Wisconsin football recruiting target commits to SEC school
Ben Duncum commits elsewhere, but the future is bright for Wisconsin football's defensive line, having added some pieces in the offseason.
The Wisconsin football team will need to look elsewhere if they are going to add another defensive lineman to its 2026 recruiting class. The Badgers were among the finalists for three-star defensive lineman Ben Duncum (Austin, TX), who announced his commitment to Kentucky today.
Even though his ratings on online recruiting sites aren’t overly high, Duncum’s offer list tells us college programs are higher on him than the scouts and talent evaluators who work for those sites. The 6’5,” 255-pound prospect holds almost 30 Division 1 offers, including a handful from Power 4 schools like Wisconsin, Kentucky, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Baylor, among others.
While they missed on Duncum, the Badgers do already have two committed defensive linemen in the class, Arthur Scott and Djidjou Bah, so landing him wasn’t imperative. On the other hand, you can never have enough depth at the position, especially if Bah ends up playing more of an edge position than at a true defensive line spot.
There are also some question marks about Bah’s commitment right now, as he recently took an official visit to Missouri. This trip has some people raising their eyebrows and questioning his commitment to the Badgers. Wisconsin already lost Carmelow Reed to Ole Miss earlier this month; another flipped prospect would make plenty of work for the coaching staff to find another defensive lineman to add to the class.
Since Fickell has taken over the program, the defensive line position has been a bit of a weak spot on the roster. But the staff is starting to turn things around, adding four-star Jaylen Williams and three-star defensive linemen Torin Pettaway, Drayden Pavey, and Xavier Ukponu in the 2025 class.
They’ve also added Jay’viar Suggs (LSU), Michael Garner (Grambling State), Charles Perkins (UT Martin), and Parker Peterson (Tulane) through the portal in the offseason. The cupboard is no longer bare, and the future of the position continues to trend upward.
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