CFB51 College Football Fan Community

The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: 847badgerfan on January 02, 2020, 08:27:31 AM

Title: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 02, 2020, 08:27:31 AM
Welp, it's the offseason, and for the first time in Paul Chryst's tenure, UW is a bowl game loser.

Now, the waiting game starts, as to which juniors are going to leave. Jonathon Taylor and Tyler Biadasz seem no-brainers to me. Quintez Cephus, Cole Van Lanen and Jake Ferguson have decisions to make too. I listed them in order of likelihood and NFL-readiness.

I hope they all stay, but that would be highly unlikely. As in, almost no chance.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: Cincydawg on January 02, 2020, 09:14:02 AM
That Tyler kid is a real Biadasz.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 02, 2020, 09:25:26 AM
Depending on who comes back... My projected OL:

LT Cole Van Lanen
LG Logan Brown
OC Kayden Lyles
RG Tyler Beach
RT Logan Bruss

Coach Rudolph always says he wants the best five on the field. This probably gives us that. There are also 5 new recruits coming in - two of which are playing in the AA game this weekend. I could see at least one of them in the 2-deep.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: Cincydawg on January 02, 2020, 09:32:13 AM
https://nflmocks.com/2019/12/24/2020-nfl-draft-top-10-rb-prospects/3/ (https://nflmocks.com/2019/12/24/2020-nfl-draft-top-10-rb-prospects/3/)

4
JONATHAN TAYLOR
RB Wisconsin
(https://imagesvc.timeincapp.com/v3/image?url=https://cdn.fansided.com/logos/ncaa/wisconsin.png&c=sc&w=75&h=75)

Many will question me having Taylor this low, but honestly, I see these top four as being extremely close. You could rank these first four running backs in nearly any order and I would not have an issue with it.
That said, I do have Taylor at the bottom of this tier and that is primarily due to potential durability concerns at the next level. Taylor was an absolute workhorse at Wisconsin and there is no doubt that he can handle a full load of carries at the next level. However, after carrying the ball 905 times throughout his three-year college career, I do wonder about longevity for Taylor.
When it comes to on-field ability, Taylor has it all. He is an extremely smart and patient runner who understands how to let his blockers work for him. He also does a great job of pressing the line of scrimmage and forcing the defense to commit before he makes his move. Taylor has nice short-area quickness, great burst through the hole and impressive power at the point of attack.
Taylor will come into the NFL and make an immediate impact. He will be a productive running back early in his career, but his long-term potential is likely extremely limited.


This is a bit weird to me as he has the only negative his 905 carries.  This is an RB rich draft potentially, but Taylor won't do himself better by staying another year, he'll just add more hits to his legs.  I'm 99.9% sure he comes out.

Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: MaximumSam on January 03, 2020, 11:05:28 AM
Schedule
Indiana
Southern Illinois
Appy State
@Michigan
Notre Dame at Lambeau Field
Minnesota
BYE
@Maryland
Illinois
@Northwestern
@Purdue
Nebraska
@Iowa

Wow that four game stretch before the bye is brutal.  
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: CatsbyAZ on January 03, 2020, 11:26:00 AM
Officially 20 years of watching Badgers football, going back to Dayne, Fletcher, and Bollinger, and I’ll say Wisconsin is a program with a very high, but very hard ceiling. They can win the conference when Ohio State isn’t firing on all cylinders, earn a Rose Bowl, but rarely win it, and never quite contend for a national championship, not even when Russel Wilson is quarterbacking. It’s about as high of a ceiling as a program can have without joining the likes of OSU, Alabama, etc, and I’m not sure what a true breakthrough will take, if it ever happens.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 03, 2020, 12:26:30 PM
Officially 20 years of watching Badgers football, going back to Dayne, Fletcher, and Bollinger, and I’ll say Wisconsin is a program with a very high, but very hard ceiling. They can win the conference when Ohio State isn’t firing on all cylinders, earn a Rose Bowl, but rarely win it, and never quite contend for a national championship, not even when Russel Wilson is quarterbacking. It’s about as high of a ceiling as a program can have without joining the likes of OSU, Alabama, etc, and I’m not sure what a true breakthrough will take, if it ever happens.
Lower admission standards. So, never gonna happen.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on January 03, 2020, 12:57:20 PM
Happy Birthday, Big Guy!!!
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 03, 2020, 01:31:09 PM
Thank you. Would be happier if.. never mind. Headed to Cabo in the AM. Look to the future!!
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on January 03, 2020, 01:33:12 PM
Cabo Wabo

