Wisconsin hasn’t gotten a first round pick since 2017.
The Wisconsin Badgers have been one of the most storied programs in college football history. They’ve constantly had success, played a specific style of football, and developed players for the NFL.
However, it’s been a while since the Badgers have produced a first-round pick in the NFL, with the last being T.J. Watt, who was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the No. 30 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Since then, Wisconsin hasn’t had a player taken in the Top 32 picks.
They’ve been close on several occasions. Jonathan Taylor was the No. 41 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Joe Tippmann and Keeanu Benton were the No. 43 and No. 49 picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, respectively. Beyond that, Michael Deiter, Leo Chenal, Zack Baun, and Logan Bruss have all been third-round picks since 2017.
But, Wisconsin hasn’t cracked the first-round pick formula recently and instead had just two players drafted in the 2024 NFL Draft, which was their lowest total since 2016.
Is producing first-round picks important to head coach Luke Fickell’s staff as they try and navigate their current rebuild?
“It’s what you sell when you walk in the doors here,” Fickell said. “I mean, they’ve seen it in front of them, they’ve seen it happen in the past. And that’s what our job is to do, is to develop guys. Not everybody’s gonna have that opportunity. We understand that. Okay, but who’s to say they don’t?
“I mean, obviously we’ve got two great examples of somebody that would said they were never going to be a first-round draft pick in the Watts, right? And then all of a sudden, [they] become first-round draft picks. So there isn’t just this magic. You’ve got to have this height, you got to have this weight. So it’s a development piece.
“And so to me, if guys aren’t coming here and have that goal and dream and belief, then they’re going to be in the wrong program. So, we’ve got to continue to develop, to be able to give those guys opportunities and understand if it doesn’t happen, there’s still many more ways and many opportunities to make that in the NFL. And I think that’s what we’re trying to prepare these guys for more than anything.”
The first step to developing those types of talent is recruiting. And Wisconsin has put together some strong recruiting classes to kick off the Fickell era, ranking inside or near the Top 25 in both 2024 and 2025.
Now, it’s time to see the development program come to fruition if Wisconsin is to have first-round picks in the future.