Best Badgers lines… It’s up to your vote!

Rick (not Ricky anymore) Wagner was the last Badger picked in this years's NFL Draft, going in the 5th round to the Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens. With Wagner being picked it also meant something that's pretty rare in the world of college sports – an entire starting offensive line from one season was picked in the NFL draft. Yes, we are talking about the 2010 Badgers offensive line in fact. 

In our research that's a feat that's NEVER been done before at Wisconsin. No doubt about it, it's something to be proud of and just another feather in the cap towards proving UW is "O-Line U." Wagner joined Gabe Carimi (1st round), Kevin Zeitler (1st), Peter Konz (2nd), and John Moffitt (3rd) as members of that offensive line in 2010 to get drafted. 

What makes it even more amazing is that one Bill Nagy, who didn't even start in 2010, was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the 7th round of the 2011 draft. That's how crazy good that line was. A guy who couldn't even crack that starting line up made it to the NFL and became a starter – until an injury derailed that situation and is now in Detroit.

For me, there is zero doubt about what offensive line unit in the history of the Badgers is the best – it is the 2010 group. I'd love to hear anyone tell me another group was better. Sure 1993 and 2002 could give them a run for their money, but but both of those lines had exactly half as many draft picks out of them as the 2010 unit did. 

Those are our opinions, it's time for you to vote!! 

That news is all well and good, but it also got me wondering what about the other side of the ball? Has Wisconsin had an entire defensive line of starters from one year drafted into the NFL? Well, the simple answer is no. 

However, there have been three years where three of the four starters on the defensiv line have been selected in the NFL Draft and that brings up a very interesting debate as to who is the best defensive line in the Badgers history. The lines we are talking about are the 2004, 2007, and 2008 groups. 

So, let's explore and see which one comes out on top in our view and yours….

First there is the 2004 defensive line that featured starters in Erasmus James, Anttaj Hawthorne, Jason Jefferson, and Jonathan Welsh. James, Hawthorne, and Welsh were all NFL draft picks on that unt and non-draftee Jefferson contributed 25 tackles, 5tfl's and 3 sacks (not bad numbers if you ask me). 

Now the most interesting debate for me comes between the 2007 and 2008 defensive lines. Why? Frankly, it's because they featured some of the more interesting players of recent times in Badger lore.

The 2007 line featured Jason Champan (DE), Mike Newkirck (DT), Nick Hayden (DT), and Matt Shaughnessey (DE), of which Newkirck, Hayden, and Shaughnessey were draft picks. 

The 2008 line featured O'Brien Schofield (DE), Jason Chapman (DT), Mike Newkirk (DT), and Matt Shaughnessey (DE), of which Schofield, Newkirk, and Shaughnessey were draft picks. So, what seperates two defensive lines that were pretty similar in terms of who was drafted and who wasn't? 

Amazingly, for me it's who made Jason Chapman better and that was the 2008 line. He moved inside that year and had 13 more tackles, 3 more tackles for loss, the same sack numbers (2) and played in all 13 games. 

So, for me it's between the 2008 and the 2004 defensive line and for me it's 2004 that wins out. Sure, Schofield and Shaughnessey were two of the best defensive ends Wisconsin has ever produced and frankly both have gone on to have very good NFL careers, but as Badgers I'm not sure they were better than Erasmus James and Anttaj Hawthorne. However, it's really splitting hairs between the two – after all, both of them produced the same number of sacks (19) and nearly the same tackles for loss (32.5 in 2004 vs. 30 in 2008).

With that said, what say you in regards to the defensive line?

*polls open until April 31st at 5pm CT