Wisconsin Football 2025

[nate82]

I think they have spent all of their revenue sharing money on this class.

[RedStickBrew]

2 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Yeah, I would say so.

He never played due to injury, but Kevin Heywood was penciled in as the starting LT. So if he comes back strong that would be looked at as a good retention (not that he would've received portal attention given he sat out the entire year).

Really wish Brunner would've stuck around.

With the loss of Brunner there are only two guys with more experience starting, Kawecki,  and Mandell. The other three spots will likely be three of the guys lighter on experience- some combo of Heywood, Simmons, Cherry, Wilkins and Cubberly I would guess. 

[RedStickBrew]

NM

[Joseph Zarr]

Man, they are out here working:

 

(Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year)

[RedStickBrew]

43 minutes ago, Joseph Zarr said:

Man, they are out here working:

 

(Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year)

This kid is going to be really expensive I believe. I see they announced a visit from another Edge from TN tomorrow. That could just be a negotiation tactic or a sign they are moving on from this guy. We shall see. Fun times if you enjoy this stuff

[Joseph Zarr]

51 minutes ago, RedStickBrew said:

This kid is going to be really expensive I believe. I see they announced a visit from another Edge from TN tomorrow. That could just be a negotiation tactic or a sign they are moving on from this guy. We shall see. Fun times if you enjoy this stuff

Yeah, I'm a complete college football noob. Not even truly a Badgers fan (tho I do track Badgers sports having been born in Wisco and growing up there), per se, but I wanted to see how they went about their business after keeping Fickel and declaring they would be putting more money into their program. If you are a die hard Badgers fan, I think you have to be really pleased with how this transfer portal Op has gone so far?

[Joseph Zarr]

One more domino. Sheesh.

I believe they have one more spot to fill? Or is that two spots?

[RedStickBrew]

13 minutes ago, Joseph Zarr said:

One more domino. Sheesh.

I believe they have one more spot to fill?

This kid is an experienced physical safety. Great pick up.
 

I believe they are still going to try to add 2 DL, QB, 2 WR, and maybe a RB yet too. Probably done with DB, LB, TE, OL

[Jim French Stepstool]

With Smith returning & Joseph in the fold, I wonder if they can attract another QB worth attracting? I imagine someone in the Locke-O'Neil 'willing to be a backup' category.

 

[LouisEly]

15 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

With Smith returning & Joseph in the fold, I wonder if they can attract another QB worth attracting? I imagine someone in the Locke-O'Neil 'willing to be a backup' category.

 

Depends on the health prognosis for O'Neil.  If they don't anticipate him back in time for the season, I could see them adding a Hunter Simmons-like 3rd string QB.

[Jim French Stepstool]

4 hours ago, RedStickBrew said:

With the loss of Brunner there are only two guys with more experience starting, Kawecki,  and Mandell. The other three spots will likely be three of the guys lighter on experience- some combo of Heywood, Simmons, Cherry, Wilkins and Cubberly I would guess. 

Kawecki is obviously the shoo-in at C. But I might throw Ryan Cory in the mix too, only because Kawecki has some experience at G & could play there if Cory emerges in his 3rd year in the program. He was forced into the fray at 'Bama & wasn't bad considering the lack of experience. Admittedly just a 'what if'.

 

[RedStickBrew]

24 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Kawecki is obviously the shoo-in at C. But I might throw Ryan Cory in the mix too, only because Kawecki has some experience at G & could play there if Cory emerges in his 3rd year in the program. He was forced into the fray at 'Bama & wasn't bad considering the lack of experience. Admittedly just a 'what if'.

 

I would guess Cory is pretty solidly in the two deep and in the mix for sure. It will be fascinating to see all this play out with the new O-line coach. There are 11-12 guys in the O-line room that are freshmen and sophomores which is crazy also

[Joseph Zarr]

1 hour ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

With Smith returning & Joseph in the fold, I wonder if they can attract another QB worth attracting? I imagine someone in the Locke-O'Neil 'willing to be a backup' category.

 

They are rumored to be looking at a Cal-Poly transfer eligible QB I think?

