Wisconsin Football 2024

[Fear The Chorizo]

2 hours ago, JosephC said:

The NFL will not change the rule because the NFL has fought major court battles to keep this rule in place.  College football is a completely free developmental league/minor-league system for them.  What could be better?

 

What could be better for the NFL? getting another pre-30 year old season of on-field football performance as an NFL player while still having college programs try to throw together rosters and recruit the blue chip talent that are obviously good enough to start playing in the NFL a year younger than they can enter the draft already.

I think the advancements in player development/quality of play at the college level has limited questions about players being physically ready to play in the NFL as a 20/21 year old compared to being 21/22.  The NFL would keep its free development league with college football - it would just be even more watered down/chaotic with roster turnovers when the very best players can get drafted after 2 years of games (and one less season of injury risk).

[Jim French Stepstool]

2 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

It is and it isn't. You have a lot of work to establish continuity amoung players.  Teamwork, etc.. But when you consider 25% turnover is your minimum because of seniors leaving... and a higher percentage of starters... An additional 20% isn't that much more.  Especially because a lot of the transfer turnover happens at the lower "I can't get an opportunity here" realm than with your starters.

That's right. when you factor in the seniors that run out of eligibility it seems like a less daunting number. Still, if we're talking about kids that were good enough to be recruited at FBS schools-- If they can't find a spot on an FCS roster, ANYWHERE, there may be other things filtering in---attitude, grades, maybe even a refusal to admit you're not as good as you thought you were. 

I'm all for the continuity & teamwork stuff--being the right "fit" for a program. Unfortunately that can't be as important as it was. That sucks, but it's another reason why I find it strange that so many of these guys wind up floating around w/o a home.

[Jim French Stepstool]

12 hours ago, Playing Catch said:

It doesn't make me sad. They aren't good enough. They wash themselves out. They get on with their lives. It's sad in the sense that they may not end up with a free education, but if they're playing the transfer game, they're not there to play school anyway.

It DOES make me sad that the whole "free college" aspect of playing D1 football has been totally lost in all of the NIL stuff. Ask any of us that are paying off student debt into middle age if getting a scholarship is being compensated for "working" as a football player.

I would love it if someday soon ESPN did a "30 for 30" on a handful of these scholarship athletes that left their schools & found nowhere to go. Pick out 5 or 6 who are now working in a factory or in the service industry, or w/o a job, or perhaps with legal issues.

But ESPN will never do that, because it might spook some of the better football players out of transferring to SEC schools.

[Jim French Stepstool]

James Thompson Jr has decided to enter the portal. He didn't play last year due to the torn pec muscle, but is still their best returning DL had he stayed, so not good news.

[nate82]

Of all the players that have entered the portal Trech hurts the most but I don't blame him.  The team really didn't give him the opportunities he needed but when they did he was really good.  He would have one game where they would target him and then the next couple one or two targets and that would be it. 

I wouldn't be surprised if the Badgers are facing off against him next year in Alabama. 

[homer]

9 hours ago, nate82 said:

Of all the players that have entered the portal Trech hurts the most but I don't blame him.  The team really didn't give him the opportunities he needed but when they did he was really good.  He would have one game where they would target him and then the next couple one or two targets and that would be it. 

I wouldn't be surprised if the Badgers are facing off against him next year in Alabama. 

Get the ball in the hands of your playmakers. Longo never figured that out.

[yourout]

29 minutes ago, homer said:

Get the ball in the hands of your playmakers. Longo never figured that out.

If you have any.

[JosephC]

QB - Nick Evers - UConn = 8 games, 97/179, 54.2% completion percentage, 918 passing yards, 5 TD, 5 INT, 234 rushing yards, 3.0 average, 3 rushing TDs (other QB on roster had 183 pass attempts, so looks like a 50/50 split in playing time)

QB - Myles Burkett - Albany = 145/265, 54.7% completion percentage, 1845 passing yards, 10 TD, 7 INT, 129 rushing yards, 1.7 average, 0 rushing TDs

WR - Chimere Dike - Florida = 36 catches, 687 yards, 19.1 average, 2 touchdowns

WR - Keontez Lewis - Southern Illinois = 49 catches, 813 yards, 16.6 average, 5 touchdowns

WR - Skyler Bell - UConn = 47 catches, 783 yards, 16.7 average, 4 touchdowns

WR - Tommy McIntosh - Central Michigan = 9 games, 2 catches, 15 yards

OL - Nolan Rucci - Penn State = Appeared in all 12 games, only started 2

OL - Trey Wedig - Indiana = Started 11 games at right tackle

OL - Dylan Barrett - Iowa State = Started 8 games at right guard and then got hurt

