Wisconsin football lands Arkansas transfer OL Blake Cherry
Former Arkansas offensive lineman Blake Cherry has committed to the Wisconsin Badgers via the transfer portal.
The Wisconsin football program made another move along the offensive line, and this one is rooted in familiarity as much as it is in projection.
Arkansas offensive lineman Blake Cherry has committed to the Badgers, reuniting with offensive line coach Eric Mateos, who previously coached Cherry during his time with the Razorbacks. That prior relationship mattered. Mateos knows how Cherry works, understands where he’s still raw, and clearly believes in the ceiling that comes with his physical tools.
“Go Badgers!🦡🔴,” Cherry wrote.
Listed at 6-foot-5 and 316 pounds, Cherry will have three years of eligibility remaining and arrives as a developmental piece with some upside. He appeared in all 12 games for Arkansas this past season as a true freshman, primarily contributing on special teams, but he also saw limited action on offense.
According to Pro Football Focus, Cherry logged 25 offensive snaps and finished with a 61.8 overall offensive grade, highlighted by an 81.5 pass-blocking grade, a strong mark that hints at why Wisconsin’s coaching staff felt comfortable making this move to acquire him this early in his career. Cherry added a 57.3 run-blocking grade, did not allow a sack or pressure, and was deployed primarily at left guard (22 snaps), with three additional snaps coming as an inline tight end in heavy packages.
A native of Owasso (OK.), Cherry was a three-star recruit coming out of high school and held scholarship offers from Texas A&M, Nebraska, Arizona State, and Texas Tech, among others. He chose Arkansas and played under Mateos during a challenging 2–10 season, an experience that tends to accelerate maturity for young linemen learning to survive in the trenches at the Power Four level.
Now, he gets a new opportunity to prove himself at Wisconsin. Cherry will step into an offensive line room that is very much in transition.
Wisconsin expects to bring back Kevin Heywood, Emerson Mandell, and Colin Cubberly, while Joe Brunner’s future remains up in the air. The Badgers have already addressed the immediate need at center by adding Oklahoma State transfer Austin Kawecki, giving the unit a stable presence inside. Cherry’s addition fits a different lane. He’s not being asked to start right away. He’s being brought in to compete and grow into a bigger role.
That distinction matters.
Under Mateos, and with offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes having worked closely at several stops, Wisconsin is trying to rebuild its offensive line with a clearer identity. The goal is an outside-zone leaning run scheme that requires athleticism, movement skills, and linemen who can protect on the move. Cherry’s frame and early pass-protection flashes suggest a player who could eventually fit that vision as his game rounds out more.
This is also where the relationship piece comes back into focus.
Mateos has coached Cherry. He knows what buttons to push, how he responds to coaching, and where the growth potential still lies. That familiarity reduces some of the risk when you’re projecting a young offensive lineman forward, especially one who hasn’t played a ton of meaningful snaps yet. For Wisconsin, that’s a bet worth making as it tries to raise both the floor and the long-term outlook of the Badgers unit.
Cherry is a developmental investment in a room that needs to be deeper, more athletic, and better aligned with what this staff wants to run. As Wisconsin continues retooling an offensive line that must take a real step forward next season, this is the type of move that makes sense on the margins and could pay off over time once the foundation is fully in place.
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