I know it’s NCAA Tournament time, but guess what? We’re also just 10 days from the start of Spring Football for a very different 2012 Wisconsin Badgers football program. As we begin to look at what this team looks like heading into the Spring camp it’s only appropriate to look at the major storylines facing the back to back Big Ten Champions first. As such, here are the 5 major story lines you should be keeping an eye on heading into Spring camp.
1) QB, QB, Who Wants to be QB?
This has to be the biggest storyline coming in to Spring camp and probably will remain so leaving Spring and heading into the opening of fall camp. With the one year wonder that was Russell Wilson exhausting his eligibility in amazing fashion the Badgers are now left where they were just one year ago at this point in time, with a bunch of QB’s that haven’t had much in the way of experience. Add to it even more questions about health as well as an all new offensive coordinator/QB’s coach and it’s a shaky situation at best. So, who is vying to be the new starting QB and who should we be keeping an eye on come the Spring game on April 28th?
– Curt Phillips – By far the most experienced of the QB’s on the roster in terms of time in the program, but he’s spent more time in the operating room and rehab than he’s spent on the field for the Badgers. He’s coming off his 2nd ACL repair that occurred just about a year ago and will see limited action this Spring and won’t see any contact. He’s also a very intriguing option should he be healthy because he came in to Wisconsin as one of the most highly rated QB’s the Badgers had ever had at the time of his recruitment. He’s seen action in 5 games, but that was all the way back in 2009 where he went 7 of 13 for 65 yards and 1INT in mop up duty.
– Jon Budmayr – He was in line to be the starter last season before Russell Wilson came to campus and was supposed to be in an open competition with Wilson, but that never happened as Budmayr was shut down early in camp with an arm injury that turned into something so serious they shelved him for the entire season. It was an elbow injury that made him lose feeling and he didn’t throw a football until at the earliest in December. We got an update at National Signing Day telling us that he was getting close to 100% and was throwing again. However, just a few short weeks later the elbow injury has flared up again and he’s been shut down for the spring. Could it be a case of a player that may not ever throw a football again? We just don’t know enough about his health situation, but we do know it’s most likely we won’t see Budmayr throwing anytime before Summer. Budmayr saw time behind Scott Tolzien in 2010, playing in 3 games and going 8 for 10 (80%) for 134 yards and 1 TD. Granted most of that damage was done in a blow out of Austin Peay (6-7 for 55 yards) and having been at the game in person I can tell you he looked like he could make the throws necessary to be a serviceable QB in the Badgers system at worst and a very good one at best.
– Joe Brennan – Brennan was the backup by default last year to Russell Wilson and actually saw some action thanks to the high powered offense that had the Badgers usually up big. He got into parts of 6 games, but the throwing numbers were nothing to write home about, completing just 40% (6-15) of his passes for just 48 yards and 1INT. Perhaps no one else could benefit more from a Spring where he could get some major reps with the starting unit. It will also be very interesting to see how his relationship with OC and QB’s coach Matt Canada develops through Spring camp.
– Joel Stave – Outside of Montee Ball, no one created more buzz on the offensive side of the ball last Spring than this walk-on, early entrant, freshman QB. He was able to redshirt last year thanks to neither Wilson or Brennan getting hurt during the season and by all indications grew a ton as the scout team QB. He’ll probably be the most watched of the QB’s in Spring camp because of the flashes of promise he’s shown in the limited amount of time that the media and public have gotten to see him. For me he’s the most intriguing player this spring and with a wide open competition he’s got a chance with a good Spring to vault himself right into the front of the competition in the fall.
2. Holy Coaching Changes Batman!!
Success breeds opportunity and the fear of losing Paul Chryst was finally realized as he moved on to become the head coach at Pitt. What happened next was totally crazy as all but two offensive staff members and an additional defensive staff member left with Chryst to join his staff at Pitt. Wisconsin also lost it’s wide receivers coach who left to be closer to home on the west coast.
So, Spring camp will be our introduction to the likes of new offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Matt Canada, wide receivers coach Zach Azzani, offensive line coach Mike Markuson, and tight ends coach Eddie Faulkner on offense. Defensively we’ll be reintroduced to a former Badgers player turned coach, Ben Strickland, who is coaching the secondary and newly introduced linebackers coach Andy Buh. Strickland will also work with the special teams.