 

[JosephC]

DE - Darian Varner - Cincinnati = 12 games, 11 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 fumble recovery

DL - Rodas Johnson - Texas A&M = 12 games, 10 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack

DT - Gio Paez - LSU = 12 games, 19 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 pass breakup

DL - TJ Bollers - California = 12 games, 22 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, 2 pass breakups

DE - Jordan Meyer - Penn State = 11 games, 2 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks

EDGE - Kaden Johnson - Nevada = 8 games, 17 tackles, 0.5 tackle for loss, 1 pass breakup

DL - Mike Jarvis - Liberty = 10 games, 3 tackles, 0.5 tackle for loss, 1 pass breakup

LB - Jordan Turner - Michigan State = 12 games, 66 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 2 interceptions, 1 pass breakup (tackles and tackles for loss were team highs, sacks ranked 2nd on team)

LB - Aidan Vaughan - Liberty = 11 games, 16 tackles, 1 pass breakup

LB - Ross Gengler - Wisconsin-La Crosse = 12 games, 38 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 2 forced fumbles 

[JosephC]

DB - AJ Tisdell - Incarnate Ward = 12 games, 45 tackles, 1 interception, 7 pass breakups

DB - Amaun Williams - Concordia = ???, I checked five different schools named Concordia, and did not locate Williams on any roster.  Also could not locate him using general internet searches

CB - Michael Mack - Ohio = 12 games, 12 tackles, 1 tackle for loss

I think that is it for the guys who transferred out last year.

[Playing Catch]

Wow. Impressive research. That was a lot of talent that Fickell and company didn't adequately replace through the portal.

[homer]

Those receivers would not have come close to those numbers had they stayed. Not enough footballs.

[JosephC]

To sum up the losses, I was as excited as probably anybody over Nick Evers, but he sure doesn't look like anything special as he ended up splitting time at UConn and ended up with a 5/5 TD/INT ratio.  Burkett started at a lower level but the stat line is pretty unimpressive.

Wide receiver, big losses there.  Have to believe that Dike, Bell and Lewis would have made this team much better, even with questionable QB play.

Rucci is another 5 star bust.  It will be interesting to see if he just stays home or if he transfers again (or if Franklin boots him back into the portal).  I'll be interested to see if Wedig gets some all-conference mentions (Big 10 OL is deep enough where I don't think he gets all-team type honors, but maybe an honorable mention).  From what I've read, it doesn't sound like Wedig or Barrett would have been starting ahead of Nelson, Mahlman or Brunner.  Maybe if these guys would have stuck around, the Badgers would have had an upgrade at RG?  I really don't know much about Joe Huber, as I didn't read much of anything positive or negative about him.

The stat sheet on Paez is nothing special, but he was a starter and was playing the nose for LSU.  Seems like he was a pretty big loss as I wasn't hearing very much positive stuff about the Badger defensive front six.  Rodas Johnson picked the wrong team to go to, as A&M have 3 defensive lineman that look to be taken within the first 5 or so rounds of the upcoming draft, and the 4th one is a 5-star sophomore who was the #1 DLman in his class according to both 247 and Rivals).

Jordan Turner was a pretty good player for the Badgers and appears to have been the biggest individual loss the Badgers had.  Have to believe he would have been a significant help to the defensive front.

Defensive backs, really didn't appear to lose much there. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

Great research, Joseph. 

I think what they missed most among the portal losses was in the DL. Maybe none of those guys were all-conference types, but it's huge to be able to shuttle 5-7 guys there & we were never able to do that. Throw in Thompson being out all year & it hurt greatly. Their best playmaker (Elijah Hills) really ran out of gas at the end of the year. And although they had some depth at LB Jordan Turner was greatly missed.

The talent at WR that left was substantial, but I'm not sure how much difference their presence would've made. Like @homersaid, only one football. I particularly liked Dike, but I don't know that the Air Raid offense liked him.

As I alluded to earlier, they had very little depth in the OL & were fortunate that they stayed healthy there. Otherwise Rucci, Wedig & Barrett would've been greatly missed.

The one area where Evers could've made a difference is he had at least some talent/willingness to run with the ball ala Mordecai & Van Dyke. Not a 'better' option than what they had but the option of an added dimension.

[LouisEly]

Dike, yes, but those other receivers were at UCONN and Southern Illinois.  They weren't exactly going against B1G DBs and defenses.  UCONN was ranked 121st in strength of schedule, Southern Illinois is FCS.

