Badger Football 2020 (Latest- Headed to the Duke’s Mayo Bowl (seriously)

[wallus]

Dike was a 4 star recruit by 247sports, Rivals and ESPN.

[HiAndTight]

Wisconsin's OL that game:

 

Ricky Wagner, John Moffitt, Peter Konz, Kevin Zeitler, Gabe Carimi

 

Backup/injured: Travis Frederick, Ryan Groy (wore #89 and played TE that game), Rob Havenstein, Bill Nagy, Josh Oglesby

 

Oglesby was the only one of those ten not to play in the NFL. Oglesby and Groy were the only ones not drafted.

 

 

He was the top recruit out of that group also, wasn't he? I thought he was a top 40-50 recruit in the country and the top guy in Wisconsin.

[tmwiese55]

Yes Oglesby was one of their highest rated recruits ever and ranked super high like that, he dealt with injuries his whole career though. But found a way to get out there and be pretty good his last couple years.

 

Think of the combined money a team, or even just OL, like that has made. I think UW uses this a lot in OL recruiting where they just lay out the contracts their OLs have made. During shutdown they aired the UW/MSU B1G title game when we had Wilson and I figured there was probably a billion dollars of salary on that field. Remember Cousins was the QB and Bell as RB for MSU.

 

For Dike: good if they made a 4 star. I don't recall the timelines for sure but it's different to give a a guy 4 star after its all over than to call them a 4 star when they're young and get the hype train going, which is what happens if you get LSU/UGA offers early in the process. If they got it right from the beginning good for them. Just saying guys up here don't get near the attention as the south. Which is very good for UW and likely a big factor in their success.

[HiAndTight]

Yes Oglesby was one of their highest rated recruits ever and ranked super high like that, he dealt with injuries his whole career though. But found a way to get out there and be pretty good his last couple years.

 

Think of the combined money a team, or even just OL, like that has made. I think UW uses this a log in OL recruiting where they just lay out the contracts their OLs have made. During shutdown they aired the UW/MSU B1G title game when we had Wilson and I figured there was probably a billion dollars of salary on that field. Remember Cousins was the QB and Bell as RB for MSU.

 

For Dike: good if they made a 4 star. I don't recall the timelines for sure but it's different to give a a guy 4 star after its all over than to call them a 4 star when their young and get the hype train going, which is what happens if you get LSU/UGA offers early in the process. If they got it right from the beginning good for them. Just saying guys up here don't get near the attention as the south. Which is very good for UW and likely a big factor in their success.

 

 

Yeah, I thought he was good. I remember taking to a guy who works in the Athletic Department just raving about him and he went to a school close to where I grew up. I can't remember the name of it, but I thought it was a small private school(which made him a bit of an outlier). I could be wrong about that. But it seemed like they were pretty excited...like maybe he could be another Joe Thomas-esque talent.

 

I might be combining guys, but I thought he was a really good BB player as well. So his footwork, size, pretty much everything was going for him. Tough break. Knee injuries IIRC. Similar to Costigan. Cost both of them a chance to play at the next level.

[tmwiese55]

https://wisconsin.rivals.com/news/recruiting-anniversary-josh-oglesby

 

Good summary I found. Didn't remember he got hurt his HS senior year. Milwaukee St. Francis so you're right on private school. I don't recall if he played basketball. But I'm pretty sure Joe Thomas did play basketball and his team made the state tournament his senior year. But yea this say Josh was No 1 OT and top 10 overall. Perhaps the final ranking he got moved down due to the injury, idk.

 

I also just checked and he's now OL coach as San Jose state, good for him. I've only ever heard good things about him as a person. I remembered he'd gone into coaching soon after, maybe grad assistant at UW for a year or two but can't remember for sure.

[homer]

St. Francis is actually the name of a suburb not a private school.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Francis,_Wisconsin

[tmwiese55]

St. Francis is actually the name of a suburb not a private school.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Francis,_Wisconsin

 

Ah, I still think his memory was correct haha but just assumed that was a private school. Like I did when it was said in the article.

[homer]

Haha, yea they didn't abide by that anyway. Come to think of it, I'm not sure what the workaround is in regards to the scholarship number limit. I'd guess if it's usually 85 (it's something like that) maybe it'll have a one year bump to 95 or 100 so you can still bring in your planned freshman and not have to pull scholarships. But yea, the SEC would anyway.

 

Arizona St pulled offers from two Wisconsin kids who had committed:

https://n.rivals.com/news/arizona-state-parts-ways-with-two-wisconsin-prospects

[tmwiese55]

Ah, tough for them, I guess yea it's likely to show up more and more all over the place. This will be a very odd recruiting period due to this rule, so many HS teams not playing, no visites, offers just based on rankings/highlights, no camps, etc. Really no idea how it's all going to go.