All of this change certainly breeds a bit of uncertainty as to what we’ll see from this team, but it’s also a chance for the Badgers players to have a clean slate, specifically on offense and that’s not the worst thing in the world. It also means a fresh pair of eyes on the QB battle and that’s going to be the most important part of Spring camp from the fans perspective.
Defensively not much should change because the coordinators didn’t change, but their may be a new energy and toughness with Buh and Strickland at their positions and known to be though coaches.
Overall Spring will be a feeling out period for all involved and it is equally, if not more, important to what happens this fall than the question of who’s the starter at QB.
3. Secondary Changes
Aaron Henry is off to possibly play in the NFL after graduating and his loss can’t be underestimated both on the field and in the locker room. He was a leader in both areas and that’s rare. That means a pairing of Dezmend Southward and Shelton Johnson at the Safeties.
Devin Smith is returning this spring from injury and his replacement last season, Marcus Cromartie, will now be a full time starter. So, how do those two work as a corner pairing and how well do they communicate? It will be interesting to see what happens behind them as there wasn’t a lot of playing time for the likes of Darius Hillary, Devin Gaulden, and Peniel Jean last season and they’ll need to progress a lot in this Spring/offseason if they want to make a major impact on the 2012 season.
For my money that’s the group of players we need to really watch as they are all young and working with a first year position coach in Ben Strickland.
4. New Specialists
Wisconsin has been lucky over the years to have solid play from it’s specialists (Kicker, Punter, Long Snapper) but 2012 is the first year in quite some time we’ve had to worry about what we’ll see from this group as gone are K Philip Welch, P Brad Nortman, and LS Kyle Wotja.
In steps Kyle French at Kicker and he won’t have much competition this spring because Alec Lerner is no longer with the program. The punting duties will go to Drew Meyer off the bat, but we may see some competition in the fall for that spot. However, he could do a lot for himself with a good showing through Spring camp.
What should be much more interesting is who’s replacing Kyle Wotja. Ask yourself this question, when was the last time you remember a botched snap on a punt or kick? I bet you’d be racking your brain for quite some time and that’s due to the effort of Kyle Wotja as the Long Snapper. The mos likely person to take this spot is James McGuire, but with a new punter and kicker in the fold it will be huge for them to get work in together so come game day in the fall there is no notice of Wotja being gone.
5. Doing the O-Line Shuffle
Normally it’s plug and play for the Badgers on the offensive line and that needs to be the case for the Badgers this season as they must replace 3 starters that are gone in Josh Oglesby, Peter Konz, and Kevin Zeitler who could all be off to the NFL this season.
Add in the fact that it’s a brand new offensive line coach and you’ve got a recipe for an interesting Spring for the offensive line. By all indications Markuson is an exceptional offensive line coach so that’s not much of a worry on my end.
What is most likely to happen is we see Rob Havenstein replace Josh Oglesby at Right Tackle, which isn’t that big of a change as Havenstein was considered a close 2nd behind the all- Big Ten tackle last season. However, after that it’s time to do the o-line shuffle as guard Travis Frederick slids in to the center position, which means we’ll have a completely new interior to the line.
Next to Frederick on the right hand side should be Ryan Groy who saw a few starts last season due to Peter Konz’s injury late in the season. He played better at guard than center and should be a good fit there.
What is the biggest toss up is who plays the other guard position. 2012 early entrant and U.S. Army All-American Dan Voltz is in position to put himself in the mix with a good showing this Spring or at the very least learning how to play o-line at the collegiate level and could still be in the mix come fall camp. He’ll be competing with Dallas Lewallen for that spot and will be fun to watch what happens with the interior of the o-line.
Heck, we may even see the likes of Ryan Ball and Zac Matthias be in the mix, there’s a lot for Markuson to work out in a good way that’s for sure. Either way they’ll need to gel quickly because they’ll be blocking for one of the preseason Heisman trophy favorites in Montee Ball.
All of these issues won’t be solved by the end of Spring camp, but they all should be a bit clearer by the end. If not then there’s some major issues and a cause to be worried about a team that is good enough and deep enough to challenge for a 3rd straight Big Ten title at least on paper.
Over the next 10 days or so myself and MTB football analyst Arman Belding will be breaking down the roster position group by position group, so keep it tuned right here for all your Spring football camp needs as we approach the game on April 28th.
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