Wisconsin football secures commitment from top-ranked four-star 2026 wide receiver
Petit, a coveted four-star pass-catcher, immediately becomes the highest-rated recruit to commit to Luke Fickell's class of 2026 cohort. The 6-foot-4, 195-pound wide receiver chose the Badgers over opportunities with the Oklahoma Sooners, North Carolina Tar Heels, Missouri Tigers and Tennessee Volunteers.
The Naples, Florida, product officially visited Madison the weekend of May 30 before returning to Wisconsin for another visit early last week. Petit also committed to Fickell's program despite official visits with the Sooners and Tar Heels on June 6 and 13, respectively, in addition to another official visit with Missouri on June 20.
247Sports lists Petit as the No. 209 player in the class of 2026, No. 31 wide receiver and No. 30 recruit from the state of Florida. During his senior year at First Baptist Academy, he logged 50 receptions for 777 yards and 12 scores, highlighted by a 146-yard, three-touchdown performance on Oct. 18.
Here's 247Sports' Director of Scouring Andrew Ivins' scouting report of Wisconsin's newest class of 2026 commit:
"Big-framed wide receiver that can win on the perimeter with his suddenness, coordination and bounce... Attacks leverage with his initial burst and does an admirable job of sinking his hips at the top of routes to break off defensive backs before driving back towards the football. Likes to mix speeds as he works his way up or across the field. Spirited after the catch as he has flashed the ability to make the first defender miss while facing a lower level of competition in the Sunshine State and will put the effort in as a move blocker on the outside. Already pushing 200 pounds, but doesn't appear to be maxed out and could undergo a further physical maturation once he's done with basketball. Might not be the fastest target and must keep perfecting his craft, but has the size, athleticism and ball skills to emerge as a trusted option at the Power Four level in a balanced offense that relies on timing."
Wisconsin's class of 2026 now rises to No. 44 in the nation following Petit's commitment. The 14-man class also includes three-star wide receiver prospects Tayshon Bardo and Zion Legree.
Petit's decision marks UW's first commitment since June 15. Fickell and company will now hone in on securing commitments from athlete Jackson Ford, running back Amari Latimer and offensive tackle Kamari Blair in the coming days. Regardless of what transpires, Petit is the first blue-chip to offer his pledge to UW for this cycle - a major win for Wisconsin's recruiting staff.
Contact/Follow on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion
This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Wisconsin football recruiting Jayden Petit commitment
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Eric Bailly's club future looks further in doubt with latest setback
Former Manchester United fan favourite Eric Bailly's club future has suffered a setback weeks before the start of the new season. Topsy-turvy United spell Bailly was Jose Mourinho's first signing in the summer of 2016 and he impressed in his first season, winning the Carabao cup and Europa League. Nonetheless, injury and erratic form would soon complicate the Ivory Coast international's promising career at United. He finally left the club in 2023 after going out on loan to Olympique de Marseille the previous season. Eventful story after United Bailly moved to Besiktas but only played eight matches amid a series of controversies. Such incidents included getting into a fight with a teammate and he was removed from the playing squad. He left the club in the winter of 2024 after having his deal terminated and joined his former side Villarreal CF. Never a dull moment, Bailly headbutted FC Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski on his debut and found game time hard to come by, playing just 25 times for the Spanish side in a season and a half. Consequently, he was officially released at the end of the season and has been searching for a new club ever since. Talks break down Bailly was in talks to join Saudi Arabian side Al Najmah SC and seemed close to a deal but he will not be moving to them in the end. Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano reports that 'Eric Bailly's transfer to Saudi side Al Najmah SC has collapsed after verbal agreement done.' 'Bailly decided to leave the negotiations.' Uncertain future With only a matter of weeks before the beginning of the new season, Bailly will need to go in search of a new club. Having only played 33 times in the last two seasons, it will be a tall order to convince teams of his ability to stay fit. Follow us on Bluesky: @
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Super Bowl 60 betting: Super Bowl odds for every NFL team entering the 2025-26 season