Say Hi to Sammy
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 03, 2020, 02:36:00 PM
So, the defense.

UW returns 9 of 11 starters, but the ones they lose are huge. OLB Zach Baun and ILB Chris Orr were both on All-America teams. Interestingly enough, neither were even known outside of Madison prior to this season.

At ILB, Leo Chenal is the favorite. There are a lot of kids for OLB, but I think RSF Spencer Lytle or TF Nick Herbig will be the choice. The latter is enrolling early, which is great.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 03, 2020, 11:25:51 PM
Shocking to nobody. JT is going to the NFL. Best UW tailback ever. Good luck to him. 

In other news, LB Christian Bell is in the portal as a graduate. He came to UW as a transfer from Bama, hoping to be a starter. Did not happen, so, he's out. Will have an MS (not MA) degree from Madison, so, good on him...


MS - good.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: bayareabadger on January 04, 2020, 12:02:17 AM
Shocking to nobody. JT is going to the NFL. Best UW tailback ever. Good luck to him.

In other news, LB Christian Bell is in the portal as a graduate. He came to UW as a transfer from Bama, hoping to be a starter. Did not happen, so, he's out. Will have an MS (not MA) degree from Madison, so, good on him...


MS - good.
He got a BS not an MS, and it was in Ag Journalism, which is a good major at UW and needs more science than a regular journalism degree, but it ain’t an MS. (And the BS/BA difference is pretty thin, or was when I was there. Like one science for one language or something like that).
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 04, 2020, 06:16:59 AM
Bell will have his MS in the spring, when he graduates, again.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: Cincydawg on January 04, 2020, 08:04:38 AM
At UNC, in chemistry, there were grad students there to get a Masters, and they were conferred an MA degree.

The MS degree was a consolation prize given to students who did two years and didn't pass their preliminary oral exam (or otherwise flunked).  I thought it was backwards, but whatever.  Students who finished their PhD work were not conferred a Masters degree of either type.  Harvard does this, but not most schools.

Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: Cincydawg on January 04, 2020, 08:13:22 AM
Do you think Wisconsin will "open up" it's offense and go to a fast paced passing attack next year?  

I don't.  
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: bayareabadger on January 04, 2020, 09:14:28 PM
Bell will have his MS in the spring, when he graduates, again.
He's getting his Master's in the spring? Interesting. Is that like a combo undergrad/grad thing? He got his BS in December. 
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 06, 2020, 03:01:07 PM
Huge loss here, but not completely unexpected.

https://twitter.com/QoDeep_87/status/1214204801136779264
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: MarqHusker on January 06, 2020, 03:39:40 PM
He deserved better from UW.   I'm pulling for him.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 06, 2020, 04:06:30 PM
He deserved better from UW.  I'm pulling for him.
In this day and age, it's assumed guilty when it comes to any claim of sexual assault. Matters were made worse here because one of the girls was from Winnetka, and her old man is a prominent downtown Chicago attorney and big UW donor.

There was no way daddy was going to allow his little girl to have slept with a black man on her own accord, if you catch my drift.


And no, I will not post names here, but the guy us on TV quite a bit.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 06, 2020, 04:07:35 PM
And that said, the coaches and players supported him through the whole thing. I know he is grateful for that.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: MarqHusker on January 06, 2020, 05:48:41 PM
And that said, the coaches and players supported him through the whole thing. I know he is grateful for that.
Yeah, I should have clarified.   The university did him wrong, not his teammates or coaches.  
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: SFBadger96 on January 06, 2020, 06:03:45 PM
Disagree on this. I see the Badger ceiling as just below elite: e.g., able to compete for conference championships, win them from time to time, and compete for the playoff race in the years when the talent and experience line up right.

