The Wisconsin football team continues to get quarterbacks to come to Wisconsin, despite being a ‘run-first’ program. First, 4-star Graham Mertz committed to Wisconsin as a part of the 2019 class, making him the highest-rated quarterback to commit to the Badgers. After that, highly-touted quarterback Deacon Hill, out of Santa Barabara, committed to Wisconsin as a part of the incoming and loaded 2021 class.
Now, they have added a commitment from another quarterback. Myles Burkett (Franklin, WI) committed to Wisconsin over the weekend and has become the first commit of the 2022 recruiting class for Wisconsin. According to 247Sports, Burkett is a 3-star quarterback, but as we all know, stars don’t mean everything, especially not when the prospect is not even a senior yet.
Burkett has had a very interesting journey to his commitment to the Wisconsin football team. As a freshman at Franklin High School, Burkett was last on the depth chart at quarterback. There was even talk of moving him to another position.
Just a year later, Burkett was starting for Franklin as a sophomore. In his first year as the starting quarterback, he led the Sabers to a 10-2 record and to the third level of the WIAA state playoffs where they fell to Muskego, 17-10. Muskego, led by current Badger-commit, Hunter Wohler, eventually went on to win state. Burkett threw for 1,820 yards, 24 touchdowns, and just five interceptions. He added 539 yards and nine touchdowns.
His junior year was cut short due to the covid pandemic, but he led the Sabers to a 5-0 record. In just five games he threw for 1,236 and 11 touchdowns. On the ground, he added 180 yards and a touchdown.
Normally, Wisconsin football focuses more on pocket passers than dual-threat quarterbacks who can run. The last time the Badgers had a true dual-threat quarterback was Tanner McEvoy when Gary Andersen was the head coach. Before that, I guess you could count Russell Wilson, although he was a transfer and with the program for just a year.
Burkett is just a part of a group of players in the state of Wisconsin who is highly sought after. According to 247Sports, there are five 4-star recruits. There were six, but Wisconsin-commit Braelon Allen reclassified to the 2021 class. Joe Brunner, Billy Schruath, Carson Hinzman are all 4-star offensive linemen in the state who are still uncommitted. Isaac Hamm, a defensive end out of Sun Prairie, is still uncommitted but the Crystal Ball is predicting Wisconsin. Jerry Cross is currently committed to Penn St.
This is arguably the most talent at any one time in the state of Wisconsin. Now that he is committed, Myles Burkett will have to put his recruiting cap on big time to convince all of these prospects to join him in Madison. If he can get them all to come to Wisconsin, he will already be a fan-favorite before he even enrolls at the school.
Wisconsin football has been on the rise for the past few years. The recruiting has never been better. The future is bright at the Wisconsin football program, and kids like Myles Burkett are a big reason why.
If you want to hear more from Burkett, check out the latest LockedOnBadgers episode where Asher Low interviews the new Wisconsin commit.