Category: Football

Wisconsin football offers four-star class of 2026 tight end

Wisconsin football offers four-star class of 2026 tight end

Wisconsin football extended an offer to top class of 2026 tight end Ian Premer on Saturday. 

247sports ranks Williams as the No. 4 tight end in the class, No. 1 overall recruit from Kansas and No. 63 recruit in the nation. At 6-foot-6, 205 lbs, Premer is one of the nation’s most coveted two-sport athletes with collegiate opportunities in both football and basketball. 

The Great Bend, Kansas native already holds offers from top schools including Texas A&M, Nebraska, Kansas State, Auburn and Tennessee. 

As a sophomore at Great Bend High School, Premer recorded 32 receptions, 538 yards and nine touchdowns as wide receiver and 64 tackles, four interceptions and a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown as a safety. 

On the hardwood, Premer also averaged over 21 points and nine rebounds per contest. 

Even though he’s featured as a wide receiver in high school, 247Sports notes how his great frame and catching capabilities allow him to routinely win jump balls. He will likely play tight end in college. 

His first offer arrived from Kansas in March. From that point forward, the sophomore steadily earned offers from some of the most prestigious programs in the nation.

Williams joins class of 2026 edge rushers Zion Elee, Landon Bland, Tucker Ashford, Elijah Littlejohn and quarterback Jonas Williams as recruits to receive offers from UW this spring.

Wisconsin tight end coach Nate Letton, who is entering his second season under the helm with the TEs, was in contact with Premer.

Wisconsin football offers three-star class of 2026 quarterback

Wisconsin football offers three-star class of 2026 quarterback

Wisconsin football extended an offer to class of 2026 quarterback Tait Reynolds on Friday.

Williams is currently ranked as a three-star recruit on 247Sports. The Queen Creek, Arizona native already holds offers from 18 schools including Miami, TCU, Tennessee, Florida State, Oregon, Oklahoma State and Kansas State per 247sports. 

247Sports ranks Williams as the No. 22 quarterback in his class, No. 2 recruit from Arizona and No. 362 overall player in the class of 2026. At 6-foot-3, 195 lbs, Reynolds is an excellent two-sport athlete in football and baseball. 

He was recently named Region Offensive Player of the Year for Queen Creek High School for his contributions on the diamond. The three-star QB has already committed to play baseball at Arizona State University. 

His first gridiron offer arrived from Washington State in August 2023. From that point forward, the sophomore steadily earned offers from some of the most prestigious programs in the nation. Offensive coordinator Phil Longo captained the charge in recruiting Reynolds. 

The dual-threat QB completed 54% of his pass attempts for 1,808 yards, 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 11 appearances as a sophomore. He also rushed for 631 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Reynolds joins Jonas Williams as class of 2026 quarterbacks to receive an offer from UW this spring.

Currently, UW’s quarterback room consists of  Mabrey Mettauer, Cole LaCrue, Braedyn Locke and Tyler Van Dyke. Van Dyke is projected to be the Badgers’ starter this fall. 

Former Wisconsin linebacker transfers to in-state program

Former Wisconsin linebacker transfers to in-state program

Former Wisconsin linebacker Ross Gengler announced his commitment to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse on Saturday.

Gengler elected to enter the transfer portal on Dec. 4, 2023 after four campaigns with the Badgers. He joined the program as a walk-on in the class of 2020.

After exercising his redshirt season as a freshman, the linebacker played in eight games for Wisconsin’s special teams unit from 2021-2023. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound LB also earned Academic All-Big Ten honors from 2021-2023. 

Rivals ranks Gengler as a two-star transfer recruit and No. 1,533 overall player in the portal.

At Delavan-Darien High School, Gengler netted 2019 Southern Lakes Defensive Player of the Year nods and was an honorable mention all-state selection at outside linebacker.

He registered 315 tackles, 32 tackles for loss and 12 sacks at Delavan-Darien including 112 total tackles, 15 tackles for loss, six sacks and two fumble recoveries returned for touchdowns as a senior. 