The Badger ceiling isn't Alabama/OSU likely for the reason that Badge stated, but also because UW doesn't have a benefactor, like Phil Knight, willing to throw money at the program. And that only kind of worked for Oregon. 

Wisconsin has lost its last four Rose Bowl appearances, which sucks, but it won the three before that. In each of the last four, the game was competitive to the end, with the Stanford one the least so (and the least deserving for the Badgers). This loss felt the worst of the four because like the Illinois loss earlier in the year, Wisconsin played well enough to win it going away, but turned the ball over enough to give it away (or, if you prefer, Oregon caused enough turnovers to take it away). Turnovers: four, for -3=bad. Plus a missed field goal, so effectively five turnovers. Brutal. And resulted in a one-point loss to the Pac-12's best team. Tragic, but not damning.

While the game itself was frustrating, that hardly tells me Wisconsin can't compete at the highest levels. I don't expect the Badgers to be a yearly fixture in the playoff race, but I do expect Wisconsin is capable of winning the B1G from time to time and going to the playoff in those years. 

Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: Brutus Buckeye on January 06, 2020, 08:46:30 PM


Notre Dame appears to be the only thing standing between the Badgers and an undefeated regular season. Iowa on the road might be a little tricky, but they get Minnesota and Nebraska at home, along with the Illini revenge match. Road games at Northwestern and Purdue should offer little resistance. Three cupcakes on the crossover.

Is Cuse supposed to be any good?

(https://www.cfb51.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmadcitysportszone.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2017%2F09%2FScreen-Shot-2017-09-12-at-2.12.21-PM.png&hash=b63e88435ff313f92fcba38aabfabb45)
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 07, 2020, 10:34:52 AM
UW doesn't play Syracuse. Appy State filled that hole when the Orange backed out. Ryan Field is a house of horrors for UW.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: Brutus Buckeye on January 07, 2020, 04:13:24 PM
Oh. Well hopefully the Badgers fare a little better against Appy St than the Wolverines did.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: medinabuckeye1 on January 07, 2020, 05:21:46 PM
Notre Dame appears to be the only thing standing between the Badgers and an undefeated regular season. 
?
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: Brutus Buckeye on January 07, 2020, 05:34:31 PM
?
I'm not sure I understand your question.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: medinabuckeye1 on January 07, 2020, 06:39:42 PM
I'm not sure I understand your question.
I don't understand how Notre Dame is an obstacle for Wisconsin.  They aren't on Wisconsin's schedule.  
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: MarqHusker on January 07, 2020, 06:41:59 PM
The Buckeyes on this thread are not too good at reading UWs schedule for 2020.  :smiley_confused1:

....what's on second?
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: medinabuckeye1 on January 07, 2020, 06:57:57 PM
The Buckeyes on this thread are not too good at reading UWs schedule for 2020.  :smiley_confused1:

....what's on second?
Oops, now I see it.  
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: Brutus Buckeye on January 07, 2020, 07:32:43 PM
The Buckeyes on this thread are not too good at reading UWs schedule for 2020.  :smiley_confused1:

....what's on second?
Hey now. I read it just fine. It was just wrong.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 09, 2020, 10:50:53 AM
There has to be more to the story on this one.

MADISON, Wis. -- In a rather surprising move, Wisconsin sophomore wide receiver (https://247sports.com/Player/Aron-Cruickshank-46036705) (https://247sports.com/Player/Aron-Cruickshank-46036705)Aron Cruickshank (https://247sports.com/Player/Aron-Cruickshank-46036705) has put his name in the NCAA transfer portal, according to 247sports sources and later confirmed by Cruickshank as well as a UW spokesman.

