Wisconsin Badgers positional recruit snapshot: 2026 edge prospects

With official visits right around the corner, BadgerBlitz.com will be bringing you snapshots in the current recruiting cycle for each recruited position, covering the targets who are legitimate prospects on Wisconsin’s board in the 2026 class. We will discuss the candidates who are most interested in the Badgers, as well as those who came off the board.

As always, this is just a snapshot in time and things remain fluid. Additional offered targets will appear over the next few weeks and some recruits will inevitably choose other colleges.

Today, we continue with a look at the edge prospects.

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Wisconsin’s outside linebackers room got bigger this offseason, in both numbers and, more importantly, size. The Badgers are using larger athletes to set the edge and help against the run. Corey Walker, Darryl Peterson and Michael Garner are projected to eat up a bulk of those positional reps this fall, with Ernest Willor Jr., Samuel Lateju and Jaylen Williams expected to fall in the same category. UW will also feature a traditional pass rusher, a role Sebastian Cheeks, Tyreese Fearbry and Nicolas Clayton, among others, are set to occupy.

On the recruiting front, Wisconsin already found its jumbo edge in Carmelow Reed, a 6-foot-7, 250-pound prospect from Illinois. Next month, the focus will be on adding a pass rusher to the group, and the Badgers have four scheduled official visitors who carry that skillset.

Wisconsin hosted Carmelow Reed for an unofficial visit in early April and landed a verbal during his time on campus. Commit No. 3 for the Badgers in the 2026 class, Reed chose Wisconsin over scholarships from LSU, Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi, Mississippi State and Missouri, among others.

“They love my size and see me as a dominant outside linebacker who can rush the passer,” Reed told BadgerBlitz.com. “They think that I’m very raw right now and have a huge upside. They can develop me to be great and into a program-changer for them.”