UCLA lands Florida A&M EDGE in transfer portal

The Bruins add a talented EDGE.

The UCLA Bruins football program has expressed interest in a lot of players this Spring portal window. On Saturday, the Bruins got a commitment from Florida A&M EDGE Cherif Seye, as he announced on his X page. 

Seye becomes the first defensive addition in the transfer portal for UCLA after they landed a series of offensive players and a few special teamers recently.

Seye was at Southeast Louisiana before going to Florida A&M. This past season with the Rattlers, Seye had 20 total tackles with 4.5 sacks and a forced fumble, so this could be a sneaky pickup for the Bruins.

Seye had received offers from programs such as UMass, Ohio, Cal, Kent State, and Oregon State. He was set to visit Corvallis on May 17th. He had also received offers from all of North Texas, Bowling Green, New Mexico State, Western Kentucky, and Sam Houston.

This should be a huge addition to the defense for UCLA.

Derrick Harmon whiff places fresh pressure on Lincoln Riley at USC

USC’s margin for error is much smaller without Derrick Harmon on board.

The USC Trojans needed to land Derrick Harmon, but they didn’t. Oregon did. We are left with a situation in which the Trojans don’t seem to have enough high-level defensive linemen after a brutal 2023 season in which their defense didn’t measure up. It’s true that Lincoln Riley has dramatically upgraded the defensive coaching staff, but USC doesn’t appear to have enough dudes to compete at the very highest levels of the Big Ten.

Riley might have made appropriate staffing adjustments, but the residue of last year’s failed 8-5 season likely contributed to Harmon choosing Oregon over USC. The Ducks are closer to a national title than the Trojans are. Harmon’s decision can be seen as rational in that context.

All of this puts more heat on Riley. USC football analyst Josh Webb reminded everyone about Riley’s pronounced limitations when writing this:

“If you were to take a look at total defense stats for the years Riley has been a head coach and average them out, you’d get a team that’s consistently 81st in the nation in total defense. What about that screams elite? Then there’s the fact that in the last two years, he’s averaging 110th in the nation, so that aspect of the team is going in the wrong direction as well. All of this is without going into splits or different aspects like the run game, run game defense, sacks allowed, sacks gained, or anything of that nature. It gets worse. 

“Is Lincoln Riley really that much better than any other Air Raid coach? Have we been caught up in the idea of Riley being successful those first couple of years (at Oklahoma) and then applied that to years in which his teams look outclassed and outcoached? I honestly don’t know the answer and I suspect I am not alone. Riley looks like a giant mystery right now.”

We will see how much 2024 amplifies or changes these kinds of very reasonable worries about Lincoln Riley.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Check out more NFL draft coverage with the USA TODAY Sports NFL Draft Hub.

Nebraska LB visiting UCLA after entering portal

UCLA hosting Nebraska LB.

The UCLA Bruins football program continues to cast a wide net in the transfer portal. After landing Florida A&M EDGE Cherif Seye, the Bruins also hosted Nebraska linebacker Chief Borders, per Steve Wiltfong of On3.

Borders is a late addition to the portal and has two years of eligibility remaining, so it could be a good fit for UCLA.

Borders was at Florida previously and spent two years with the Gators before going to Nebraska, and now he enters the portal again.

Coming out of high school, Borders had offers from a lot of programs, including Arkansas, Auburn, Colorado, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, LSU, Nebraska, Ohio State, and Oregon,

So, UCLA being able to add Borders would be a terrific get for the defense. With UCLA going to the Big Ten, there is a scenario where Borders stays in the same conference and gets an uptick in usage in Westwood.

James Madison transfer cornerback D’Angelo Ponds offered by USC

USC tries to boost its secondary by making a run at a Group of Five player.

Former James Madison cornerback D’Angelo Ponds entered the transfer portal in April and has received major attention from Power Five programs, including an offer from USC.

