Wisconsin Football 2022- The Jim Leonhard Show ends, the Luke Fickell era begins

[CheezWizHed]

I find it a bit funny to hear this argument when I think both of you are right. ?

I don't think our WRs were very dynamic and haven't been for a long time. They are ok, but it has been a long time since we've has a WR that demanded double coverage (or even draft worthy). 

And Mertz had obvious and huge issues - both accuracy and handling pressure.  Early in the season, the only WR he could hit was inside the numbers (10 yard range) or outside the numbers less than 5 yards downfield. Anyone in his face caused him to panic and throws were erratic.  So it wasn't like WRs had much of a chance to run deep routes or such. 

I do think there is hope on both sides however,  Dike seems like a WR with some decent upside.

Likewise, Mertz's second half of the season seemed to improve.  Things looked like they were slowing down for him, less panicking, and even started hitting fade routes 10-20 yards downfield (i.e. showing some touch to throw over someone and drop the ball into the WR's hands). 

Mertz's and the WRs growth and development is probably the biggest indicator on whether we will win the West again or play some mediocre condiment bowl again.

[areff91]

21 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

I find it a bit funny to hear this argument when I think both of you are right. ?

I don't think our WRs were very dynamic and haven't been for a long time. They are ok, but it has been a long time since we've has a WR that demanded double coverage (or even draft worthy). 

And Mertz had obvious and huge issues - both accuracy and handling pressure.  Early in the season, the only WR he could hit was inside the numbers (10 yard range) or outside the numbers less than 5 yards downfield. Anyone in his face caused him to panic and throws were erratic.  So it wasn't like WRs had much of a chance to run deep routes or such. 

I do think there is hope on both sides however,  Dike seems like a WR with some decent upside.

Likewise, Mertz's second half of the season seemed to improve.  Things looked like they were slowing down for him, less panicking, and even started hitting fade routes 10-20 yards downfield (i.e. showing some touch to throw over someone and drop the ball into the WR's hands). 

Mertz's and the WRs growth and development is probably the biggest indicator on whether we will win the West again or play some mediocre condiment bowl again.

I agree with you.?

[nate82]

I hope the blah predictable play calling doesn’t come back this year.  What I mean by this is actually putting WR’s in motion and moving the TE off of the line.  The TE staying on the line last year was to help block so hopefully this year the Badgers can move their TE off of the line every once in awhile.  

[homer]

Yeah it is kind of infuriating to run without motions or shifts in this day and age. 

[UpandIn]

On 8/9/2022 at 5:37 PM, LouisEly said:

Go back and watch film from last year and count the number of times that Mertz missed open receivers.

WRs getting open weren't the issue.

It's not just about WRers getting open, it's about them getting open ON TIME.

Yeah, they'll uncover eventually, but for all the hype about the Badgers OL the last 4-5 years...it really hasn't been that good. 

Mertz has been getting lit up on a regular basis. PS, ND, IND, Iowa and Michigan, they've...abused him.
It reminds me of Love vs KC...and the Packers OL without Jenkins and Bahktiari. So many plays when we have 4 to block 4 and there's just a basic breakdown and a backer comes on a delayed blitz and the Guard doesn't pick him up. Things that you need an elite QB, a smart QB or a mobile QB to overcome.

The Badgers OL, good as it's been historically, it hasn't been a good pass blocking OL in a while now. 

Not giving Mertz a pass. He's been a disappointment, but if the OL is good this year, I think Mertz will settle in. And god knows it should be with most of our best recruits the last few years being OL...or OLBers. 

[True Blue Brew Crew]

15 hours ago, homer said:

Yeah it is kind of infuriating to run without motions or shifts in this day and age. 

Not to mention being allergic to using the RBs in the passing game. Not only is it absurd that they don't utilize it more to get the ball in the hands of their best playmakers' hands (their RBs), but they're ignoring one of the easiest ways to help the QB build confidence and rhythm, with the calming effect of knowing there's a safety valve to turn to when the play breaks down or the WRs can't get separation.

[nate82]

Watching the Northwestern and Nebraska game both teams look more athletic..  Also why are the players moving around before the snap?  Don’t they know that is not allowed? 

[Samurai Bucky]

23 minutes ago, nate82 said:

Watching the Northwestern and Nebraska game ...

Pat Fitzgerald:  "Um... you are supposed to be watching for me to call the timeout.  You shouldn't be watching the play on the field."  ?

[nate82]

The Badgers won’t be able to sleep walk through the West this year.  Nebraska looks to be a better team at least offensively this year.

Northwestern doesn’t look all that bad either and their offensive line looks really good. 

[yourout]

https://www.badgerextra.com/commentary/article_9938470e-23f3-11ed-b5b7-1bc0c3af5974.html?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_BadgerBeat&fbclid=IwAR3quwSzcGNU7-2Y1EHgv_ZPlrItJBu0MQoCjqpEXL9pqnr-vzNwjteirvM

[LouisEly]

On 8/27/2022 at 2:50 PM, nate82 said:

The Badgers won’t be able to sleep walk through the West this year.  Nebraska looks to be a better team at least offensively this year.

