By Jesse Temple Sep 25, 2019
As Jason Mahlman sat with his son, Riley, watching film of Wisconsin’s offensive linemen during the summer with coach Joe Rudolph, they were struck by their surroundings off-screen in the Badgers’ O-line meeting room. Images of former Wisconsin offensive linemen who were now playing in the NFL adorned the wall, a list so remarkable that Jason almost couldn’t believe it.
“We went down the list and you just go, ‘I didn’t know he’s from Wisconsin. I didn’t know he’s from Wisconsin,’” Jason said. “It was the who’s who of offensive linemen on their wall, and they’re all Wisconsin guys. That was very impressive.
“It wasn’t all guys from 20 years ago. These were current guys that Rudolph has coached. You don’t realize how many were Wisconsin guys. This year, they had three more guys. He’s proven over many years that he’s been able to help guys get to that next level.”
That tradition of offensive line success at Wisconsin remained top of mind for Riley Mahlman, an offensive tackle who developed into the No. 1 prospect in the state of Minnesota for the 2021 class. He was recruited by some of the top programs in the Big Ten, with a number of schools boasting an impressive offensive line history of their own.
But as he watched Wisconsin roll Michigan 35-14 on Saturday while on an unofficial campus visit again, everything fell into place. Wisconsin ran the ball for 359 yards. The Badgers unveiled their “hippo” package, which featured seven offensive linemen blocking for star tailback Jonathan Taylor. The crowd was electric, even for an 11 a.m. kickoff. By the time the game ended, Mahlman had to ask himself: Who wouldn’t want to be a part of this?
“The people there are just top notch,” Mahlman said. “There’s nowhere I’d rather spend my future. It had everything I could ask for, so it’s really a perfect scenario.”
Mahlman, a 6-foot-8 and 270-pound junior from Lakeville South (Minn.) High School, committed to Wisconsin on Saturday night. He is a 4-star prospect and the No. 27 offensive tackle overall in the 2021 class, according to the 247Sports Composite. Mahlman became the fifth committed Badgers prospect in the class, joining offensive tackle J.P. Benzschawel, running back Jackson Acker, running back Loyal Crawford and quarterback Deacon Hill. Benzschawel is also a 4-star prospect.
Mahlman chose Wisconsin over scholarship offers from Iowa, Iowa State, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern and Ohio State. He attended football camps at Ohio State, Northwestern and Notre Dame and visited Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota. The Gophers, whose stadium is just 30 minutes north of Mahlman’s high school, recruited him heavily. But Mahlman made multiple trips to Wisconsin, which was the first school to offer him a scholarship in October 2018, and grew comfortable with the program and the university.
He visited twice in the summer for Wisconsin football camps, after his freshman and sophomore seasons. Mahlman, who also is a high school basketball player, met with the football coaches for hours before a team basketball camp at Wisconsin, when he watched film with his dad in the offensive line meeting room. He traveled down for Wisconsin’s football game against BYU last year on a mother-son trip with his mom, Kim.
Mahlman attended Wisconsin’s game against Michigan on Saturday with an uncle. His parents were unable to visit over the weekend because they were in meetings with Riley’s older brother, Tyler, a member of the National Guard who will be deployed to Kuwait in October. Riley said that, as he felt the energy of the stadium and watched Wisconsin dominate Michigan, he became convinced that he wanted to commit. He texted his parents, but his cellphone service was spotty, and he did not receive return text messages from them. So he waited until he drove back to Minnesota on Saturday night to speak with them about his decision. By 9:30 p.m., they came to a consensus.
“It was a pretty brief discussion,” Mahlman said. “They were all in.”
Mahlman called Wisconsin inside linebackers coach Bob Bostad — his primary recruiter — to tell him the news and spoke with Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst and Rudolph on Sunday morning. While college coaches could not speak directly with high school juniors until Sept. 1, Lakeville South football head football coach Tyler Krebs said Bostad made frequent visits to watch Mahlman at basketball practice and football practice in the past year.
“Every time he was on the road, he was stopping in,” Krebs said. “That makes a difference. They really did a great job of relationship building with him. I think he’s a great fit at Wisconsin with how they run the football and the importance of the offensive line. Their coaching staff really had a relationship with him from day one and really kind of went above and beyond. He visited numerous schools, and every time he visited Madison, it felt like the right place.”
Wisconsin continues to load up on offensive linemen in its 2020 and 2021 recruiting classes. The Badgers have received commitments from five offensive linemen in 2020, including 4-star in-state prospects Trey Wedig and Jack Nelson, as well as Ben Barten, Dylan Barrett and Tanor Bartolini.