Expected to earn a major role for the Badgers in 2020, Cruickshank has already been the team's primary kickoff returner and been a fixture in the offense in each of his first two seasons in Madison.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: SFBadger96 on January 09, 2020, 04:40:54 PM
Wow, that is surprising. Not sure the total impact as he didn't play a large role in the passing game, but he was good on returns this season.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on January 11, 2020, 02:59:44 PM
seems odd
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 18, 2020, 11:57:53 AM
Madison, Madison, Madison
By Jonathan Taylor
Jan 17 2020
 
I dropped it.
 
First time I got my hands on a football as a Wisconsin Badger, and, man … I dropped it.

It was the opening game of the 2017 season. We were in Madison playing Utah State and we were down 10–0 at the start of the second quarter. That was when Coach Chryst put me in. Our quarterback, Alex Hornibrook, called for me to run a little flat route out to the left. Easiest play in the world. It’s a pass I’d caught 100 times during fall camp that year. And another 500 times before that when I was playing in high school in New Jersey. Plays like those — the safe ones, the coachable ones — were the reason I’d even gotten the opportunity to see the field as a true freshman in the first place.

But I dropped it…. And I felt awful.

I just remember thinking, You’re out here … on NATIONAL TV … and you’re acting like you’ve never played football before. Pull it together, man.

I kind of looked over to the sidelines, expecting Coach to be fuming, ready to take me out of the game. But there was no sign of that. Then I got into the huddle and a few guys on the offensive line did something I really wasn’t expecting. They actually started patting me on the back.

One of them said, “JT, let’s go, pick your head up, man. We got your back here — forever.”

I think about that play all the time because it just seems like a moment where maybe my career could have gone in a totally different direction — where if I don’t get that pat on the back in the huddle, that game spirals for me and I don’t have confidence going into the next play, and then, the next game.

That’s the kind of thing I’ve been reflecting on since I told Coach Chryst, and Badger Nation, that I’d be declaring for the 2020 NFL draft.

When I broke the news, it was a difficult decision for me. I wasn’t entirely sure how people would react. But something kind of crazy happened.

I got all these DMs on Twitter and Instagram. Hundreds of them. I sort of thought like maybe these were going to be people telling me I was making a mistake, or saying I was giving up on the team … but it wasn’t like that all.

They all just wanted to say thank you.

I couldn’t believe the number of people who were reaching out just to say thank you. I read so many of their messages and I couldn’t reply to them all.

So that’s why I wanted to write this.

If you wrote to me, consider this my DM back to you. And even if you didn’t, but you took time to watch me do the thing I love on the football field these past three years, I’m speaking to you as well.

My message is this: You shouldn’t be thanking me. I should be thanking you, Badger Nation.

That’s really the beautiful thing about Madison. Everyone believes in one another.

You gave me a chance, and I hope that I repaid your faith in me.

That’s really the beautiful thing about Madison. Everyone believes in one another.

Back when I was doing visits in my senior year of high school, my parents and I were trying to make sure to find the right school that would give me the best chance to be as well-rounded a person as possible when I left. We drove up and down the East Coast looking at schools. There were lots of great programs with opportunities to get a good education, and I felt confident about all of them.

But when I made the trip to Madison, something just felt … different about that place.

I remember getting on campus, and I’m with my parents, and we saw Corey Clement.

I’m whispering in my dad’s ear like, “Yo … that guy right there … he’s the dude.”

Corey is a South Jersey legend.

He’s from Glassboro, about 30 minutes from where I grew up in Salem. When he was a senior in high school, I was in eighth grade. Whenever Clement was playing us, or close by, I’d head over to watch the game with some friends. Corey was breaking all sorts of records and just running all over teams.

There aren’t a lot of guys from my part of South Jersey who make it to a D-I program. So to see this guy, who was almost like a real life superhero to me, and then to see how he was talking about the program and the success he was having there, it was huge for me. Like just to be able to think, I could follow the same path as Corey freakin’ Clement.

I talked to him for a while. Then we toured the facility a bit and we made it to the “running back room.” A place where the backs all meet to go over tape and discuss the next opponent.

