Wisconsin Badgers Season Preview

The Wisconsin Badgers have the opportunity to build on a great 2016 campaign. After coming into the season with such little expectations, Wisconsin finished 11-3 and a win in the Cotton Bowl over Western Michigan. Gone are running back Corey Clement, All-American offensive tackle Ryan Ramczyk, linebackers T.J. Watt and Vince Biegel and cornerback Sojourn Shelton. However, the cupboard is far from bare. The season became a bit more challenging after linebackers Jack Cichy and Zack Baun were lost for the season before it even started. But the Badgers do return some big time players like wide receiver Jazz Peavy, tight end Troy Fumagalli and cornerback Derrick Tindal. The team returns some top talent, which makes me think this could be a team that could surprise and make the College Football Playoff for the first time.

Offense

I mentioned the Badgers lost Clement and Ramczyk above. They also lost Clement's backup, Dare Ogunbowale, quarterback Bart Houston and wide receiver Rob Wheelwright. However, that is pretty much it. They return eight starters (if you count Alex Hornibrook as the starter over Houston). The key is the quarterback, Hornibrook. He had a decent freshman season in which he threw nine touchdowns and seven interceptions. There is need for improvement, though. He tends to loft his passes, and it tends to get him in trouble on occasion. He has worked on gaining more zip on his passes, and it has been a noticeable improvement during camp. Hornibrook will have plenty of weapons at his disposal this season.

Replacing Clement and Ogunbowale will be tough, but those guys are not irreplaceable. Filling those shoes will be sophomore Bradrick Shaw and junior Chris James, who is a transfer from Pittsburgh. Shaw as a freshman rushed for 457 yards and five touchdowns, averaging more than five yards per carry. In his two years with Pittsburgh, James rushed for nearly 700 yards and close to five yards per carry. Since coming over, people have raved about his receiving ability. If he is anywhere close to as good of a receiver as former Badgers running back Brian Calhoun, they’ll be in good hands. As nice of a player as Ogunbowale was, James could be a better runner and receiver than Dare was in his time here. Clement was a very good back, but as we have found out, no Wisconsin running back is irreplaceable. Melvin Gordon was close, but after a year of a subpar ground attack, they came back with a solid attack in 2016. The duo of Shaw and James will be a dynamic duo, especially behind a very good Wisconsin offensive line. They will also mix in some of freshman Jonathan Taylor and the Badgers will be back to mauling teams on the ground.

In addition to the running backs, Wisconsin will have a more explosive passing attack. Hornibrook will have more weapons to throw to than in 2016. Wheelwright was a solid player, but Wisconsin will certainly still be fine at wide receiver. They return Jazz Peavy and emerging playmakers Quintez Cephus and A.J. Taylor, as well as gain a nice freshman, Danny Davis. This is the deepest the unit has been in years. The last three have to live up to expectations, though. Cephus and Taylor showed flashes last season, but were not consistent enough to be counted on through the air. If one of them emerges as a big target to complement Peavy, the sky is the limit for this offense. And finally, the Badgers have arguably the best tight end in the country, Troy Fumagalli. He was not looked at enough last season. The 6-6 tight end had a huge game against LSU in the season opener last year with seven catches for 100 yards in the upset victory. However, after that game, he only had two games the rest of the season in which he had more than 52 yards receiving. Fumagalli is the top target on the team and should have 10 targets a game. He should have 800 yards receiving this year, no excuses. Fumagalli is that good. He also should get close to double digit touchdowns. His big body should be lethal in the red zone, but he only had two scores in 2016.

Lastly on this offense, the line should be fantastic once again. Last season, the line had to be shuffled around due to injury. This season, the line should be back closer to the 2010 and 2011 versions than the 2015 one. Even though the team lost Ramczyk to the New Orleans Saints, it returned everybody else. The first official depth chart has two juniors, two sophomores and a redshirt freshman starting, and the unit is ready to take the next step. The line was solid last year, but the Badgers still only averaged 4.3 yards per carry, which ranked 71st. There is room for improvement, and I expect the unit to take another step toward being similar to the 2010 and 11 units.

