At the beginning of each season, college football rosters are always in a state of flux. With players graduating, transferring or leaving early to the NFL, there is a level of turnover unlike anything in professional sports. It’s tough to gauge how the Badgers will look this year based on a handful of practices, but several trends on the offensive side of the ball have emerged.
After last season’s fluctuations, the quarterback position has been on the mind of a lot of Badger fans. Returning starter and redshirt senior Joel Stave has been getting the vast majority of first-team reps so far, and has looked great doing it. If he performs as well in games as he has in this camp so far, it will be an improvement from the mediocre play he has provided the last few seasons. Redshirt freshman D.J. Gillins has quarterbacked the second team, looking impressive while doing so.
Redshirt senior Tanner McEvoy, occasional QB for the Badgers last season and safety the year before that, has been practicing mostly with the wide receivers the last few days. Early in camp he worked with safeties, but with starters Lubern Figaro and Michael Caputo returning, as well as backup Leo Musso playing well, McEvoy could have had a hard time seeing the field as a defensive back. At the wide receiver slot, McEvoy has looked on par with redshirt seniors Alex Erickson and Jordan Fredrick, two returning receivers from last year’s squad.
It will be hard for Wisconsin to replace Doak Walker Award-winner Melvin Gordon, but junior Corey Clement won’t be much of a downgrade. Clement ran for nearly 1,000 yards on a light load last season as Gordon’s backup, and showed both physicality and speed in the backfield. With Gordon out of the picture, Clement’s carries should at least double, and don’t be surprised if his production is in the 2,000-yard range. The second string position seems to be going to redshirt junior Dare Ogunbowale, who played well at the end of last season in his few appearances as a third-stringer. Redshirt freshman Taiwan Deal may also see time in the backfield, but has missed a significant portion of the last week due to a few nicks and bruises.
Key to the running game is the offensive line, which has the most question marks on the offensive side of the ball. Starting redshirt junior center Dan Voltz and starting redshirt senior tackle Tyler Marz both are returning, and while he never started, redshirt senior guard Ray Ball played in every game last season as well. The other two slots will likely be filled by redshirt sophomore tackle Hayden Biegel (brother of UW’s stud linebacker Vince Biegel) and redshirt freshman guard Michael Deiter. Both have looked passable during camp so far, but don’t be surprised if early in the season Clement is running on Ball and Marz’s side of the field.
At the tight end position, the Badgers lost Sam Arneson, but redshirt senior Austin Traylor and redshirt sophomore Troy Fumagalli, both of whom saw playing time last season, will follow his footsteps. According to teammates, true freshman Kyle Penniston has also looked impressive, but with a number of upperclassmen ahead of him, Pennison may still end up redshirting.
Coaches usually play their cards close to the chest at this point in the season, and no official depth charts have been released. The first time we will really know who will start is when the Badgers take the field against Alabama in Dallas Sept. 5.