On the wall, there are the names of every Badger back who had been an All-America, and the ones who had made it to the NFL. I just looked at it in awe. Some of the names on there just blew my mind.

Montee Ball.
Melvin Gordon.
Alan Ameche.
Ron Dayne.

That’s history.

They gotta be doing something right here.

Later in the day, we met with some other players and staff and they all just sort of had this way about them. Like, whatever was happening in Madison … it was special.

I went back to Salem thinking that I was going to miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime if I didn’t go to Wisconsin.
And I was right.

Going to Wisconsin was the opportunity of a lifetime. I met friends that I’ll have for the rest of my life. Learned lessons that will stick with me long after football is over. I discovered who I am, and even more importantly, who I want to be.

I want to be someone who can represent his family, his hometown and his university well. I want to leave my mark, no matter where I end up or what I end up doing. And I know now that I can do that.

That’s what Madison did for me.

Also … I got to let you in on a little secret right now — a little college student tidbit you won’t find on TripAdvisor. Leaving Madison is tough, right, because of everything I just mentioned. But it’s also tough because I’m leaving Doolittles Woodfire Grill. The real Badgers know what I’m talking about. Doolittles is this spot 15 minutes from campus up 151. All the backs would go there on Sundays the day after a home game. And they have these wings … boy, I am telling you — these wings are unreal. It’s just an appetizer, so you only get like six, I think, but they are so good. I’m going to miss going there with my boys and chopping it up after the big wins (and even the losses). That was our spot.

Doolittles, man. Shout-out Doolittles.

The thing about going to spots like that, too, is the people you run into.

Everyone in Madison just gets it, you know?


This past year, when I was getting some more attention from the national media and they were always trying to ask me about the draft and stuff like that — nobody in town was acting like that. Because they knew how focused we were this year and what we were trying to accomplish.

It was frustrating to slip up against Illinois and not get the job done in Columbus in October, but we had a bye week after that and it gave us a chance to regroup.

In our locker room, we have this saying: November games are the games that you remember.

That’s when we want to be playing our best football. And this year, after those losses, it was truer than ever. We knew that if we wanted a chance to make something of our season, we had to play hard in November. I think the way we responded, winning all four games — including wins in Lincoln and Minnesota — that month was the proudest I’d been of our team since I’d been in Madison.

A lot of people counted us out, but the school and the city never gave up on us.

We heard that. And we appreciated it.

That’s how we ended up in Pasadena.

I had quite a few questions from the media about whether I would play in the game because of potentially entering the draft.

The truth? I never thought twice about it. Never.

Look, some guys skip out on bowl games, I get it — you got to do what’s best for you.

But for me … nah.

Playing for Wisconsin is a privilege. And playing for Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl — that’s a dream.
It didn’t end the way we wanted. That’s going to hurt for a while. I really wanted to bring the victory back for all of Madison. That’s life, though. I know the young guys who are coming back will learn from that experience and make the team even better next season.

I told Coach Chryst before the game that I was going to declare, but it didn’t really hit me until the flight back. It’s just … these three years went by so fast. I had to remind myself that, yeah, all those practices actually happened, all those workout sessions happened, all those games happened.

Now it’s time to take advantage of the opportunity Wisconsin has given me to go succeed in the world as an NFL player, as a businessman and as a person.

And when I get to that point, I’ll know which city in Wisconsin has got my back — forever.
So, to all those thanking me….

Nah, THANK YOU.

Thank you to my coaches, my teammates, my parents and the great city of Madison.