Northwestern doesn’t look all that bad either and their offensive line looks really good. 

You posted this before the end of the 3rd quarter, right?

One thing's for sure, Nebraska isn't better defensively this year.  528 yards, 0 sacks, 2 TFL. 

[nate82]

17 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

You posted this before the end of the 3rd quarter, right?

One thing's for sure, Nebraska isn't better defensively this year.  528 yards, 0 sacks, 2 TFL. 

Right but I am confused about what my post had to do with their defense?

Also Northwestern’s Oline looked really good.  Maybe it was just Nebraska’s Dline is bad.  But they looked real good in pass protection and run blocking.  They created a lot of holes for the running game and there was basically no pressure on their QB the whole game from a pass rush.

[nate82]

Wolf out for the year.  
https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/uw/2022/08/29/wisconsin-badgers-backup-quarterback-chase-wolf-out-serious-knee-injury/7928401001/

Deacon Hill is now the backup QB with Freshman Myles Burkett moving up to the #3 QB.  

[CheezWizHed]

Does anyone know what should we expect out of Hill or Burkett? What type of QBs are they (i.e. drop-back traditional like Mertz or more of a run/throw threat like Wolf)?

Were they highly rated recruits or more on the filler side?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

28 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

Does anyone know what should we expect out of Hill or Burkett? What type of QBs are they (i.e. drop-back traditional like Mertz or more of a run/throw threat like Wolf)?

Were they highly rated recruits or more on the filler side?

Hill is 6'3" and 250 lbs. He's very much a drop-back, throw-from-the-pocket QB. Burkett is undersized at 6'0" about about 200 lbs. He's the athlete.

[Brewcrew82]

4 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

Does anyone know what should we expect out of Hill or Burkett? What type of QBs are they (i.e. drop-back traditional like Mertz or more of a run/throw threat like Wolf)?

Were they highly rated recruits or more on the filler side?

Hill was a 4-star per some sites. Traditional drop-back like Mertz with an absolute cannon for an arm, but also a big dude who may be even more of a statue in the pocket.

Burkett was not as sought-after, but is definitely more than a filler guy. Tremendous athlete who needs to work on his throwing, but has great potential there, too. 

They're both guys with some real potential, though they also are very raw and inexperienced compared to Wolf. 

 

[nate82]

Mertz looks like he will be the QB unless he gets hurt.  Anyone who would be looking for the Badgers to make a change this is very unlikely unless Mertz gets hurt.  PC won't put in the previously 3rd string QB and he definitely will not be playing a freshman.  So the Badgers will be stuck with Mertz good or bad.  

[Samurai Bucky]

33 minutes ago, nate82 said:

Mertz looks like he will be the QB unless he gets hurt.  Anyone who would be looking for the Badgers to make a change this is very unlikely unless Mertz gets hurt.  PC won't put in the previously 3rd string QB and he definitely will not be playing a freshman.  So the Badgers will be stuck with Mertz good or bad.  

People will still be calling for anybody else to play when Mertz throws his first pick.

[nate82]

26 minutes ago, Samurai Bucky said:

People will still be calling for anybody else to play when Mertz throws his first pick.

Obviously but it will be just wasted energy PC won't make the change until about the end of the season and then if he does make a change the new QB will get about 10-15 throws a game.  With all of those throws being the 5-yard safe pass routes.  

[Samurai Bucky]

1 hour ago, nate82 said:

Obviously but it will be just wasted energy PC won't make the change until about the end of the season and then if he does make a change the new QB will get about 10-15 throws a game.  With all of those throws being the 5-yard safe pass routes.  

Sometimes, It is hard to believe that he was in line for the Dallas Cowboys OC job in 2011.

[LouisEly]

5 hours ago, nate82 said:

Mertz looks like he will be the QB unless he gets hurt.  Anyone who would be looking for the Badgers to make a change this is very unlikely unless Mertz gets hurt.  PC won't put in the previously 3rd string QB and he definitely will not be playing a freshman.  So the Badgers will be stuck with Mertz good or bad.  

The previous 3rd string QB (Hill) was running the scout team as a true freshman last year, so his responsibility was to learn the other team's plays each week, not their own playbook.  This is his first season where his job is to learn their own playbook, so it is unlikely that he has a good grasp of a fairly complex pro-style offense (that requires the QB and WRs to read the defense, unlike other offenses where they hold up pictures that tell the receivers what route to run).  I would not expect that person to be ready to challenge for a starting job by the end of fall camp.

Since they brought in two QBs this year, the scholarship QB (Burkett) will be learning the plays and the walk-on QB (Howe) will be running the scout team.  Burkett and Hill are on fairly even ground as far as learning the playbook.