Defense

One of the strongest units of this defense will be the defensive line. They return everybody of note and add intriguing redshirt freshman Isaiah Loudermilk. This unit is very good and very deep. Alec James or Chikwe Obasih and Conor Sheehy will be the starting ends with Obasih/James and Loudermilk rotating in. The nose tackles will be junior Olive Sagapolu with sophomore Garrett Rand backing him up. This unit will be one of the best in the conference, if not the country.

The linebackers are where most of the concern is. I mentioned that Watt and Biegel are gone and Cichy and Baun are out for the year. Fortunately, last year proved what kind of depth the Badgers had. Cichy and to a lesser extent Baun, would have had big roles this year. Cichy was one of the best inside linebackers in the country before suffering a torn pectoral in Iowa City last year. Baun was a solid reserve at outside linebacker, and would have been this year if not for the injury. Even with the Cichy injury, Wisconsin has tremendous depth at inside linebacker. Last year, the Badgers lost 2015 starter Chris Orr to a torn ACL on the first defensive snap of 2016, and he will return in a reserve role this year. T.J. Edwards is one of the best inside linebackers in the country in pass defense and Ryan Connelly is one of the best inside linebackers in the conference in run defense, so they complement each other well. Orr and Arrington Farrar, who was moved from safety, will be the backups. Alabama transfer Christian Bell will likely be in the mix when he comes back from injury as well. The loss of Cichy hurts, but the Badgers have a number of solid inside linebackers. Outside linebacker is a different story, though. The starters are set, Leon Jacobs and Garret Dooley. But they will need a pass rush out of those two and they have a combined 6.5 sacks in their careers. People have said Jacobs is primed for a big year, and I think he is certainly capable, but he will need to prove it on the field this season. Behind them, it is also a question. As of right now, junior college transfer Andrew Van Ginkel and walk-on sophomore Tyler Johnson are the next outside linebackers in line. I guess we’ll see. I have confidence in Tim Tibesar and Bob Bostad to get the most out of this unit.

Despite losing Shelton and safety Leo Musso, I expect the defensive backs to be a real strength once again. Shelton was a very good four-year starter for the Badgers, but Wisconsin gains a really good transfer cornerback Nick Nelson from Hawaii who is prepared to be a breakout star for Wisconsin after sitting out the 2016 season. He will start opposite from Tindal, who returns after posting 11 pass breakups and three interceptions last season. That duo could be one of the best in the country. Behind them, it is redshirt freshman Dontye Carriere-Williams and senior Lubern Figaro. I hope the freshman takes the nickelback job and runs with it. I have seen enough of Figaro to realize he is a No. 4 cornerback at best. At safety, the Badgers return D’Cota Dixon and have moved Natrell Jamerson to safety to take over for Musso. Jamerson, by most accounts, has adapted to safety well and Bucky hopes it is a smooth transition for the former cornerback. Sophomores Jake Ferguson and Patrick Johnson will back them up. The secondary will be a massive strength for the team with the cornerbacks leading the way.

Special Teams

This unit was a sore spot for the Badgers last year, as kicker Rafael Gaglianone missed all but three games in 2016, and the kicking suffered. Punter Anthony Lotti struggled to start the year, but improved as the season went along. The return units once again struggled. This season, Gaglianone is back and Lotti is looking to improve upon his solid end to the season. Lotti struggled in net punting, but did finish third in the Big Ten with 25 punts downed inside the opponents 20. The return units have struggled for years, and the Badgers will turn to Nelson at punt returner and Taylor will be the kick returner. Paul Chryst would like to see more from the return game, which would set up more short fields.

Overview

Wisconsin once again will have a new defensive coordinator as Jim Leonhard will replace the departed Justin Wilcox, who took the head coaching job at the University of California. The cupboard is far from bare defensively for Leonhard, though. The schedule is much more manageable, too. The Badgers should roll through their first two games, no problem, but they have a tough game at BYU in week three. Wisconsin does avoid Penn State and Ohio State in the regular season, though, and will play Michigan at Camp Randall Stadium. Bucky has high expectations, as this is the first time Wisconsin has been ranked in the preseason top 10 since 2007. It should be a fun season. Let’s just sit back and enjoy the ride.