The new recruits (part I)

Big win for the Badgers yesterday against Illinois. The Big Ten has some of the most intimidating home courts in the nation, with few more daunting than Assembly Hall. I think I heard on Disney’s stepchild station that the Illini are like 102-6 (or I guess 102-7, now) at home over the past seven years or something and that sea of orange deserves a lot of the credit.
So, you got to love the fact that the Badgers went in there and pulled out a tough win. It says a lot about this team.
But I’m a football guy, and with the NFL Conference Championship games going on today, my thoughts quickly turned to that glorious oblong piece of pig. And without any rooting interests in either game other than being anti-hurricane and with national signing day drawing near, I decided it’d be a good time to take a look at the Badgers’ new crop of recruits, especially with their big win in the Artist-Formerly-Known-As-The-Citrus-Bowl fresh in our minds.
Now, there are a lot of recruits to get through (16, so far), so I’m going to split this up into three parts. Here’s part one:

Josh Oglesby, OT
There’s really no other place to start than with Oglesby, the prize of the Badgers’ 2007 recruiting class. This 6-7, 320 lb. man-child is the heir-apparent to everybody’s hero, Joe Thomas, and is expected to anchor the left side of the Badgers’ line for years to come.
And judging from Oglesby on tape, he will. He straight up dominates kids.
Oglesby comes off the ball and just pounds and manhandles any defender that comes in sight. And, unfortunately for many smaller, pubescent high school linebackers in the Milwaukee area, Oglesby is quick enough to get to the second level.
The most impressive thing about Oglesby, though, is not only does he play physically, he seems to want to play physically. He wants to manhandle you. He wants to dominate you. Once he’s finished clobbering some kid, he’s off looking for the next one.
And on every clip I saw, Oglesby blocks and pushes and fights until the whistle. You can just tell he lives to push kids’ shit in.
He’s nasty — and you got to love that if you’re a Badger fan.
My only concern, though, is that Oglesby isn’t very fundamentally sound, yet. He plays high and seems to rely solely on his sheer size and strength when he’s blocking, which is kind of understandable when you realize how ridiculously massive he is.
He doesn’t so much block kids as toss them around like a dog playing with a chew toy. And you have to wonder if he’ll be able to do that when he’s lined up against d-ends and linebackers who are just as big and physical as he is.
But, again…the dude’s 6-7, 320 lbs. and he has a mean streak. So, I’m not too worried about it.
Oglesby might not be the same player as Joey T, who relied on the best fundamentals in college football to dominate his opposition instead of brute strength. But, at first glance, Oglesby looks like he’ll be every bit as dominant.

John Clay, RB
This kid can run the football.
He’s not a sprinter. I’m not saying he can run — I’m saying the kid can run the football.
On tape, Clay shows great vision. He follows his blocks well and once he’s in the open field, he makes smart, quick cuts to turn good runs into game-breakers.
And though he makes some great cuts to get upfield, he’s not afraid to lower his shoulder and level someone.
There’s just not a whole lot not to like…Clay hits the hole hard, follows his blocks well and knows what cuts to make to move the ball downfield.
ESPN also has him listed at 6-2, 220 lb., which is a lot of running back. And a big-time college weight-training program should do him well, making him into a slimmer, but even stronger runner.
My only concern is — just like with any recruit — can he do what he did in high school at the next level?
Clay fights for extra yardage and seems to always fall forward. But, can he do that against Michigan or Ohio State’s linebacker corps?
His size says he probably should. But we’ll just have to wait and see.