[UpandIn]

On 8/30/2022 at 8:33 AM, CheezWizHed said:

Does anyone know what should we expect out of Hill or Burkett? What type of QBs are they (i.e. drop-back traditional like Mertz or more of a run/throw threat like Wolf)?

Were they highly rated recruits or more on the filler side?

I don't have a real good feel, but I like Burkett quite a bit. He's...not likely to go on and become the next great NFL QB from Wisconsin, but he has a feel of Brooks Bollinger type QB. Probably more athletic. Got a chance to watch him play and I was impressed. It's so hard to project some players to the next level, but he's athletic, he's got a decent arm and it seems pretty accurate. If PC will deviate a bit from his offense and incorporate more RPOs and get him on the edge, I think with our usual OL play and RB play, they could win because of him. 

 

Not exactly the excitement and the possibilities that Mertz came with...but it's what we've got. 

Watching Kendrick Pryor and Danny Davis both have really nice camps, one on a 53, the other potentially on his way to a PS before injury, Cephus in Detroit playing well and then looking at how little they did(plus Jake Ferguson) it's beyond frustrating that we can't get consistently good QB play. Who knows...maybe Mertz will break out this year...

 

It's nothing short of a miracle this program can...on occasion, put together 13-1 type seasons where they lose a 6 point game to OSU in the B1G Championship game with Alex Horningbrook as their QB. 

But hey, they keep churning out studs at LBer, some guys like Hunter Wohler(who I think is going to have a huge breakout season this year) and the Taylor, Allen's of the world and we keep chugging along as a top 15 program. 

[RedStickBrew]

2 hours ago, UpandIn said:

I don't have a real good feel, but I like Burkett quite a bit...

I read somewhere that he took all/most the reps with the 2's in practice so far this week.  He does give them the DT look if Mertz goes down.

[UpandIn]

On 9/1/2022 at 2:49 PM, RedStickBrew said:

I read somewhere that he took all/most the reps with the 2's in practice so far this week.  He does give them the DT look if Mertz goes down.

Good to hear. It's just so hard to tell how these guys are going to do at the next level. I watched CJ Goetz and didn't get the hype(clearly I was wrong). I have an old friend who works for the program and he'll mention this kid or that kid...and on occasion I'll go watch them. Wohler is the last kid I got to see and had some degree of confidence I could predict future success. 

The MOST impressive kid I've seen was Benton...but that was as a Wrestler. 

People can complain about the play calling and the reasons we're not able to take the next step as a program, but one thing they continue to do an amazing job with is developing these kids. Physically putting them on a good diet, a good weight training program, they don't over-train them. 

And hopefully with Bostad back as the OL coach, that identity will come back out. I think the D is loaded. They've certainly got that Taylor, Dayne-like horse to rely on in Allen. If the OL can hold their blocks, hopefully the WRers can get open.

I have absolutely no clue who the TEs are or really anything about them. IIRC, one chose UW over ND and was supposed to be a nice prospect. 

[RedStickBrew]

12 hours ago, UpandIn said:

Good to hear. It's just so hard to tell how these guys are going to do at the next level. I watched CJ Goetz and didn't get the hype(clearly I was wrong). I have an old friend who works for the program and he'll mention this kid or that kid...and on occasion I'll go watch them. Wohler is the last kid I got to see and had some degree of confidence I could predict future success. 

The MOST impressive kid I've seen was Benton...but that was as a Wrestler. 

People can complain about the play calling and the reasons we're not able to take the next step as a program, but one thing they continue to do an amazing job with is developing these kids. Physically putting them on a good diet, a good weight training program, they don't over-train them. 

And hopefully with Bostad back as the OL coach, that identity will come back out. I think the D is loaded. They've certainly got that Taylor, Dayne-like horse to rely on in Allen. If the OL can hold their blocks, hopefully the WRers can get open.

I have absolutely no clue who the TEs are or really anything about them. IIRC, one chose UW over ND and was supposed to be a nice prospect. 

No doubt that predicting future success for high school kids in collegiate football and beyond is a not a science. UW has done well considering they are not landing all 4-5 star recruits.

The TE situation is Cundiff and I think Hayden Rucci that you may be referring to.  It was his brother Nolan that was a big recruit I know for sure that was considering ND.  Cundiff is the guy that had that brutal compound fracture or ankle dislocation last year.  He is reported to look good and be a primary target for Mertz in fall camp.

Big issue I see is the depth again.  Outside of OL and maybe RB, they are going to be playing inexperienced and or young kids in their two deep at most positions.

I think the D will be good again.  ILB's are new but both are very athletic and they really go 5 deep at that position. They can't have injuries on D-line as it looks to be pretty thin there, although they usually figure something out- like moving an O-lineman over there.

It will be interesting to see what Engram brings to the offense in terms of scheme and play-calling.  I am not expecting it to look that different from years past, but I do think we will see more quick passes to slot receivers, FB, H-backs/TEs, etc.

I am excited for Badger football to begin.