The Philadelphia Eagles (+700 at BetMGM) are looking to repeat as Super Bowl champions, but they have plenty of company atop the odds board. The Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens are tied with the Eagles at +700 odds to win Super Bowl LX, followed closely by Patrick Mahomes' Kansas City Chiefs (+800) and the Detroit Lions (10-1). The Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints have the worst odds in the league at 300-1. No team with preseason odds worse than 40-1 has won the Super Bowl since the 2001 New England Patriots (60-1), according to Sports Odds History's database. If you're looking for the over/unders for all 32 NFL teams, click here. Here are the Super Bowl odds for every NFL team at BetMGM: Super Bowl LX odds Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles: +700 Kansas City Chiefs: +800 Detroit Lions: 10-1 Washington Commanders: 18-1 Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers: 20-1 Green Bay Packers: 22-1 Minnesota Vikings: 25-1 Los Angeles Chargers: 28-1 Denver Broncos, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 30-1 Houston Texans: 35-1 Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers: 40-1 Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys: 50-1 Seattle Seahawks: 60-1 Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots: 80-1 Indianapolis Colts, Las Vegas Raiders: 100-1 Carolina Panthers: 150-1 New York Giants, New York Jets, Tennessee Titans: 200-1 Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints: 300-1
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
2025 Fantasy Football Rankings Tiers: Running Backs
With the teeth of draft season just around the corner, it's a good time to get the Shuffle Up series going. This week, I'll offer my player tiers for the four major positions in fantasy football. Consider them as you get ready for your own drafts, or self-scout the teams you've already assembled. We handled the quarterbacks on Monday, and today we take on the running backs. The wideouts and tight ends will follow later this week. What matters is how the players relate to one another, where the talent clusters and where it drops off. Players at the same salary are considered even. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] Running back remains the most important of the four major positions in fantasy, the area we desperately want to get correct. Last year saw a shockingly low injury rate at this position, something that's unlikely to repeat. No matter how you address this spot at the front of your draft — Zero RB, Hero RB, Robust RB — you'll probably be sure to proactively draft a bunch of high-upside runners for your bench, hoping to get lucky here and there. Just one good break at running back can make a fantasy season. Tier 1: The Big Tickets $44 Bijan Robinson $43 Jahmyr Gibbs $42 Saquon Barkley $41 Derrick Henry $40 Ashton Jeanty $37 Christian McCaffrey $37 Jonathan Taylor $34 Josh Jacobs $33 Bucky Irving $33 Chase Brown $32 Kyren Williams $32 James Cook It took new Atlanta OC Zac Robinson some time to find his way last year, and Bijan Robinson was affected — he was merely the RB21 after four weeks. After that, Robinson averaged 20.1 points per week and was the overall RB2. Robinson offers everything we want in an early fantasy draft pick — upside, floor, low mileage (it's his third season, his age-23 season) and an offense that's presumably on the improvement path, with Michael Penix Jr. likely an upgrade over the late-career version of Kirk Cousins. Bijan to the moon. Barkley's season had "outlier" stamped all over it, with 15 touchdowns coming from an astounding average of 29.4 yards. The Eagles didn't give Barkley a single touchdown from the 1-yard line — that's Jalen Hurts territory — and Barkley remarkably kept hitting those glorious home runs. But 5.8 YPCs are always poor bets to repeat (De'Von Achane waves hello) and Barkley might have trouble staying healthy after handling a ridiculous 482 touches last year. Pricing in some regression is the prudent play, and let's not forget that Barkley missed multiple games in each of the five seasons preceding his move to Philadelphia. McCaffrey is the most ticklish boom-bust pick on the board, capable of elevating a fantasy roster to glory (think 2019 and 2023) and capable of ruining a season before September is over (think last year). McCaffrey has just two full seasons out of his last five, and he's moving into his ninth professional year — there's some mileage here. Of course, McCaffrey's value has always been significantly tied to his pass-catching chops, which enables him to be tackled by lighter defenders and avoid some of the attrition you face running inside. The 49ers' offensive line is probably average at best, but the Kyle Shanahan schemes are always a plus. Do you feel lucky? Taylor's value probably gets a boost with Daniel Jones the presumed Week 1 QB starter — whatever you think of Jones, he's more of a professional quarterback than Anthony Richardson Sr. right now, and Jones is also