Wisconsin Football: Badgers offer 5-star defensive end Myles Murphy

Wisconsin Football’s next offer in the class of 2020 is in, and it’s a big one.

Wisconsin reeled in a 5-star prospect for the first time since 2007 in the class of 2019, with offensive tackle Logan Brown signed, sealed, and delivered. The nation’s No. 17 overall player in the class is just the fourth of his kind to sign with the Badgers in the history of the program, so it seems highly unlikely that Paul Chryst and his staff will find a way to get it done for the second straight year in 2020.

Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean they aren’t going to try.

On Friday, the Badgers offered Hillgrove (Powder Springs, GA) defensive end Myles Murphy, who represents Wisconsin’s 11th offer to a 5-star recruit in the 2020 cycle. The 6’5, 255-pounder ranks as the No. 2 strong-side defensive end and No. 13 overall player according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

As you would expect for a player of his talent, Murphy’s offer list is impressive, to say the least. Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Penn State, South Carolina, and Virginia Tech have all thrown their hats in the ring for his services, with the home-state Bulldogs currently trending to land him.

There’s certainly no harm in extending an offer, but I can’t imagine the Badgers putting in too much effort in this recruitment. It’s tough to see Wisconsin finding a way to pull an elite prospect like Murphy out of the south when the likes of Alabama, Clemson, and Georgia are all in hot pursuit. Each of those programs are on the top tier of the college football world at the moment, and look as though they will be staying that way for the foreseeable future. Plus, it’s highly unlikely a top defensive line prospect like this would opt to play for Wisconsin when he has a chance to star in the trenches for Nick Saban or Dabo Swinney, who excel at developing elite defensive line recruits into elite NFL prospects.

In addition, even when Wisconsin has landed a 5-star recruit in the past, it has usually been because of unique circumstances. For example, the Badgers snagged Logan Brown in large part because they identified him as a priority and began recruiting him much earlier than the other schools that eventually came calling. In fact, Wisconsin was his first Power 5 offer. When you are able to establish a relationship with a player and his family so early on, you are putting yourself in great position to be there at the end come decision time.

Unfortunately for Wisconsin, they almost certainly got to Murphy much too late to make much of a dent in his recruitment.

Regardless, the Badgers are off to a great start in their 2020 class, with commitments from three exciting lineman prospects in Jack Nelson, Trey Wedig, Ben Barten, and Dylan Barrett. After signing a dynamite 2019 class, Wisconsin fans have got to feel pretty optimistic about the direction of the program.