On, Wisconsin — forever.
(https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/contributors/jonathan-taylor)
Jonathan Taylor (https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/contributors/jonathan-taylor)
Wisconsin Badgers
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 18, 2020, 04:53:54 PM
seems odd
He's headed to the State University of New Jersey. Must have been homesick.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: CWSooner on January 18, 2020, 07:46:09 PM
DM?  "Distant Memory"?  "Dolley Madison"?
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 19, 2020, 09:03:47 AM
Direct message (on Twitter). Kinda like "messenger" in Book Face.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: CWSooner on January 19, 2020, 12:42:40 PM
Ah, thanks!
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 20, 2020, 07:44:09 AM
Homesickness confirmed.

https://247sports.com/college/wisconsin/Article/Rose-Bowl-kick-return-Aron-Cruickshank-Wisconsin-Rutgers-commitment-142452267/
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 24, 2020, 11:49:24 AM
RB Bradrick Shaw enters the transfer portal. Best of luck to him, and congrats on having two degrees from one of the best schools in the world.

https://twitter.com/bradricks7/status/1220730362583834624
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on January 24, 2020, 12:07:22 PM
engineering degrees?
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 24, 2020, 12:10:25 PM
BS and MS in Life Sciences Communications. I didn't know what that is, so I looked it up.


https://lsc.wisc.edu/home/about/


I still don't know what it is. Seems like a broad major to me.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: bayareabadger on January 24, 2020, 02:00:47 PM
BS and MS in Life Sciences Communications. I didn't know what that is, so I looked it up.


https://lsc.wisc.edu/home/about/


I still don't know what it is. Seems like a broad major to me.
It's a fancy name for what they used to call agricultural journalism. Granted, in the modern context they do some stuff much better than the actual UW journalism. 

Good program from what I've been told. Develops a range of skills. Their multimedia stuff is pretty strong. It's often a place athletes get guided to, which isn't super great, but for a major that leans that way, it's pretty useful. 
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 27, 2020, 03:55:11 PM
No big surprise, but TE Seth Currans has entered the portal. Pretty sure he will graduate in May and be eligible to play right away somewhere else. I don't think he's P5 material.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on January 27, 2020, 03:57:53 PM
walk-on?
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on January 27, 2020, 04:56:09 PM
No, he was scholarship. And if he couldn't get on the field this past year, given the lack of depth at the TE position.. he's never getting on the field in Madison. I guess the kid wants to play.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on February 24, 2020, 01:36:07 PM
Another blow to the tight end room. Best wishes to the kid on doing something great in life.

https://twitter.com/LukeBenzschawel/status/1232009199892226053/photo/1
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on February 24, 2020, 02:37:40 PM
hopefully the guy's knees won't slow him down the rest of his life
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on March 04, 2020, 05:28:59 PM
In one of the worst-kept secrets around, it is finally official.

(The State of Wisconsin has a dumbass law that any state job must be posted for two weeks prior to being filled.)


https://twitter.com/BadgerFootball/status/1235324641104637952
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on March 04, 2020, 05:32:10 PM
Paul Chryst has done an excellent job of hiring staff in his time at Madison. This is a phenomenal hire. 

Alvis Whitted Title Wide Receivers

A former pro pass catcher with a track record of mentoring outstanding college players, Alvis Whitted is in his first season as wide receivers coach at Wisconsin in 2020.


Whitted most recently served as wide receivers coach for the Green Bay Packers in 2019. He mentored a group headlined by Pro Bowl pick Davante Adams – who set franchise playoff records with his 160-yard, two-touchdown performance in an NFC Divisional Round win over Seattle – while helping lead second-year pros Allen Lazard and Jake Kumerow, both former undrafted free agents, to breakout seasons.



The move to Green Bay followed Whitted’s highly-successful stint in the same role at Colorado State. His seven seasons with the Rams were highlighted by his development of a pair of consensus first-team All-Americans and Biletnikoff Award finalists in receivers Rashard Higgins and Michael Gallup.



Gallup, who went on to be drafted by the Dallas Cowboys, caught 100 passes for 1,418 yards and seven touchdowns as a senior in 2017 on his way to consensus All-America accolades. That came on the heels of a junior season in which he made 76 catches for 1,272 yards and 14 touchdowns.



Gallup followed in the footsteps of Higgins, who was drafted by the Cleveland Browns following a career that saw him become the Rams' all-time leading receiver. Higgins was a Biletnikoff finalist and consensus All-American as a sophomore in 2014, when he led the nation in receiving yards (1,750) and touchdowns (17) on 96 receptions. He recorded 10 games with at least 100 receiving yards that season.