Zacchaeus Brown, RB
I’m a little bit confused by Brown.
On tape, this kid looks ridiculously fast. He just blows by defenders. He usually doesn’t even need to use a move or make a cut most of the time — he just switches to that “next” gear and runs around and away from people.
But, then I looked at his reported 40-time on rivals.com and it said “4.6.”
Now, for you and me, that’s pretty fast. But, for a 5-11, 185 lb., D-I running back, that’s not very fast. Obviously, there’s a difference between speed and “football speed,” but from looking at Brown on tape, this kid’s game is straight speed. He makes it to the sideline and then just turns on the jets.
So, needless to say, I’m a little concerned that slower high school competition might have made this kid look better than he actually is.
But, there are still plenty of things to like about Brown.
First of all, he has great balance. Brown is often able to break tackles simply because he always keeps his feet under him. When he gets tripped up, he’s able to regain his balance quickly, and from there, it’s off to the races.
Second of all, he’s shown some great hands. I saw one clip where Brown gets a ball lofted up to him while he’s running up the hash mark, right in the direct line of two defensive backs. He jumps up for the ball, catches it at its highest point, gets rocked and still holds on.
It was only one play, one catch, but it was impressive nonetheless.
So, right now, Brown looks like a potential third-down back down the road, and if he’s as fast as he looks on tape, he should be a pretty good one.
I’m also happy with Brown for another reason: He’s from Florida, which means the Badgers are expanding their recruiting base.
Florida is one of the three so-called “speed states” (the others being California and Texas) and it’s great to see the Badgers starting to plant some seeds in these areas.
It’s because of recruits from these states that the Gators are the Gators, the Trojans are the Trojans, and why the Longhorns are the Longhorns.
It’s not a coincidence that Florida, Texas and USC have won the past four national championships. Just think about where their recruiting bases are.

Quincy Landingham, S
A two-way running back and safety in high school, Landingham, according to ESPN, decommitted from Michigan State after the Spartan’s coaching change, committed to Wisconsin instead, and is probably in Madison right now after graduating early from high school to join the team this spring.
This should work out well for the Badgers for a number of reasons.
First of all, Landingham is smart and, just like quarterbacks, offensive linemen and linebackers, you want your safeties to be smart. According to rivals.com, Landingham graduated early from Bloomfield Hills (MI) Lahser with a 3.8 GPA and scored a 28 on his ACT. So, it’s nice to see that Landingham has a good head on his shoulders.
And he plays smart, too. He has good instincts and seems to always get himself where he needs to be to make a tackle or a play on the ball.
Second of all, Landingham shows a lot of potential to be a good return man for Wisconsin. While watching tape of him run the football, one word consistently came to mind: elusive. Landingham’s fast, he’s shifty and, most importantly for a return guy, he’s able to juke and jive his way out of a crowd and find open field. He’s tough to bring down and he has breakaway speed — just what you want out of a return man.
Third of all, the kid’s an athlete. He has the speed to stay with receivers, the hops to out jump them for the ball and the strength to knock their asses down if he doesn’t get it.
The one thing I’m a little worried about is his tackling. He hits hard and square, but it doesn’t look like he keeps his feet well. They just die and go limp on impact.
It’s just a little thing that’s easily remedied with practice, and to be honest, I’m more impressed that Landingham tackles with his shoulders instead of with his arms, like so many d-backs.
I think Landingham’s going to be a good one for the Badgers.

Kevin Rouse, ILB
The phrase “high-motor” is thrown around a lot these days, but whatever it is, Rouse has it. This kid’s a hustler.
On tape, Rouse consistently fights through blocks and through all the line traffic to get to the football. He takes good angles and he meets the ball carrier at full speed. He has some pop to hits, too, which is always nice to see.
But, the most impressive thing to me about Rouse is that he goes 100 percent every play and he doesn’t quit until it’s over. Caught on the opposite side of sweep play? Doesn’t matter. Rouse is sprinting down the line and making the play. Quarterback bootlegging away from him on a full sprint? Doesn’t matter. Rouse is fighting through blocks, taking a good angle and is there to take him down.
The kid’s also got some speed. Rouse just looks faster than everyone else on tape and he closes on the ball carrier very well.
Right now, Rouse is listed at 6-0, 220 lb., which is fine heading out of high school, but he’s probably going to want to get a little bit bigger so he can fight off centers and fullbacks in the Big Ten. But, that probably shouldn’t be a problem in a big time college weight-training program.
I’m excited to see what this kid can do.

Okay, so that’s all for now. I’ll get to the next batch some other time.