Powell primarily played slot corner this spring. Ponds had 51 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 15 pass breakups and 2 fumble recoveries in 2023.

Over 25 other programs offered Ponds when he entered the transfer portal per On3. This list includes Miami, Auburn, Memphis, Houston, Arizona, Tennessee, Duke, Tulane and Indiana.

The Hollywood, Florida, native signed with James Madison as a three-star player and the No. 142 cornerback from the 2023 recruiting cycle according to 247Sports.

Ponds’ rookie season performance earned him several Freshman All-America honors from publications such as On3 and the Football Writers Association of America. He was also tabbed a second-team All-American and Freshman Cornerback of the Year by College Football Network.

Doug Belk has earned rave reviews for his work with USC football this spring. Giving Belk more pieces to work with would boost the back line of the Trojans’ defense heading into Big Ten competition.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Check out more NFL draft coverage with the USA TODAY Sports NFL Draft Hub.

Micah Parsons goes up against a sumo wrestler in Tokyo

Former Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons faces off against a Japanese sumo wrestler

All-pro linebacker and former Penn State Nittany Lion [autotag]Micah Parsons[/autotag] is in Tokyo this week, along with Houston Texans quarterback CJ Stroud. The two global NFL stars are in Japan for their Asia tour.

In Japan, the duo paid a visit to a sumo wrestler workout, and Parsons went up against a wrestler 1v1. By the looks of the video, Parsons may have finally met his match.

Take a look for yourself.

Parsons might have been lying on the ground if the wrestler had finished the move. The two were playing around, but this shows the strength of Japanese sumo wrestlers, and compared to Parsons, who routinely dominates NFL offensive linemen, it is quite the spectacle.

Stroud got a kick out of Parsons getting it handed to him, and he even gave the wrestlers advice on some celebrations, including the “too small” move. Parsons should get back in the gym if he wants to take down a sumo wrestler any time soon, so perhaps he should stick to trying to take down quarterbacks for the Dallas Cowboys.

Follow Charlie Strella on Twitter, Threads, and Instagram.

Notre Dame website editor is a Troy Polamalu superfan

The editor of Fighting Irish Wire holds Troy Polamalu in the highest regard.

Some players are special. Some athletes have that “it factor” no one else can replicate or easily explain. Troy Polamalu is that player for a lot of football fans, including a Notre Dame website editor who does not easily warm to USC Trojans.

Fighting Irish Wire editor Nick Shepkowski recently talked to us. We wanted to ask him about USC’s Caleb Williams and how he is fitting in as a new member of the Chicago Bears. In the process of answering our questions about Caleb, Shepkowski volunteered that Troy Polamalu is one of his top five football players of all time. How’s that for some USC respect from a Notre Dame football editor?

Troy Polamalu — as we wrote years ago — “revolutionized the safety position. He made the Pro Bowl eight times, was an All-Pro four times, and won a pair of Super Bowls in the Steel City.” He did so with signature flair and style, enough to impress Golden Domers along the way. He is one of one, and this little revelation from Fighting Irish Wire’s editor confirms it.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Former LSU signee Joseph Cryer finds a new home in transfer portal

A former early enrollee for the 2024 recruiting class has now found a new home.

A former early enrollee for the 2024 recruiting class has now found a new home. [autotag]Joseph Cryer[/autotag] was a 6-foot-3, 316-pound, three-star interior offensive lineman from Natchitoches, Louisiana, where he played for Natchitoches Central High School.

Cryer flipped his commitment from Ole Miss to LSU before national signing day and signed with the LSU Tigers. He was an early enrollee and played in the LSU spring game. That spring game turned out to be the only game he would play in purple and gold.

Cryer has swapped his school colors to black and gold as he has now committed to playing for Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles finished last season 3-9 and were looking to improve their offensive line for next fall.

LSU’s 2024 recruiting class finished as the No. 9 recruiting class in the country according to 247Sports. The Tigers signed two other interior offensive linemen out of high school other than Cryer.

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.