DeMatha Catholic running back Tawain Deal made his verbal commitment this past summer, but there were two more players from the Hyattsville, MD the Badgers were also hoping to bring into the fold. On Wednesday the Badgers made it a duo of players from the school as they got a verbal comittment from wide receiver Chris Jones.
It's official: #DeMatha WR Chris Jones will play for the #Wisconsin #Badgers.Watch here: http://t.co/DAFmPRm83H Congrats Chris! #GoStags
— Inside DM Football (@InsideDMFB) September 18, 2013
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The 6-3, 190lbs. three-star wide reciever becomes the 13th commitment for the Badgers and the first at his position in the class of 2014. His commitment was a bit of a surprise as he chose Wisconsin over the home state Terrapins.
What does Jones' commitment mean for the Badgers? Well, here are the thoughts of our recruiting partners, Badger247, and Insider Evan Flood:
"Jones is a guy Wisconsin identified rather early and felt could come in a help out right away," said Flood. "This commitment takes a lot of pressure off the coaching staff, who still need two more solid wide receivers in this class. With Rohan Blackwood committing last week as well, this is still just the beginning of a likely snowball effect for the Badgers. Teammates of Taiwan Deal, Jones is the beginning of a potential pipeline for Wisconsin at DeMatha Catholic, one of the top high school football programs in the country."
That more than anything else, could be the biggest takeaways from this class. Getting a pipeline to a school from around the Washington D.C. area gives the Badgers a new recruiting base it has never had before. Will they always pull players from that school? Probably not, but the point is they've clearly made an impression and other kids and coaches are likely to take note of that in the area.
As for Jones himself? He was ranked No. 384 in the 247 composite rankings, the No. 71 wide receiver by 247sports and the No. 12 player in the state of Maryland.
Watching his tape you can see a wide receiver that has all the talent and may be under-ranked because of the amount of talent all over the field for DeMatha.
With Jones' commitment the Badgers moved up in the rankings as well. They are now 33rd nationally and 5th in the Big Ten according to the 247sports rankings. Realistically the Badgers have the chance to move up even further in the rankings and quickly, as they are just 8 points behind Michigan State who has two more commitments and zero four-star commitments this season.
Make sure to subscribe to our partners at Badger247 for the best in Badger recruiting coverage, you can still get it free until the end of the year! Follow them on Twitter @Badger247 and follow us @MTBadgers as well.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