 

Let's get them in UW as preferred walk on types. Hopefully they come out ok with some other teams otherwise, even if they drop to say MAC level it's still a free ride scholarship. Northern Illinois could be a nice safe close option.

[tmwiese55]

Well first game is only a few days away. Predictions for game 1 and season? Assuming they go on as generally planned.

 

I'll go with an easy win in game 1, not 45-0 type thing but a solid easy not in doubt win. If I had to pick I'd go ILL +23.5, though I think I've seen it fall now to a lower number.

 

Season, lose one regular season game. Lose to OSU in the B1G like normal. Bold guesses, the freshman RB Berger eventually takes over at RB similar to Taylor as a frosh. Defense is quite good helped by a very solid D Line up front. Seems D all over the country so far is worse in this situation, so keep in mind it's a bit relative. I'd guess Mertz takes the job and never looks back, but I'd also guess everyone thinks that, but overall that the O is still the lesser side of the ball for them.

[wildcat83]

A few mild surprises on the depth chart they released for game 1.

 

Dietzen back into a starting role at G after missing a year.

 

Herbig listed as a co-starter at OLB with Green-May

 

Wilder starting at S over Nelson

[homer]

Benton is listed as starter over Williams at NT. Darn nice problem to have there.

 

The defense looks like it could be very special. Offense? Hope Mertz is as good as advertised. I like Groshek as a 3rd down back but as a starter not so much.

[wildcat83]

Benton is listed as starter over Williams at NT. Darn nice problem to have there.

 

The defense looks like it could be very special. Offense? Hope Mertz is as good as advertised. I like Groshek as a 3rd down back but as a starter not so much.

 

There's a bit of a question mark in the backfield, but you have to think somebody steps up and is a breakout out of that group. One of Watson, Berger or Gurrendo will emerge as the feature back and I think Groshek stays as the change of pace/3rd down back. The OL is too good for the running backs not to find some success.

 

The biggest issue for me is TE. It seems to be the one spot on the offense that isn't very deep. Pretty much every other spot seems to be able to sustain an injury, but TE is pretty thin on the depth chart.

[tmwiese55]

Yes, good point on the NTs. Who'd have though say 5 years ago they'd be that strong at NT/DL. Typically been a touch area to recruit.

 

Watson seems like a bigger bruiser type back to me which is why I made the guess they'd go for the speed guy at some point, as long as he proves he's not a fumbler. After so many years of HR hitters at the spot I think it'll be tough going back to a bruiser. But of course maybe Watson surprises and does have some of that in him, hope so.

[Oxy]

I have extremely high hopes. When the strength of the team is in the trenches and the secondary it's hard for me to see anything but roses. The LBs should be fine or better as always, and it would be very disappointing of NONE of the young guys emerge from the skill positions to become high impact players.

 

One never knows until they play the games, though.

 

Considering that ILL's major weakness is their DL, I'll be extremely disappointed if UW doesn't run all over them with the occasional timely pass just for fun. Assuming there are no TO or penalty issues, UW wins going away 42-10 or something like that.

[HiAndTight]

https://wisconsin.rivals.com/news/recruiting-anniversary-josh-oglesby

 

Good summary I found. Didn't remember he got hurt his HS senior year. Milwaukee St. Francis so you're right on private school. I don't recall if he played basketball. But I'm pretty sure Joe Thomas did play basketball and his team made the state tournament his senior year. But yea this say Josh was No 1 OT and top 10 overall. Perhaps the final ranking he got moved down due to the injury, idk.

 

I also just checked and he's now OL coach as San Jose state, good for him. I've only ever heard good things about him as a person. I remembered he'd gone into coaching soon after, maybe grad assistant at UW for a year or two but can't remember for sure.

 

 

I thought the High School he went to was Thomas Moore(I just wrote William Moore in a deleted post)...I'm not sure if that's right, but I had a good friend from College who had also gone there and I swear he was talking about him going to the same school. But it seems like there's just a St. Francis High School. Given that they had two D-1 recruits that year and the top OL in the country, I'd think I'd know of them...

 

 

Anyway, kinda a sad story. Pretty much the opposite of Joe Thomas who despite having a bad knee injury(bad in that it happened in the worst situation you could imagine for a jr entering the NFL draft, tearing his ACL...in a bowl game...playing defense.

 

But he came back and then played like 12,000 straight snaps. That's slightly exaggerated, but it's a crazy amount.

 

I actually played against Thomas when he was at Brookfield in Youth FB and then HS. I remember everyone talking about how good this kid would be as a 6th grader...he was probably 6'3 160 pounds and not real aggressive....

 

 

That changed...'bigly.'

[HiAndTight]

A few mild surprises on the depth chart they released for game 1.

 

Dietzen back into a starting role at G after missing a year.

Herbig listed as a co-starter at OLB with Green-May

 

Wilder starting at S over Nelson

 

That's a pretty cool story. Seemed like a kid who LOVED football, he's smart. They've got a LOT of young talent, so if he's starting, I'd guess he earned the job cleanly rather than them giving the nod to the vet who's battled through adversity(though I could be wrong).

 

 

I'm as excited about this team as I have been in a while. I think they've got the type of defense that as good if not better(relative to the rest of CFB) than they've been in a while. Absolutely loaded in the front 7 and especially on the DL. I know there are questions about the young OLB'ers, but Leonhard(my pick for Packers DC next year) always gets those guys ready and the only question is about the experience. Plus...I saw Leo last year. If that dude had another year to get ready, he's either wrecking B10 game plans for offensive coordinators or getting set back in time to kill John Connor.

 

 

I really like how Groshek runs the ball...but hopefully Berger can become the next great Badger back. I'm not a huge fan of Watson.

 

 

I think the Badgers actually cover the 23.5 spread if they let Mertz free. Ferguson will likely be the guy they go to early, but I think Dike will get in there for some quick hitters, but I think Mertz comes out and has a 300-yard game to start his B10 career and the Badgers roll 48-10.

[LouisEly]

Knock on wood that they don't have any injuries to the ILBs as they have no developed depth there. The backup listed at both spots is a former walk-on who has pretty much been a special teams and mop-up duty guy until now and the next guy up is a redshirt freshman who hasn't played a down and behind him is true freshmen.

[HiAndTight]

 

 

I think the Badgers actually cover the 23.5 spread if they let Mertz free. Ferguson will likely be the guy they go to early, but I think Dike will get in there for some quick hitters, but I think Mertz comes out and has a 300-yard game to start his B10 career and the Badgers roll 48-10.

 

 

Damn...needed another FG from both teams!

[True Blue Brew Crew]

Apparently Coan was hurt at practice. Out indefinitely.

 

Likely (though not assuredly) makes them worse in 2020. Could very well make them better than they otherwise would've been in 2021 and 2022.

 

Feel bad for Coan, am excited as heck to get Mertz started for real.

 

Wowza! Forget 2021 and 2022, let's take this thing this year! The next 2 years after this one are looking really, really good, but this window just got wider.

[homer]

The thing that impressed me most was his poise in the pocket. He seemed so calm and in control back there. Went through his progressions and if nothing was there he took off and got his 4 - 5 yards. And he is terrific on play-action - guessing he has huge hands.

 

The lack of an explosive back hurts but maybe this will force Chryst to get more creative with the play calling?

[True Blue Brew Crew]

The thing that impressed me most was his poise in the pocket. He seemed so calm and in control back there. Went through his progressions and if nothing was there he took off and got his 4 - 5 yards. And he is terrific on play-action - guessing he has huge hands.

 

The lack of an explosive back hurts but maybe this will force Chryst to get more creative with the play calling?

 

Agree definitely on how poised Mertz looked. Patient in the pocket and went through his reads. Didn't see any sign of the jump in level being too fast for him.

 

I'm holding out hope that Jalen Berger takes things over when he gets his first crack at some carries. Taylor emerged around game 4 of his freshman year. Maybe lighting strikes twice. Berger carried a higher recruit ranking coming into college than JT.

[wallus]

I am disappointed that Watson has not taken the lead back role over.

[HiAndTight]

The thing that impressed me most was his poise in the pocket. He seemed so calm and in control back there. Went through his progressions and if nothing was there he took off and got his 4 - 5 yards. And he is terrific on play-action - guessing he has huge hands.

 

The lack of an explosive back hurts but maybe this will force Chryst to get more creative with the play calling?

 

Agree definitely on how poised Mertz looked. Patient in the pocket and went through his reads. Didn't see any sign of the jump in level being too fast for him.

 

I'm holding out hope that Jalen Berger takes things over when he gets his first crack at some carries. Taylor emerged around game 4 of his freshman year. Maybe lighting strikes twice. Berger carried a higher recruit ranking coming into college than JT.

 

That's what I'm hoping, but at least Taylor was getting carries right out of the gate, then had a 200-yard game week 2 as Shaw started getting less and less.

 

Watson and Shaw are somewhat similar backs to me. Physical, they fight for a couple of extra yards, but they don't seem to have great vision and they're not very explosive.

 

I wonder if they don't feel as though Berger is ready in some aspect of the game. On a couple of nice throws, Mertz was given time because Groshek stepped up and picked a blitzing LB'er on a couple of plays.

 

Groshek's a great backup...but pretty much the only thing this team looks to be lacking is that #1 back(which is also pretty much the one thing you can count on UW having year in and year out).

[homer]

Minnesota sucks