[lawrence-newsletter]
With the musical chairs-like NFL offseason now practically over as teams now have their depth charts rounded out we take a look at which Wisconsin products joined fellow Badgers on their new NFL teams.
There are 37 former Badgers currently playing in the NFL such as big names including J.J Watt, T.J. Watt, Russell Wilson, Melvin Gordon and Jonathan Taylor.
This year’s offseason saw some of those 37 names find themselves on a team together, where in a couple cases it was a reunion from when they were together at Wisconsin during their college years.
Specifically, there were seven cases over the past few months of a team signing, trading for or drafting a Wisconsin product and placing them on a team together with one or more other players from the school.
Here are those seven.
- The Panthers’ acquisition of Chris Orr in post-draft free agency reunited him with his former college teammate in safety Natrell Jamerson and another former Badger in tackle Tyler Marz
- Melvin Gordon signing with the Denver Broncos put him back on a team together with tight end Troy Fumagalli
- The Detroit Lions’ selection of wide receiver Quintez Cephus in the fifth round reunited him with two former college teammates in defensive tackle Olive Sagapolu and guard Beau Benzschawel
- Linebacker Joe Scobert signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars and will now again play alongside linebacker Leon Jacobs
- The New England Patriots’ signing of defensive tackle Beau Allen put him back together with his teammate from all four of his years in Madison in running back James White
- Linebacker Zack Baun and offensive tackle Ryan Ramczyk are together again after the New Orleans Saints drafted Baun in the third round
- Finally, the Pittsburgh Steelers signing of fullback Derek Watt reunited him with both his teammate in college for one year and brother T.J. Watt
Other duos or tandems of Wisconsin products on the same team in the NFL include offensive linemen David Edwards and Rob Havenstein on the Los Angeles Rams, fullback Alec Ingold and cornerback Nick Nelson together on the Las Vegas Raiders, linebacker Vince Biegel, guard Michael Deiter and linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel forming a trio on the Miami Dolphins, linebacker Ryan Connelly and guard Kevin Zeitler on the New York Giants, running back and Super Bowl LII champion Corey Clement and linebacker T.J. Edwards on the Philadelphia Eagles and, finally, the trio of linebacker Jack Cichy, safety D’Cota Dixon and running back Dare Ogunbowale on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Wisconsin tied for No. 10 among colleges in 2019 for having the most active players on NFL rosters, a number that only went up heading into 2020 with five players from last year’s Wisconsin unit getting a shot in the NFL and several others either returning from injured reserve or being called up from the practice squad.
With more names set to join that list in 2021 it is becoming increasingly clear that Wisconsin is one of the best destinations for NFL hopefuls and has become a factory of quality NFL talent on both sides of the football.