How 3-star OL Colin Cubberly fits at Wisconsin

Wisconsin football received a commitment Monday from Colin Cubberly, a three-star offensive lineman from Lagrangeville, N.Y. Here’s what you need to know:

• Cubberly is rated as the No. 63 offensive tackle in the 247Sports Composite.
• He earned offers from 18 schools and took official visits in the first two weekends in June to Rutgers and Wisconsin. Cubberly had an official visit slated for Pittsburgh before he committed to the Badgers.
• Cubberly becomes the 14th publicly committed prospect in Wisconsin’s 2024 recruiting class, including the sixth this month since official visits began.

What does this mean for Wisconsin?

Wisconsin began June with one offensive lineman committed in its 2024 class: in-state offensive tackle Derek Jensen (Hartland, Wis.), who committed in April. But the Badgers have quickly filled up spots and now have four offensive linemen pledged to Wisconsin. Pennsylvania natives Kevin Heywood, a four-star prospect, as well as Ryan Cory committed last week following their official visits.

Cubberly is 6 feet 6 and 305 pounds and played the majority of his snaps at right tackle last season to protect the blind side of his left-handed quarterback. He also took some snaps at right guard. Cubberly said Wisconsin offensive line coach Jack Bicknell Jr. has told him that he could play either guard or tackle spot for the Badgers. Cubberly displays good athleticism and agility, particularly for someone his size, and can quickly get up the field to carry out his blocks. That’s the type of skillset that Bicknell and Wisconsin offensive coordinator Phil Longo value with linemen in their Air Raid approach.

Cubberly’s football coach at Arlington High School, Michael Morano, said the most impressive aspect of Cubberly is his maturity and dedication to improvement. Cubberly has lifted weights and honed his conditioning at a local training facility since seventh grade and drives more than an hour each Saturday to New Jersey where he works with a personal offensive line trainer.

“He is 110 percent committed to developing his craft in every way possible,” Morano said. “He is just somebody who set a goal for himself very early in his life and has literally taken every step necessary to be able to accomplish it and not only taken those steps but he’s thrived in his development. He’s just really embraced the grind that’s necessary in order to get to a level like this.”

Cubberly made four total visits total to Wisconsin. His first came last summer under the previous coaching staff. He returned in January for junior day to meet the new staff and was in Madison in April for spring practice before his official visit over the weekend. Cubberly committed over lunch while talking to head coach Luke Fickell. He said staffers had confetti shooters in their pocket in case someone committed while on the visit, and they set them off in the background.

Cubberly said one part of his Wisconsin visits that differed from other schools was that he had full access to every offensive lineman on the team so he could ask them questions. Cubberly’s host was offensive lineman Barrett Nelson, but Cubberly spent time with the entire group, including Nelson’s older brother, Jack.

“It was pretty close with Rutgers and Wisconsin,” Cubberly said. “It was very close. To me it just came down to I look back on my visit from the spring and I just felt really comfortable then. I spent a lot of time with the players then and the staff and watched practice. The biggest thing for me was the people. I feel like the coaching staff was great. I feel like the players in the room were a lot like me and a place that I really feel comfortable at.”

What Cubberly’s high school coach says about his fit

“First of all, Wisconsin is still going to be running the football,” Morano said. “They’re just going to be doing it a little bit differently. But the general consensus with Colin from all coaches is that at his size, he’s able to bend so well and he is so athletic that that’s something that’s relatively rare.

“What makes him a particularly good fit for Wisconsin is he really fits that culture. He fit into that offensive line room almost immediately. I actually went out there on a visit for about three days this spring. It really just felt like home. He felt like he was one of the guys who was already in that group. It’s just the right place for him.”

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(Photo courtesy of Alfred Valentine)