These 11 Wisconsin high-school products went from walking on with the Badgers to lengthy NFL careers

Amaun Williams of Milwaukee Riverside, Delavan-Darien’s Ross Gengler and Marquette University High School products Riley Nowakowski and Sean Timmis are heading to the University of Wisconsin as walk-ons, turning down scholarship offers elsewhere.

Should they become standout contributors, they wouldn't be the first to do so at UW, which has a long tradition of excellence in turning walk-ons into key contributors. Numerous players have ascended from walk-on status in the program into NFL standouts. These 11 are among the biggest names to do so.

J. J. Watt

Watt left Pewaukee High School as a scholarship tight end at Central Michigan, so he took quite the risk when he elected to bypass the opportunity to play regularly on the Division I level and transfer to Wisconsin without a scholarship. He famously delivered pizzas to help make ends meet (a subtle reference made in a sketch on Saturday Night Live last weekend) but wound up becoming a dominant defensive end. He turned pro after his junior year, became a first-round pick, emerged as a star with the Houston Texans, became the second player in NFL history to win three Defensive Player of the Year awards and became a national brand. Seems like Watt made an OK move.

Mark Tauscher

Tauscher wasn't recruited out of Auburndale High School and joined Wisconsin in 1995 but didn't earn his first letter until 1998. With a year of eligibility remaining, Tauscher famously contemplated walking away from football before running into Badgers coaches at the Kentucky Derby, where they convinced him to come back for one more year. In 1999, he was a key blocker for Ron Dayne's remarkable senior season, and he became a seventh-round pick by the Green Bay Packers. He spent 11 years in Titletown, won a ring in Super Bowl XLV and is now in the Packers Hall of Fame.

Jim Leonhard

Today, Leonhard is the acclaimed defensive coordinator for his alma mater, with many Badgers fans wondering if or when he'll get an opportunity as a head coach or a spot with a bigger program. He was Wisconsin's regular starting safety for two seasons but wasn't on scholarship until his senior year. His 21 career interceptions are tied for the most in Badgers lore, and he was also a top tackler and return man with 1,347 yards, which at the time set a Big Ten career punt return record. Though only 5-foot-8, the Flambeau High School product became an all-time great at UW and wound up playing from 2005-2014 in the NFL with six different franchises.

Joe Panos

One of the prototypical walk-on cases in Wisconsin history. He started at UW-Whitewater but transferred to Wisconsin as a walk-on, became a starter, and wound up as captain of the 1994 Rose Bowl champion, with a streak of 32 consecutive games played in the mix. He earned second-team All-American honors and became a third-round pick by the Philadelphia Eagles. The Brookfield East product wound up in the NFL for six years with the Eagles and Bills, seeing action in 83 games. He's now a sports agent.

Ryan Ramczyk

Speaking of offensive linemen who transferred from another state school, Ramczyk transferred to Wisconsin from UW-Stevens Point and was briefly a walk-on before earning a scholarship for the 2015 season (a season he sat out). The Stevens Point Area High School product had a monster 2016 season and became a first-round pick by the New Orleans Saints (famously selected in the interceding picks between the Packers' first-round pick that the team traded and the second-round pick where the Packers took Kevin King). He was first-team All-Pro this season in his third year after a second-team All-Pro campaign last year for one of the league's best teams.

Rick Wagner

The West Allis Hale product was a tight end in high school and walked on with the Badgers at that position, but the coaches moved him to right tackle two years after he got on campus. He became a fixture on the offensive line for three Big Ten champions and was ultimately selected in the fifth round of the 2013 draft by the Baltimore Ravens, where he played for four years before signing a five-year free-agent contract with the Detroit Lions in 2017. The $47.5 million deal made him the highest paid right tackle in the NFL.

Chad Cascadden

The Chippewa Falls High School native didn't play as a senior in high school due to a knee injury, so the Badgers gave him a chance as a walk-on in the early 1990s. He emerged as a starting outside linebacker and became a big part of the 1994 Rose Bowl championship team, then signed with the New York Jets as an undrafted rookie. He recorded a game-winning fumble return for a touchdown in 1998 and played in the league for six seasons, racking up eight career sacks and 65 total tackles.

Joe Schobert

His story is well-told in Wisconsin high-school football circles. The Waukesha West product was slated to walk on at North Dakota until he showed up for the state all-star game in the summer, and coaches such as former Kenosha Bradford and Brookfield Central coach Jed Kennedy saw a player who needed more recruiting attention. He helped get the ball rolling with Badgers coach Bret Bielema to offer Schobert a walk-on opportunity. He had a superb career with the Badgers, evolved into the Big Ten linebacker of the year, was drafted in the fourth round by the Browns in 2016 and made the Pro Bowl in 2017.

Chris Maragos

The Racine Horlick graduate started his college career at Western Michigan as a receiver but elected to transfer to Wisconsin, where he was converted to free safety. In two years, he finished with five interceptions and 94 tackles, then signed with the 49ers after going undrafted in 2010. Thus began an eight-year NFL career, largely as a special teams wizard, that featured two Super Bowl championships, once with Seattle in Super Bowl 48 and again as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles roster in Super Bowl 52.

Alex Erickson

The Darlington native has played with the Cincinnati Bengals since 2016 after signing as an undrafted free agent, with 947 receiving yards and 3,643 return yards to his name. He finished his career at Wisconsin in the top 10 of receiving yards and receptions, earning first-team All-Big Ten according to the media as a senior in 2015.

Jared Abbrederis

The former quarterback at Wautoma/Faith Christian started as a scout team quarterback when he walked on with the Badgers but was moved to wide receiver, where he wound up with 202 career receptions and 3,140 yards from 2010-2013, with two first-team All-Big Ten plaudits. He was drafted in the fifth round, and though his NFL career was among the shortest of those on the list, he's notable for a couple reasons: one is that he played for the hometown Green Bay Packers from 2014-16, and another is that he's the lone Badgers player to win the Burlsworth Trophy awarded to the nation's outstanding player who started as a walk-on (the award has only existed since 2010).

Bonus: Long snappers!

One area where walk-ons can have a major impact: long snapper, where the anonymity of a walk-on can extend into a pro career as well. Mike Schneck and Matt Katula both accomplished a ton in the NFL after playing at Wisconsin. Whitefish Bay's Schneck played 11 years in the NFL, with a Pro Bowl selection in 2005 during his time with the Buffalo Bills. He played in 159 career games. Katula, a product of Catholic Memorial, played in 93 NFL games over eight years, primarily with the Baltimore Ravens but also with the New England Patriots.

RELATED: A compilation of Wisconsin high school players selected in the NFL draft

Some other names you know

Maybe they aren't known for their pro football career, but several UW walk-ons became standouts at Wisconsin, including Matt Unertl, Jason Doering, Joe Stellmacher, Donnel Thompson, Luke Swan, Bradie Ewing and Ben Strickland. Dare Ogunbowale just finished his third year in the NFL.

JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.