Meet Emerson Mandell, Wisconsin football's latest 4-star offensive line commit

Jul 10, 2023 Abusy June for Emerson Mandell gave way to some days across international borders, an important time of reflection of his travels. Mandell, a class of 2024 offensive lineman who plays for Irondale High School in Minnesota, made official visits to his home state Gophers, Iowa State and the University of Wisconsin last month. “After I took my officials, I had essentially a week vacation when I went to Canada fishing, and it provided me with the opportunity to think about stuff and really contemplate my decision,” Mandell said. “I think that's kind of where I ended up deciding I wanted to go to Wisconsin.” Mandell later provided some Independence Day fireworks for coach Luke Fickell and UW when he announced his commitment last week. Wisconsin football wins recruiting battle over rival for 4-star player Here are five things to know about Mandell from how his relationship with the Badgers grew and where he could be projected on the offensive line when he arrives in Madison. The recruiting breakdown Mandell said he is around 6 foot 5 ½ in height with a 6-foot-10 ¼ wingspan and he weighs between 310-315 pounds. On3 evaluates him as a four-star recruit, the No. 5 interior lineman and No. 127 player nationally in the 2024 class. The 247Sports composite rankings also rate him as a four-star recruit, while 247Sports and Rivals view him as a three-star recruit. Power Five interest from Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and ACC programs surfaced for Mandell during his recruiting process. He tweeted offers from Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Minnesota, Missouri, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Penn State, Purdue, Syracuse, Texas A&M and UW. 4-star running back commits to Wisconsin football The 247Sports composite rankings view Mandell as the No. 1 recruit in the state of Minnesota for the 2024 class. Offensive lineman Riley Mahlman (Lakeville South) and linebacker Jake Ratzlaff (Rosemount), both four-star talents, came from Minnesota as part of the program’s vaunted 2021 class. Mahlman was seen as the top-rated prospect out of Minnesota by that outlet in that recruiting cycle. Outside linebackers Kaden Johnson (Minneapolis Minnehaha Academy) and Aaron Witt (Winona) signed with the Badgers as part of the 2020 class. The 247Sports composite rankings held Johnson, a four-star recruit, as the top-rated player in Minnesota. Offensive lineman Patrick Kasl (Forest Lake), the No. 2 player in the state for the 2016 class by the site, also chose UW. Emerson Mandell became the fifth offensive line commit for the Badgers' 2024 class in early July. The Irondale High School (Minnesota) senior is one of four four-star offensive line recruits for that class. COURTESY OF EMERSON MANDELL “The program started recruiting me before that because I had been there for a game that past fall, but then they had their coaching staff change,” Mandell said. “And it had mostly just been a lot of phone calls with (offensive line coach) Jack (Bicknell Jr.) throughout the winter and the spring until I got to ‘The Launch’ essentially.” He later returned in mid-June for an official visit, which included a boat ride with UW’s offensive linemen. Mahlman, a redshirt sophomore from Minnesota, hosted Mandell. What stood out the most to Mandell was the “feel” he received from UW. “I really got the vibe that people really love the program, and there's a lot of camaraderie on the team and people just genuinely happy to be a part of it,” Mandell said. Why Wisconsin? Mandell said that Minnesota, Iowa State and UW were his top schools. He told Bicknell and later Fickell of his decision to commit to the Badgers, then announced on social media July 4. “Wisconsin was one of my top three programs that I was deciding between, and it really just checked a lot of boxes,” Mandell said. “With distance from home, I still have family close by. It’s a conference that I wanted to play in. It’s a big school, which was a pro for me, and I really liked the coaching staff there.” How he’s used at the high school level Irondale football coach James Manuel, a former Minnesota defensive back and linebacker from 2010-13, said his program runs a triple-option offense with a run/pass ratio of about 80/20. Mandell anchors one of the guard spots, which plays a pivotal role within its effectiveness. “Just because of our scheme, we put our best linemen at the guard position,” Manuel said, “which allows for them to block one-on-one and then that allows our offensive tackle to go right up to the next level." Manuel described Mandell as “aggressive, mean, and nasty, and a nasty first step,” the latter of which made him believe he could play college football at a high level. Meet Ryan Cory, one of Wisconsin football's 4-star offensive line commits for its 2024 class “His first step off the ball is explosive, and that's kind of when I've seen it firsthand,” Manuel said. “And when I saw it in practice all the time, and then when I constantly kept seeing it off the ball, that's when I said, ‘This guy can be a major D-I offensive lineman because of just how fast he comes off the ball, and then the way that he whacks people.’” Mandell could grow in a couple areas going forward, according to his coach, which includes starting on both sides of the ball. “Last year he kind of rotated in on defense, so Emerson and I talked about it,” Manuel said. “Kind of learning more of the technique which will be easy, as well for us as a program to develop.” “But then for Emerson to develop personally for the next level, and it's not so much his fault, but it's our program, is his pass (protection) because we're not that traditional high school spread offense. We're in that three-point stance and we're just firing off so much because we're 80% run. And when we do pass it’s mainly a play action-type pass and it’s quick. … But I know that's something there at Wisconsin that they can develop with Emerson pretty easy.” Mandell makes up one of five offensive line commits for the Badgers’ 2024 class, joining Derek Jensen, Kevin Heywood, Ryan Cory and Colin Cubberly. Four of the five – Mandell, Jensen, Heywood and Cory – are evaluated as four-star prospects by at least one of the four recruiting outlets (247Sports, ESPN, On3 or Rivals). Mandell does not plan to enroll early and will wait until next summer. He said he wants to throw shot put and discus for Irondale's track and field team, which competes in the spring. Though he's a guard in high school, his college position could change. “Jack said he can envision me playing any position on the offensive line, but I think he said he might want to primarily focus on guard,” Mandell said.