Higgins had another 1,000-yard season in 2015 and finished his career with 238 catches for 3,648 yards and 31 TDs.



Players coached by Whitted are responsible for the top three seasons by a receiver in Colorado State history, with Higgins and Gallup joined by Preston Williams. Williams' 1,345-yard, 14-touchdown season in 2018 earned him second-team All-America honors. He now plays for the Miami Dolphins. The Rams' second-leading receiver in 2018, Olabisi Johnson, also made an impact as an NFL rookie with the Minnesota Vikings in 2019.



Whitted joined the staff at Colorado State in 2012 after spending a year as an offensive quality control assistant under Rick Neuheisel at UCLA in 2011. Whitted served as wide receivers coach at Division III Millsaps College in 2010 after getting his start in coaching as an assistant at his alma mater, Orange High School in Hillsborough, North Carolina, from 2008-09.



His move to coaching followed a nine-year NFL career that began when he was selected by Jacksonville in the seventh round of the 1998 NFL Draft. He later played for the Atlanta Falcons in 2001 and the Oakland Raiders from 2002-06.



Whitted played in 122 NFL games and made 24 starts, catching 74 passes for 1,030 yards and six touchdowns. He also returned kicks — including a 98-yard return for a touchdown in 1999 — and was a special teams standout. Whitted played in two AFC championship games and helped the Raiders reach Super Bowl XXXVII in 2002.



A multi-sport star at N.C. State, Whitted starred as a return specialist for the Wolfpack and racked up 1,929 kickoff return yards to rank No. 2 in school history at the time of his graduation.



On the track, he was a two-time All-American and five-time Atlantic Coast Conference champion, twice being named ACC Most Valuable Performer. A fantastic sprinter, Whitted set school records in the 100, 200 and 400 meters — and still holds the Wolfpack's all-time mark in the 100, at 10.02 seconds.



Whitted finished sixth in the 200 meters at the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials, competing in the final with American greats Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson, who set a world record in the race.



A native of Durham, North Carolina, Whitted graduated from N.C. State in 1998 with a degree in business management/finance. He and his wife, Tracy, have a daughter, Remy.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: bayareabadger on March 04, 2020, 10:57:11 PM
Wait, they hired HIM? Holy hell.

Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on March 05, 2020, 09:35:16 AM
Paul Chryst has done an excellent job of hiring staff in his time at Madison. This is a phenomenal hire.
I would agree Chryst has done a great job with his staff.  Not sure about this particular hire being phenomenal.
time will tell
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: bayareabadger on March 05, 2020, 04:59:30 PM
I would agree Chryst has done a great job with his staff.  Not sure about this particular hire being phenomenal.
time will tell
He got three Colorado State kids to the NFL (gets less credit for a fourth who was a four-star Tennessee transfer), and left two very good ones as he left.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on March 06, 2020, 11:07:17 AM
Phenomenal hire.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on March 06, 2020, 12:24:18 PM
just for a reference, how many Badger WRs have gone to the NFL in the past 4 seasons?
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on March 06, 2020, 12:32:47 PM
Alex Erickson is the only former Badger on an NFL roster right now, and he was an UDFA in 2016.

There have been none drafted in the past 5 chances. Quintez Cephus will be drafted this year.

Abby was the last one drafted, in 2014. Nick Toon in 2012.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on March 06, 2020, 12:54:42 PM
Phenomenal hire
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: Entropy on March 06, 2020, 01:20:41 PM
Wait, they hired HIM? Holy hell.


I got the joke..
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on March 06, 2020, 01:21:28 PM
Gilmore had an eye to spot talent, i.e. Cephus, who had only a basketball offer when UW rolled in and offered.

Maybe Whitted can up the ante by bringing in some known talent, beating other big schools along the way. We'll see.