Wisconsin’s coaches can’t comment on a recruit until he officially signs with the program under NCAA rules. Rudolph, the Badgers’ offensive coordinator and O-line coach, was asked this week how much he sells the offensive line tradition and the fact he has coached NFL players to prospective linemen. He said rather than tell recruits about the past, he prefers to have them be around members of the current offensive line.
“Because I believe in those guys more than I believe in anything,” Rudolph said. “I think the tradition lives in them, the guys that are current, and I think that’s a great respect to the tradition. They know it and they embrace it and they know the guys that have come before. And I think there’s a humbleness to make sure that not only they do great but that the group as a whole does great.
“I think there’s a togetherness in helping each other to reach those standards. When guys come in and they get around them, they feel that togetherness. It’s all of us kind of working together to make it happen. I think that’s what creates a really strong unit, and that’s what helps guys develop.”
Krebs said Mahlman plays tight end in the team’s two tight-end offense because it is one of the most important positions for the scheme. While Mahlman catches an occasional pass, he is in there to block. Mahlman also plays on the defensive line as a tackle and an end. A Hudl highlight clip showed him during a game Friday against Eastview, the night before Mahlman traveled to Madison, exploding out of his stance at defensive tackle and tracking down the opponent’s running back on a toss play around the left side near the goal line.
On another play from the same game, Mahlman lined up at tight end next to the right tackle to block as the quarterback rolled around the right edge on a designed run. Mahlman found a linebacker in pursuit and shoved him with such force that he flew backward 5 yards through the air, from Lakeville South’s own 21-yard line to the 16, and landed on his backside.
Coach Krebs said he told every college coach who inquired about Mahlman that he checked all the boxes in terms of athleticism, intelligence and work ethic. Mahlman described himself as a hard worker who played to the whistle and was aggressive at the point of attack. He said Wisconsin’s coaches told him they liked his high character, length and quickness for his size.
“We run most of the time, so at tight end, I’m doing a lot of combos, getting off linebackers,” Mahlman said. “I don’t see myself as much of a tight end. I have a couple catches on the season. Nothing huge. I think I’m a glorified tackle right now. But pretty soon I’ll just be a regular tackle. It won’t be the biggest change for me. It’s still football. It’s just a couple feet inside.”
Kim said Riley has always been big, even when he was 3 and people asked why he wasn’t in school because they thought he was older. She said Riley played at a high level on traveling summer basketball teams and that the sport was his first love. He averaged 12.4 points for Lakeville South as a sophomore last season. But Jason continued to tell Kim that Riley was going to be a football player, and his footwork learned from years on the court stood out on the field.
Mahlman weighed roughly 220 pounds and started at tight end as a freshman on the varsity team. He played as a sophomore at around 245 pounds. Coach Krebs said he would not be surprised to see Mahlman reach 285 or 290 pounds by the time he is a senior and that he clearly has the frame to carry more than 300 pounds. Wisconsin’s five offensive line starters against Michigan on Saturday averaged 319.6 pounds per person.
Jason indicated Riley does all the same blocks and movements an offensive tackle would do, such as reach blocks, down blocks, base blocks, pass blocks and pulling. He noted that he had discussions with Riley even as a freshman about what position would best suit him during his potential recruitment. While Riley played tight end, it was clear that because of his skill he could be a highly sought-after offensive tackle.
“I said, ‘Riley, you could be a really, really athletic tackle or you probably could be not quite as athletic of a tight end,’” Jason recalled of the conversation. “That’s just the reality. He can catch the ball. But if he were to play tight end in college, he wouldn’t have that athleticism. It would be more of a blocking tight end. We kind of talked a long time ago and just said, ‘Hey, you’re going to be an offensive tackle and you’ll be a really athletic tackle,’ so that’s how we kind of positioned him.”
Mahlman has aspirations of playing on Sundays like so many former Badgers who plied their trade in Madison. Eight former Wisconsin offensive linemen were on NFL rosters to start the season, including Ryan Ramczyk, Michael Deiter, David Edwards and Beau Benzschawel, all of whom Rudolph has coached within the past few years. The way Mahlman sees it, he couldn’t have asked for a better fit.
“It means a lot,” he said. “When they’re taking offensive linemen and turning them into superstars and NFL talent, it’s amazing to see what they do with those guys. I’m just blessed to be a part of what they do.”
