Highlights of Badgers 2015 Football Roster Listing

Every year the Wisconsin Badgers post an updated roster between spring and fall camp, and every year there are surprises and insights gained in to the program. With new head coach Paul Chryst in the fold the new roster heading in to fall camp is very insightful indeed.

Here is a look in to the highlights of UW’s new roster posted on Thursday:

• First, incoming freshman RB Jordan Stevenson is listed on the roster. It’s interesting because Stevenson is not in Madison this summer. However, according to a report from ESPN Madison’s Zach Helprin, Chryst e-mailed him to let him know he fully expects Stevenson to be enrolled come the start of fall camp.
• Connor Senger, a former quarterback who was converted to wide receiver, is not listed on the roster at all. That’s a blow to the help that the scout team provides this team, as he was twice named the Badgers’ Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year.
• If you pay attention to numbers associated to players, there have been some changes in that area as well. Here are the changes to pay attention to:
  • S Tanner McEvoy — From No. 5 to No. 3
  • RB Serge Trezy — From No. 3 to No. 30
  • DE Alec James — From No. 6 to No. 57
  • WR A.J. Jordan — From No. 1 to No. 82
  • TE Troy Fumagalli — From No. 47 to No. 81
• Jaden Gault, a sophomore at UW, who was one of the more highly touted members of the 2014 recruiting class continues to be listed on the roster. He’s yet to step foot on the field after a rough battle with depression, but it appears as though the communication with the current staff is still there and he could be a player for this team in the future — just who soon, if ever, is the real question at hand.

Outside of that, one of the more interesting aspects of this roster is seeing which walk-on’s are on in the program — especially on the freshmen side of things. Here’s a look at the players listed on the team as incoming freshman that weren’t included on national signing day as “preferred” walk-on’s.

First though, here are the players UW announced on national signing day back in February:

Walk-On	Ty DeForest		LB	6-1	220	Marshall, Wis. (Marshall)
Walk-On	Mitchell Herl		TE	6-4	230	Middleton, Wis. (Middleton)
Walk-On	Zach Hintze		K	6-0	170	Fond du Lac, Wis. (St. Mary’s Springs)
Walk-On	Henry Houden		WR	6-4	185	Madison, Wis. (Memorial)
Walk-On	Tyler Johnson		OLB	6-3	200	Menasha, Wis. (Menasha)
Walk-On	Troy Laufenberg		RB	5-10	180	Waunakee, Wis. (Waunakee)
Walk-On	Andrew Ruzek		DE	6-6	240	Stevens Point, Wis. (Stevens Point Area)
Walk-On	Noah Stengel		WR	6-1	190	Sheboygan, Wis. (North)
Walk-On	Elijah Strong		CB	6-0	170	Oak Creek, Wis. (Oak Creek)
Walk-On	Bret Verstegen		S	5-11	175	Kimberly, Wis. (Kimberly)

Here are the players added to the fold since then as walk-on players:

• P Allen Conner — New Berlin, Wis. (Brookfield East High School)
• OL Jason Erdmann — Richfield, Wis. (Slinger)
• OL Ian Dretzka — Delafield, Wis. (Kettle Moraine)
• DL Gunnar Roberge — Seymour, Wis. (Seymour)
• DE Thomas Kelly — Racine, Wis. (St. Catherine’s)
• OL Ryan Ramczyk — Stevens Point, Wis. (Stevens Point Area / UW-Stevens Point)
• ILB Max Praschak — Somerset, Wis. (Somerset)
• K Zach Hintze — Fond du Lac, Wis. (St. Mary’s Springs)

All eight of the players come from the Badger state and given the rich tradition of walk-on player success these names are ones you should at least put in the back of your memory for the future. Some will likely become names that see the field during their careers at UW.

Overall though, this roster didn’t surprise in any major way outside of Stevenson being added and Senger missing. No big news is good news in this case.