MADISON – Soon the questions swirling around the Wisconsin football team will begin to be answered.
Who will emerge as the starting quarterback? Can the defense pressure signal callers? Will the depth necessary to compete with the top teams in the Big Ten be developed?
Fall camp begins Tuesday morning at UW-Pletteville, but before the Badgers left town they held their local media day at the McClain Center where UW coach Luke Fickell, defensive coordinator Mike Tressel and offensive coordinator Phil Longo and a host of players met with reporters.
Here are four things we learned.
Will Pauling is committed to more YAC
Pauling led the Badgers 74 catches, but his average yards per catch was a modest 11.31 yards. Fickell has said he hopes Pauling has fewer catches and more yards this season.’
Pauling also wants to boost his average this season, in part by doing a better job of fighting through contact after making a grab.
“It’s just mentality after you get the ball of not letting the first guy tackle you, making the first guy miss,” Pauling said. “(Wide receivers) coach (Kenny) Guiton has been on us big this spring (about) no spot catches and that is basically catching the ball and not getting any yards after the catch.”
Part of the reason Tyler Van Dyke holds an edge in the race for the starting quarterback job entering camp is that Braedyn Locke has forced the transfer from Miami to be on top his game when it comes to mastering the playbook.
“Braedyn is a savant,” Longo said. “He’s really, really intelligent. I can’t keep him out of the office. He studies everything. He’s obsesses with it.”
Locke, meanwhile, has been pushed to match Van Dyke’s ability to throw the ball even though his arm isn’t as strong.
“That challenges Braedyn,” Longo said. “He’ll go out there and he’ll lay one on. He hit a running back down the sideline towards the end of spring ball. That was a pretty long throw and dropped it in perfectly. … It was an explosive gain for us and Braedyn kind of shook his head like ‘That’s a hell of a throw there.’”
Transfer DL Brandon Lane has already made an impression
The Badgers signed defensive lineman Brandon Lane after spring practice in an effort to bolster their defensive front. We won’t know for a couple of weeks if the transfer from Stephen F. Austin can work his way into the rotation, but he has already made an impression with his size (6-3, 312) and passion for the game.
“When he first got here he was a little tired from the workouts and everything, but he was giving you a full-motor effort,” senior defensive lineman James Thompson said. “During the OTAs that dude was all gas, no breaks.
“I think it gave everybody else (the mindset that) ‘Oh, he’s doing that, let me do this (too.) It’s another level of pushing each other and another level of accountability. When you see someone else work hard that means I’ve got to work hard, too because I’m not going to be the weak link of the team.”
Former Boston College WR passing test so far
Another post-spring practice transfer, receiver Joseph Griffin, has been as advertised so far, displaying good speed to go along with his 6-4, 208-pound frame. The Springfield, Massachusetts, native ranked second on the Eagles last season in catches (25) and receiving yards (345).
However the optimism he has created is tinged with a wait-and-see mindset.
“I think everyone tends to look really good until you put the helmet and shoulder pads on and then things start to separate a bit,” Longo said. “(Wide receivers) coach (Kenny) Guiton is really excited about suiting him up and we’ll push the ball to him in certain practices to see how he handles that. And he’s still kind of in that learning phase because he got here so late, but we’re definitely happy to have him on the roster.”
Running back room is as deep as Chez Mellusi has seen it
Longo declared that the team is deeper this season compared to last at nearly every position. On offense, that increased depth is especially being felt at running back.
In addition to the return of Chez Mellusi, Jackson Acker and Cade Yacamelli, the team added Oklahoma transfer Tawee Walker and welcomed three freshmen: Gideon Ituka, Dilin Jones and Darrion Dupree. Jones and Dupree were four-star recruits.
“We have a lot of bodies,” Mellusi said. “I’ve never been in a running back room where I think we’ve got nine guys in the room. Going into fall camp I’m excited to lead this group of guys. I wouldn’t say there’s a lot of touches to go around, but fall camp is long. A lot of people are going to get to show what they can do.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Five things we learned from Wisconsin football’s media day
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