[Joseph Zarr]

Yup. Thought I saw this and I did:

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

11 minutes ago, Joseph Zarr said:

They are rumored to be looking at a Cal-Poly transfer eligible QB I think?

Yeah, I just saw a reference to that tonite. Big boy.

I cringe whenever I hear Cal-Poly. That's the school that came into Madison late one season & almost knocked off one of the Bielema-led teams. 35-34 or something like that.

[Jimbo]

9 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Yeah, I just saw a reference to that tonite. Big boy.

I cringe whenever I hear Cal-Poly. That's the school that came into Madison late one season & almost knocked off one of the Bielema-led teams. 35-34 or something like that.

Two missed XP.  I guess 1-AA schools don't have enough scholarships for kickers.

[Joseph Zarr]

 

[CheezWizHed]

14 hours ago, RedStickBrew said:

This kid is an experienced physical safety. Great pick up.
 

I believe they are still going to try to add 2 DL, QB, 2 WR, and maybe a RB yet too. Probably done with DB, LB, TE, OL

Do we run 3-4 or 4-3? (you can tell how much I've paid attention the last couple of years...)

Just curious on whether "Edge" means OLB or DE. 

[nate82]

7 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

Just curious on whether "Edge" means OLB or DE. 

An EDGE rusher lines up traditionally where a 3-4 OLB lines up but normally they don’t have the same responsibilities as an OLB has and have more of the responsibilities of a DE.  It is like a hybrid of DE and OLB, so you could say an EDGE is both an OLB and DE.

Though you could argue that it is a new position and is neither.

[RedStickBrew]

25 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

Do we run 3-4 or 4-3? (you can tell how much I've paid attention the last couple of years...)

Just curious on whether "Edge" means OLB or DE. 

Great question. Fickell and Tressell wanted to run a base 3-3-5 was my understanding coming in to UW, but haven’t had the personnel. They have run a variation of fronts the last two years. After we got dominated up front two years ago and there was an effort to get bigger on the Dline. Last year we had both the tradition pass rushing Edge and a “Jack”OLB playing on the D line. 

[CheezWizHed]

I knew I was going to get a philosophical answer... 

I believe they are still going to try to add 2 DL, QB, 2 WR, and maybe a RB yet too. Probably done with DB, LB, TE, OL

I'm just trying to understand if the "2 DL" would still include an Edge player or if the "done with... LB" means no more edge players. 

[LouisEly]

37 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

Do we run 3-4 or 4-3? (you can tell how much I've paid attention the last couple of years...)

Just curious on whether "Edge" means OLB or DE. 

Neither, really.  They predominantly run a 2-4-5 or a 4-2-5.   For the first year or two it was more like a 2-4-5 or 3-3-5 but towards the end of 2024 and last year it was more of a 4-2-5 with the edge rushers/DEs playing more with their hand in the dirt.

I think it was more of a 2-4-5 the first year and a half because they didn't have the size at DL and thought that would get their best personnel on the field.  Last year though they had more size at edge (Peterson at ~260 lbs, Walker at ~290 lbs, Reiger with his hand in the dirt), so it was more of a 4-2-5.  

It's not much different than what Leonhard ran.  He used a 2-4-5 which worked with most teams... until they got run over by Ohio State and occasionally Iowa.

[RedStickBrew]

8 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

I knew I was going to get a philosophical answer... 

I believe they are still going to try to add 2 DL, QB, 2 WR, and maybe a RB yet too. Probably done with DB, LB, TE, OL

I'm just trying to understand if the "2 DL" would still include an Edge player or if the "done with... LB" means no more edge players. 

Definitely one Edge guy and one IDL guy IMO

Now DT Perkins announced he is entering the portal so likely 1 Edge and 2 IDL guys to come

[LouisEly]

Rumor floating around that Eugene Hilton likes the new QB and is coming back...

[LouisEly]

A former player who played for both Chryst/Leonhard and Fickell hopped on Reddit for an Ask Me Anything.  According to people close to the program, what he says aligns with what they have seen and heard.

https://www.reddit.com/r/WisconsinBadgers/comments/1q4rgco/i_played_football_for_the_last_three_badger/?share_id=h-_rN46FmomKpqsoXtozL&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1

 

Here's what I found really interesting: