MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin completed its 11th spring football practice on Tuesday morning inside the McClain Center. Here are five takeaways on where things stand with the Badgers.
1. Wisconsin’s offense may have produced its best big-play day of the spring, which is an encouraging sign as quarterbacks Tyler Van Dyke and Braedyn Locke seek more consistency. Badgers coach Luke Fickell said Van Dyke, who transferred this offseason from Miami, is growing more comfortable with the offense.
Van Dyke threw a short touchdown pass in the red zone when tight end Tucker Ashcraft made a spectacular one-handed catch in the back of the end zone. Later during 11-on-11 work, he completed a deep pass down the right sideline to receiver Bryson Green, who leaped to grab a 50-50 ball against a defensive back.
Van Dyke delivered a great throw for about a 45-yard gain to slot receiver Trech Kekahuna and followed up with another completion to Kekahuna in the flat. That drive ended with cornerback Nyzier Fourqurean making an incredible diving interception while in coverage against receiver CJ Williams in the front left corner of the end zone. Still, Van Dyke has generally limited his mistakes and begun to stand out.
One element of Van Dyke’s game that may be underrated is his ability to gain chunks of yardage on the ground. He can succeed in read-option situations, on misdirection plays or take off when a play breaks down. He isn’t as fast as former Wisconsin quarterback Tanner Mordecai, but his intelligence with when to run can help him.
“I think he can create some things at 230-some pounds, can be a physical guy that you have to be able to have balance with an understanding that he can do some things with his feet as well,” Fickell said. “I think that can give him a different edge to some things. But he is getting much more comfortable. I think you can see that he understands what’s going on all around him a lot better each and every day.”
Braedyn Locke’s deep ball is on point! 👌#B1GFootball x @BadgerFootball pic.twitter.com/OT1MkPVEg3
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) April 23, 2024
Locke, meanwhile, continues to push Van Dyke for snaps by setting up his pass catchers for success. During one sequence, Locke completed a long pass down the right sideline to Williams in coverage against a defensive back. Locke then threw a touchdown pass over the middle to receiver Quincy Burroughs while under pressure.
Locke tossed a short red zone touchdown pass to tight end Jackson McGohan when he scanned through his progressions and found McGohan running open across the middle of the end zone. Additionally, Locke threw a touchdown pass to receiver Will Pauling for more than 45 yards during skeleton drills and then found Green down the sideline for about 30 yards, as Green leaped to make the play.
Fickell said that while he believed Van Dyke was in a good place, “The great thing about it is Braedyn’s not making it easy on him. Because he does understand, he does know the offense extremely well. He’s playing really consistent and he’s making some plays.
“The best thing for us is to have a legitimate competitive battle. Some would say it’s better if you can name a starter, at whatever position, in particular the quarterback. But I think it’s much better if you can continue to have a competitive battle because you’re going to find out what you’ve got because like last year, you’re probably going to need them both.”
2. Wisconsin continues to rotate pieces within its top two offensive line units. While the first-team group has generally consisted of Jack Nelson at left tackle, Joe Brunner at left guard, Jake Renfro at center, Joe Huber at right guard and Riley Mahlman at right tackle, coaches also have tried to give JP Benzschawel a look as well. Benzschawel took snaps at right guard, which moved Huber briefly to right tackle. Huber, one of the most versatile linemen on the team, also handled a few snaps at center in place of Renfro, with Benzschawel at right guard and Mahlman at right tackle.
Of particular intrigue is how Wisconsin has utilized freshman early enrollee Colin Cubberly, who has played guard, center and tackle this spring with the reserves. Cubberly was with the third-team offensive line earlier in the spring but spent Tuesday at right tackle with the second-team unit in a group that featured Benzschawel at right guard, Kerry Kodanko at center, James Durand at left guard and fellow freshman early enrollee Kevin Heywood at left tackle. Cubberly replaced Peyton Lange, who worked with the third group.
“I think the biggest thing is it shows his versatility,” Fickell said. “Not only athletically and physically but even mentally. I think to me if you asked about one thing about an offensive lineman, as long as they’ve got the right thing between the ears and can handle some of that, their future is really bright.”
3. Fickell has acknowledged on multiple occasions this spring, and did so again Tuesday, the challenge Wisconsin has faced with filling out its offensive line depth. Wisconsin has been forced to use four walk-ons with the third-team unit with Barrett Nelson sidelined due to injury and three incoming freshmen not enrolling until the summer. But even with its full complement of scholarship linemen, Wisconsin still needed help following the transfer portal departures after last season of Trey Wedig and Nolan Rucci.
That’s why Wisconsin went to the transfer portal and added a commitment Monday from former Vanderbilt offensive lineman Leyton Nelson. Nelson does not have a ton of experience, having played 27 offensive snaps and 33 special teams snaps last season, according to Pro Football Focus. But he does have familiarity with Wisconsin offensive line coach AJ Blazek, who coached him at Vanderbilt. Nelson has three years of eligibility remaining and could be a backup tackle option next season.
The defensive line is another position that Wisconsin has focused on in the portal this spring. Kent State defensive tackle transfer CJ West was at Wisconsin’s practice on Tuesday. West, rated by The Athletic as the No. 12 player in the spring transfer portal, was a three-year starter at Kent State and recorded 110 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks. West is slated to visit Michigan and Indiana and also has earned offers from LSU, Rutgers, Miami, Kansas State, Colorado, Arkansas and Texas A&M.
4. It seems clear that Wisconsin’s edge rushers give the team a dynamic that was largely lacking last season. Transfer John Pius and Leon Lowery have been consistent threats, and Fickell said Darryl Peterson — who led the Badgers with 4.5 sacks last season — has raised his level of play with the competition.
Wisconsin’s defense hounded the offense during practice Tuesday, which has been a regular occurrence this spring. Linebackers Jaheim Thomas and Jake Chaney also were issues, not only off the edge but up the middle. At one point on Tuesday, the first-team offense surrendered sacks on three consecutive plays, and the second-team offense also struggled. The question is: What does this mean for the offensive line?
Fickell continued to praise the performances of his offensive tackles, who have been Nelson and Mahlman, and said the unit had “gotten a lot better” overall because of the competitive situations created by the defense.
“I think it’s made it really difficult on the offensive line just because of the ability to roll some of those guys in there, which I think is a really good thing in the long run for all of us,” Fickell said.
Time will tell how much these practices can make Wisconsin’s offensive line better for next season, which will be paramount for the success of the offense.
5. Wisconsin outside linebacker Aaron Witt, who went more than 1,000 days between appearing in games because of a series of foot and ankle issues, wore a sling around his right arm on Tuesday after he sustained an injury during practice last Thursday. Fickell said he didn’t expect Witt to participate the rest of spring because the staff wanted to be smart with him. But Fickell noted the situation was much different from what Witt endured over the previous three years.
“It’s not one of those things that’s been from the foot up,” Fickell said. “Yes, it stinks that he’s out. But you can tell he’s in a completely different mindset. This is not anything that kind of takes him back to where he was for the last couple years.”
Witt was part of a top four at outside linebacker that included Peterson as well as Lowery and Pius. With Witt sidelined, freshman early enrollee Thomas Heiberger has begun to earn more snaps with the second unit and continues to flash his potential. He recorded back-to-back sacks against the second-team offense, first on a play-action attempt from Van Dyke and then against Mabrey Mettauer, who earned a handful of snaps with the second-team offense.
Fickell said Heiberger earned roughly 30 snaps during live scrimmage action on Saturday. The other freshman early enrollee at the position, Anelu Lafaele, may have had his best practice this spring on Tuesday. He beat a tackle off the edge for a sack and recovered a fumble while earning snaps with the second- and third-team defenses.
“Those guys are getting a lot more opportunities,” Fickell said. “And they’ve both got a little different skill set that I think are going to continue to grow and enhance and be really good for us in the future.”
One other freshman early enrollee who has stood out is slot receiver Kyan Berry-Johnson, who has earned snaps on the second team with both Pauling and Kekahuna able to take first-team reps. He caught a pass up the left hash between a pair of defenders on a nice throw during skeleton drills from Mettaeur. He made a good catch in coverage with the second-team offense from Van Dyke when he held on despite being slammed to the turf. Berry-Johnson later made a nice adjustment with his body on a completion from Van Dyke over the middle.
(Photo of Braedyn Locke: Mark Stewart / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA Today)