less likely to take rushing yardage off the table. Taylor was humming after his return from ankle problems last year, settling in as the RB7 from Week 8 to the finish of the year. The Colts have moved away from him as a receiver in recent years, which is why Taylor now commonly lands in the second round. But this looks like a safe area to park your investment. Tier 2: Legitimate Building Blocks $31 De'Von Achane $26 Kenneth Walker III $25 Breece Hall $25 Chuba Hubbard $24 James Conner $23 Omarion Hampton $23 Joe Mixon $21 Alvin Kamara $20 David Montgomery Walker is in a prove-it year, but he's proving it for a new coaching staff that inherited him. Zach Charbonnet performed better than Walker in several key metrics last year, and it's also possible the Seahawks might have a goal-line package for mobile rookie QB Jalen Milroe. Walker has also been a high-attrition back for most of his career, missing 10 games in three pro seasons. He's not a target of mine. Hampton was always the likely bet to take over the LAC backfield, but the Najee Harris eye injury clears the path somewhat. Hampton is five years younger than Harris and more athletic — Hampton posted a number of shiny measurables at the combine. He also showed the ability to play in all situations at North Carolina, including passing packages. Hampton has risen to RB21 in recent Yahoo drafts and could easily be a third-round staple when we move into the second part of August. Hall should be a player on the escalator and he's merely entering his age-24 season. The Jets will be a run-first offense from the jump. But New York is also going to employ multiple backs in every game plan, and then there's the presence of new QB Justin Fields, a threat to run for 1,000 yards of his own. If Hall is going to meet his expectant ADP, he needs to be active in the passing game — and Fields generally has not been a good quarterback for pass-catching backs. Tier 3: Talk Them Up, Talk Them Down $17 TreVeyon Henderson $16 RJ Harvey $16 Kaleb Johnson $15 D'Andre Swift $15 Tony Pollard $15 Aaron Jones Sr. $13 Isiah Pacheco $12 Brian Robinson Jr. $11 Travis Etienne Jr. $11 Tyrone Tracy Jr. $10 Jordan Mason Jones isn't a bad player, but it was interesting to see Minnesota add Mason to the backfield — Mason is about five years younger and he's 15 pounds heavier than Jones. It's possible Mason could become the short-yardage specialist here, and he looked like a potential feature back during his San Francisco days. Mason isn't a cheap lottery ticket — his Yahoo ADP is just outside the top 100 — but he's still someone I view as a proactive pick. Minnesota's depth is short behind this duo, so Mason will probably have a tangible role on opening day. The buzz on Harvey became a little more muted after the addition of J.K. Dobbins, but keep in mind Dobbins has been an ordinary pass-catcher all through his pro career. Dobbins has also had trouble staying on the field, playing just 37 games over five seasons. Sean Payton has always been fine with backfield platoons, but one of the backs has a realistic shot to handle 60% or more of the work. I'll keep betting on Harvey, the younger player with the higher upside. Tier 4: Some Plausible Upside $9 Jaylen Warren $9 Quinshon Judkins $9 Javonte Williams $8 Cam Skattebo $8 Najee Harris $8 J.K. Dobbins $7 Rhamondre Stevenson $7 Zach Charbonnet $6 Tank Bigsby $6 Rachaad White $6 Bhayshul Tuten $5 Tyjae Spears $5 Isaac Guerendo $5 Trey Benson $5 Ray Davis $5 Tyler Allgeier $5 Jerome Ford $5 Braelon Allen $4 MarShawn Lloyd $4 Nick Chubb $4 Jaydon Blue Liam Coen loved to throw to his backs in Tampa Bay, and Tuten was a handy receiver at Virginia Tech. The Jaguars have plenty of competition at the position, but it's possible they've soured on Travis Etienne Jr., and Tank Bigsby hasn't shown receiving chops in the NFL. Tuten isn't someone we'll draft as an initial fantasy starter, but see the long-term potential here. Although Davis is about 30 pounds heavier than teammate James Cook, don't overlook what Davis can do in the passing game. Davis was a reliable pass-catcher during his itinerant college days, and he secured 17-of-19 opportunities last year, making a juicy 9.9 yards per target. We've already had a look at what Davis might do in a featured role — he picked up a midseason start last year and rolled for 152 total yards. With Cook undersized and unhappy about his contract, Davis is one of the more interesting speculative plays on the board. Tier 5: Bargain Bin $3 Jaylen Wright $3 Austin Ekeler $3 Rico Dowdle $3 Blake Corum $3 Roschon Johnson $3 Dylan Sampson $3 Will Shipley $2 Kendre Miller $2 Kareem Hunt $1 DJ Giddens $1 Devin Neal $1 Jarquez Hunter $1 Audric Estime $1 Jaleel McLaughlin $1 Kyle Monangai $1 Elijah Mitchell $1 Justice Hill $1 Keaton Mitchell $1 Antonio Gibson $1 Devin Singletary $1 Miles Sanders $1 Kenneth Gainwell $1 Raheem Mostert $1 Jordan James $1 Sean Tucker $1 Chris Rodriguez Jr. $1 Emanuel Wilson