For Wedig and Barrett it was their last season of eligibility and they weren't going to start here, so I don't blame them for leaving.  Wedig did not make all-conference, not even honorable mention.  Huber was the only Badger to make 1st/2nd/or 3rd team All Conference.

Paez and Rodas Johnson/Getachew would have been slight upgrades.  They rotated plenty at DT, considering they only had 2-3 on the field at one time.  Neal, Barten, Hills, Johnson, Lane, McDonald all rotated in.  They would have been an upgrade over Lane and McDonald, slightly Barten and Johnson but Johnson needed to see the field so that he wouldn't leave.

Dike is really the only one who could have mattered, maybe Johnson and Paez.

[JosephC]

I didn't think they released the all-conference lists until after the conference championship game.  Wow, what an ugly list for Wisconsin.  One 3rd teamer.  I guess one has to take into consideration the ridiculous number of teams in the conference.  But still, one 3rd teamer...makes me feel like I am a Purdue fan,  Apparently, I picked the right year to stop going to and watching games altogether.

The Huber thing is funny because the media seemed to talk about Nelson, Mahlman and Brunner, but I never heard much about Huber.  The fact that Nelson, Mahlman and Brunner were 4-star recruits, and Huber was a transfer, probably played a role in that.  But I agree, considering Huber played that well, then Wedig and Barrett were not significant losses.

I still see Paez and Johnson being pretty big losses, especially after reading quotes from Fickell about lacking enough big bodies (especially at end where Johnson would have been a big help).  Still can't believe Johnson left Madison and wound up in the situation he did.  Since NFL teams just draft guys based on workout numbers now, these projections may change dramatically, but as of today...Nic Scourton appears to be a round one lock and probably slightly better than 50/50 to go in the top half of round one...Shemar Stewart looks to be a round two or very early round three pick...Shemar Turner is probably late round three or round four....DJ Hicks, 2023 class, #3 at Rivals, #11 at 247sports.

I'm probably biased on Jordan Turner because I thought he had shown pretty good improvement the more he played here and was disappointed to see him go.  It's nice to see that he seemed to do well at Michigan State.

[LouisEly]

7 hours ago, JosephC said:

I'm probably biased on Jordan Turner because I thought he had shown pretty good improvement the more he played here and was disappointed to see him go.  It's nice to see that he seemed to do well at Michigan State.

Keep in mind, he was likely on Strike 2 here with his DUI, speeding arrest, and suspension. 

Better to leave on your own and start with a clean slate then get kicked out.

[homer]

UW hiring Kansas OC

https://www.buckys5thquarter.com/2024/12/6/24315215/breaking-wisconsin-badgers-hire-kansas-jayhawks-oc-jeff-grimes-as-school-next-offensive-coordinator

 

[igor67]

The getting let go by Aranda is an interesting tid bit. 

[JosephC]

That's crazy (not bad, just crazy).  McIntosh looked at Fickell, Aranda, Leonhard and Leipold to replace Chryst, and now the Badgers are interviewing an offensive coordinator whose last two jobs were under Leipold and Aranda.

His bio is still up on the Kansas website, long history as an offensive line coach.  Coached at LSU under Les Miles and at Virginia Tech under Frank Beamer.

[yfinn6]

Fickell will still look to hire a QB coach, presumably. If Grimes is the hire, it appears they're trying to build through the O-Line, which is the right move, IMO. I believe Harbaugh went back to heavy sets and a punishing O-Line after being on the hotseat in Michigan after a few lackluster years. Lucky for Harbaugh, the defense also vastly improved; we'll see if that's the case for UW.

I'll be curious who Fickell can get to coach quarterbacks. I'm not sure if there's a "reclamation project" out there that just wants to work to rebuild their coaching credibility or an up and coming type. It's another important hire for Fickell. 

[LouisEly]

When he was at BYU he brought them into Madison on 9/15/18 and knocked off the #6 ranked Badgers.  And developed Zach Wilson into the #2 overall pick in the 2021 draft. 

Shouldn't have any issues bringing in any QBs - if they get concerned about a run-oriented offense, all he has to do is point to Wilson and the contract he got.

[homer]

Trech reverses course and decides to stay at UW 

[nate82]

20 minutes ago, homer said:

Trech reverses course and decides to stay at UW 

This is good to hear.  He would have been a huge loss.

 

[wallus]

1 hour ago, homer said:

Trech reverses course and decides to stay at UW 

I'm guessing the new OC and new transfer QB (TBD) plus more NIL money did the trick.