Tell ya what though, I'd take a Cephus every year and not complain one bit.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on March 06, 2020, 01:22:00 PM
I got the joke..
Do tell. I did not.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: bayareabadger on March 06, 2020, 01:51:13 PM
I got the joke..
(There was no joke. I just knew he had guys ranked in the 1500s or worse nationally who ended up super productive in college and then drafted, plus IDed some feisty guys on this year's roster)
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on March 07, 2020, 12:55:30 PM
https://twitter.com/BadgerFootball/status/1236048913729089536

https://twitter.com/BadgerFootball/status/1236094214242353153


Spring ball in 3 days.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on March 12, 2020, 02:12:32 PM
All recruiting visits are cancelled for now.

No word on Spring Practices yet, but since school is no longer in session and the dorms are closed.. I'm guessing it won't be happening when scheduled.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: Hawkinole on July 24, 2020, 02:06:42 AM
I have a $100M ouchie, mom!
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/29526443/barry-alvarez-warns-wisconsin-athletics-risk-football-season-canceled (https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/29526443/barry-alvarez-warns-wisconsin-athletics-risk-football-season-canceled)

No worries, son. We are all bleeding.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on July 24, 2020, 10:35:19 AM
I took his email as a precursor to a future ask for donations.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: MarqHusker on July 24, 2020, 03:41:02 PM
Indeed.  Every election. Every campaign is the most important of your lives, we're all counting on you.    The call to action is the oldest marketing tool in the box.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on August 03, 2020, 04:36:07 PM
Wisconsin Badgers 2020 Football Preview

Wisconsin returns nine starters from one of the best defenses in the nation, which is bad news for everyone else in the Big Ten’s west division.


https://www.cornnation.com/2020/8/3/21350380/wisconsin-badgers-2020-football-preview (https://www.cornnation.com/2020/8/3/21350380/wisconsin-badgers-2020-football-preview)
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on October 04, 2020, 07:38:31 AM
Some rumblings out of Madison that QB Jack Coan has broken his foot. Not good news if true. 

Nothing confirmed, of course, with the ultra tight-lipped staff in Madison.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: bayareabadger on October 04, 2020, 09:51:22 AM
Some rumblings out of Madison that QB Jack Coan has broken his foot. Not good news if true.

Nothing confirmed, of course, with the ultra tight-lipped staff in Madison.
Ehh, they usually let Jeff know at some point.

in the grand scheme, Wisconsin is probably in as good of shape as it has ever been to have a situation like this. I feel bad for him, but he will have the opportunity to see it play out, and if the young guy establishes himself, Jack should be able to find himself a team to lead if that is what he desires.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on October 04, 2020, 09:52:27 AM
Have you seen confirmation? Or is that speculation?
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: bayareabadger on October 04, 2020, 09:55:25 AM
Have you seen confirmation? Or is that speculation?
Journal sentinel posted he went down with the injury and is out indefinitely.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on October 04, 2020, 10:04:26 AM
Well, that sucks.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on October 04, 2020, 10:06:07 AM
https://twitter.com/jaypo1961/status/1312750540250636288 (https://twitter.com/jaypo1961/status/1312750540250636288)

Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: Brutus Buckeye on October 04, 2020, 10:43:43 AM
That sucks. 

Hopefully no one has traded in their cheese head for a Coan head yet. 
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on October 04, 2020, 10:50:47 AM
Time for a Mertz cheese hat? Would be kinda sloppy, but tasty.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: 847badgerfan on October 19, 2020, 08:54:27 AM
Depth chart is out. OL and DL are in really good shape right now.

True frosh Nick Herbig is a co-starter at OLB. Chenal and Sanborn are the starters at ILB.

Depth looks pretty nice all over the board, except at tailback. Need someone (Berger, Davis) to emerge there.
Title: Re: 2020 Wisconsin Offseason Thread
Post by: FearlessF on October 19, 2020, 09:47:40 AM
depth looks very good

plenty of redshirt seniors and redshirt juniors stacking the starting spots and the two-deep

easier to play sound football when the two-deep isn't full of youngsters that don't have the reps in practice and reps in games