaches from Northern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Western Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Central Michigan, Valpo and plenty of others were all at Camp Randall to evaluate the talent.
*A handful of players on the current roster helped with camp. That group included Alex Hornibrook, Chris James, Tyler Biadasz, Christian Bell, Chris Orr, Arrington Farrar and Olive Sagapolu, who worked with the defensive linemen in bare feet.
*There was likely just over 100 participants at Friday’s camp.
*Isaiah Gibson and Dean Engram are visiting officially this weekend.
Up Next
Next up in the camp series in the June 8 camp from 10 AM to 1 PM at Camp Randall.
Badgers get big-time 2020 quarterback on campus
The top prospect on campus Friday was likely Max Johnson, a sophomore quarterback from Georgia who already owns offers from Florida, Michigan, Miami, LSU, Georgia and Wisconsin, among others. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound four-star prospect was joined at camp by his younger brother, Jake Johnson, an elite tight end in the 2022 class.
Max Johnson was head and shoulders above the rest of the quarterback field Friday. The lefty displayed a strong and accurate arm in an array of drills. He also moves well and position coach Jon Budmayr worked a lot on footwork and maneuvering around the pocket during camp. As expected, Johnson, who is the son of former NFL signal caller Brad Johnson, received plenty of one-on-one attention from Budmayr throughout the day.
When camp concluded, Johnson’s parents met with head coach Paul Chryst near the south end zone. Those three spoke for a good amount of time with Budmayr showing the Johnson brothers around other parts of the stadium.
The feeling right now is eldest Johnson favors both Miami and Florida State at this point in his recruitment. But it will be interesting to see if this weekend’s visit pushes the Badgers up his list. He and Harrison Bailey are the only two QBs in the 2020 class with known offers from Wisconsin at this point.
Strong group of linebackers at camp
A talented group of in-state linebackers headlined the defensive prospects on campus Friday. Jeremiah Jordan (Madison Memorial), Dylan Hendricks (Pulaski), Jake Raddatz (Homestead), Thomas Brunner (Whitefish Bay), Derik LeCaptain (Southern Door) and Matthew Wedig (Beloit Memorial) all received a good amount of attention from assistants Bob Bostad and Bobby April. From those five, Johnson needs to add some strength while Raddatz, who plays with his hand in the ground in high school, was a bit raw. Wedig may have been the best of the group, though not by a large margin.
Friday's top performer at linebacker, though, may have been Indiana’s Clayton Coll, who is still in search of his first FBS offer. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound prospect worked at both inside and outside linebacker and received a good amount of face-time with both Bostad and coordinator Jim Leonhard after camp.
The makeup of his Coll’s body is probably better suited for outside backer, meaning the Badgers may want to wait on decisions from [URL='https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2019/lance-dixon-203196']Lance Dixon [/URL]and Spencer Lytle before offering. But after Friday’s performance, it would appear Coll is now in the scholarship discussion moving forward. He's also got a head of hair that rivals Mason Platter from the 2018 class.
Rudolph takes a long look at Engstrand
Offensive line coach Joe Rudolph, who likely has two more scholarships to play with in the 2019 class, took a very long look at 2019 in-state tackle Leif Engstrand. The 6-foot-7, 290-pound junior from Oconomowoc received some one-on-one attention from Rudolph during testing at the start of the day, and that carried through to positional work inside the McClain Center. Engstrand, who has worked his way into double-digit scholarship offers, has the frame to add more good weight. He may not have the ideal “bend” coaches look for in edge players, but he’s certainly someone who had his moments Friday. When Engstrand locked into defenders, he was able to move that at will.
As we’ve said before, the Badgers feel very good about long-time target Bryce Benhart, who grades out higher in comparison to Engstrand at this point. But if he commits elsewhere or gives the impression he’s leaning away from the Badgers, Engstrand could be next in line.
Staying with the OL…
Each year, offensive line is usually the most talented unit at camp. In addition to Engstrand, Friday’s group also included 2020 prospects Dylan Barrett, who was offered just recently, and Nash Hutmacher, who flashed at times. In-state junior Tyler Cooper was also in attendance, though a back injury shut his day down before it even got started.
Barrett was very good and showed solid footwork throughout the day. He needs to get stronger but there's a lot to like there. Hutmacher, who was recently offered by Nebraska, looks like an interior line prospect. His strong wrestling background was apparent in one-on-one drills.
Ertl lays it all on the line
Austin Ertl looked like a man working for a scholarship Friday. The 6-foot-3, 290-pound lineman from Wauwatosa West was first in every drill he participated in and took part in a ton of reps at defensive tackle. With the ability to get lower than the man in front of him, Ertl looked very good on a handful of reps. He also took a lump or two in reps against the top offensive linemen at camp.
With Keeanu Benton already on the commit list and Isaiah Gibson and Gio Paez set to visit officially this month, Ertl may have to continue to wait for a scholarship His decision, though, could already be made before the start of his senior season.
Odds and Ends
*Friday’s camp also provided an opportunity for other Division 1 and Division 2 schools to view the prospects in attendance. Coaches from Northern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Western Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Central Michigan, Valpo and plenty of others were all at Camp Randall to evaluate the talent.
*A handful of players on the current roster helped with camp. That group included Alex Hornibrook, Chris James, Tyler Biadasz, Christian Bell, Chris Orr, Arrington Farrar and Olive Sagapolu, who worked with the defensive linemen in bare feet.
*There was likely just over 100 participants at Friday’s camp.
*Isaiah Gibson and Dean Engram are visiting officially this weekend.
Up Next
Next up in the camp series in the June 8 camp from 10 AM to 1 PM at Camp Randall.
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