After battling hard in the past, the Wisconsin Badgers have officially lost out on the last two major offensive line targets in the 2026 class.
Four-star offensive tackles Kamari Blair and Wilson Zierer both took official visits with Wisconsin last month. The two tackles had been closely tied to Wisconsin at one point in time, but each player began to drift away from the program over time. Now, Blair and Zierer are both officially out on the Wisconsin Badgers after announcing verbal hard commitments to different programs.
Blair announced a commitment to South Carolina after considering Wisconsin, Ole Miss, and Tennessee as well. Zierer, however, committed to Auburn and will follow in the footsteps of his brother despite being closely tied to Michigan over the past few weeks. Both recruits proved to be enigmas throughout the recruiting process, giving very limited details out but showing enough interest in different programs to throw off expert analysts.
Wisconsin Badgers Miss Out on Elite 2026 Offensive Line Targets Kamari Blair, Wilson Zierer
Blair and Zierer both made decisions that seemed like they had been coming from a mile away as the duo will stay in SEC country during college. The Wisconsin Badgers staff has become more aggressive on the recruiting trail and while some losses sting, the program prefers to lose recruits to close battles to major programs than avoid going after the recruit entirely. In the past, Wisconsin did not hunt for players who were perceived to be reaches, but now the staff seemingly eyes those types of players.
Wisconsin may have never fully unloaded the tank on the duo, but the chances of landing either recruit was slim from the start. Blair was focused on playing football on the biggest stage, and turning down SEC offers became difficult to do for the recruit given his on-field goals. Ole Miss and Tennessee finished as finalists alongside Wisconsin before South Carolina secured a hard commitment.
For Zierer, knowing exactly where the recruit was going to go was difficult on paper but rather easy in reality. Zierer opted to commit to Auburn due to the relationship the recruit developed with the staff and the familiarity with the program since the brother of the tackle, Killian, also played for the Tigers.
Wisconsin was never extremely close to landing either tackle, but the Badgers could be in the market for another lineman before fully closing the 2026 class.
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