Badgers Gaining Ground With Top OL Target Who Moves Up Commitment Date

Wisconsin looks to have an excellent fighting chance with OT Reed Gerkin.

Eric Mateos and his offensive line. | Christian Borman.

The Badgers recently made the top four for highly-coveted 2027 offensive line recruit Reed Gerkin.

Now, they may very well be in his unofficial top two.

Gerkin was initially slated to announce his commitment on June 22, following the conclusion of all four of his scheduled official visits. Now, he's bumped up his timeline and will commit on June 8, the day following his visit to Madison.

Three-star OL @ReedGerken decided to move up his commitment timeline.

He'll choose from Kentucky, Virginia Tech, Illinois, and Wisconsin LIVE on the @CBSSportsCFB YouTube Channel on Monday, June 8 at 5:30 pm ET.

VIP Story: https://t.co/aKXzXd5MSd@247Sports . @247recruiting pic.twitter.com/fEJSHAfsHH

— Tom Loy (@TomLoy247) May 26, 2026

Gerkin is a consensus three-star recruit, but he also lists 34 FBS offers, 23 of which are from Power Four schools. The lineman doesn't list any true blue-blood football offers, but he has interest from all four power conferences and no shortage of options as to where to further his academic and athletic career.

While Gerkin hasn't officially trimmed his list of schools since he announced his top four in early May, it's reasonable to assume that it's down to a two-program race between Virginia Tech and Wisconsin, as those are the two official visits he'll take before he makes his decision.

Gerkin will see the Hokies the weekend of May 29, and he'll head to Madison the following weekend. He originally planned to see Illinois and Kentucky as well, but it's safe to assume those visits won't take place.

Virginia Tech will get the first crack at the offensive tackle, but the Badgers get the chance to be the last school he sees before he makes his decision. With a decision imminent, Gerkin is now immediately one of the highest-priority recruits headed to campus for Wisconsin's second big weekend of official visit season.

Gerkin could potentially be the cherry on top of what's already an extremely solid offensive line class for the Badgers that features tackles Cole Reiter and Ethan McIntosh as well as guard Hunter and Reece Mallinger. With four commits already in tow in the 2027 cycle, it tracks that a fifth and final pledge could put a bow on the class for offensive line coach Eric Mateos.

The Badgers currently sit with 13 recruits in the class of 2027, ranking No. 18 nationally on 247Sports and No. 25 nationally on On3/Rivals.