BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin football team will begin one of its most intriguing spring practice sessions March 22.
Not only has coach Paul Chryst significantly reconfigured his staff since last season — a new offensive coordinator, three new faces and three assistants in new roles — there's the matter of finding replacements for 15 departed starters.
Eight of those openings are on a defense that was the top-rated unit in the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2021, including the Big Ten Linebacker of the Year in Leo Chenal.
The vacancies on offense include four pass-catchers who played in at least 47 career games, including tight end Jake Ferguson, who caught at least one pass in every outing of his career going back to 2018.
Here are 10 players to watch as spring drills get underway:
Outside of junior Chimere Dike, the heir apparent go-to pass-catcher, the Badgers have all sorts of room atop the depth chart at wide receiver. Redshirt freshman Markus Allen, from Dayton, Ohio, has the type of size, athleticism and playmaking instincts to challenge for a starting spot. That was on display in the Las Vegas Bowl when he made a key 31-yard grab on third down early in the game that set up the Badgers' opening touchdown.
UW returns less than one-third of its combined receiving yards from a season ago, which means redshirt freshman Skyler Bell, from Bronx, N.Y., will likely get a long look. Like Allen, Bell had a key grab in the Las Vegas Bowl, hauling in a 15-yard completion on third down late in the second quarter to set up a field goal.
Whoever starts for UW alongside standout junior outside linebacker Nick Herbig is going to get a lot of notice. Darryl Peterson, a redshirt freshman from Akron, Ohio, is a prime candidate to help make up for the 20.5 quarterback sacks lost due to graduation and pro defections from last season. He appeared in only two games last year but played 17 snaps against Arizona State in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Sophomore safety Hunter Wohler, from Muskego, made good use of his limited snaps last season, totaling 17 tackles, three TFLs and a sack while being a fixture on special teams. His role will be significantly larger in '22 given that senior starters Scott Nelson and Collin Wilder have moved on.
UW has an immense hole in the middle of its defense with the departure of Chenal and fellow inside linebackers Jack Sanborn and Mike Maskalunas, who combined to play 90 percent of the snaps in 2021. One of those poised for a larger role is redshirt sophomore Jordan Turner from Farmington, Mich. He somehow crammed six tackles and two interceptions into 24 snaps last season, including four tackles and a TFL in the bowl game.
Cornerback Jay Shaw, from Corona, Calif., spent the last five years becoming an elite defender at UCLA before transferring to Wisconsin. A second-team All-Pac-12 selection in 2021, he's expected to ease the sting of losing senior starters Faion Hicks and Caesar Williams and the switch of Dean Engram from corner to wide receiver.
The deepest unit entering spring drills is the offensive line, where a new position coach, Bob Bostad, will try and sort out a loaded depth chart. One prime candidate is redshirt freshman Riley Mahlman, from Lakeville, Minn., who has the ideal frame (6-foot-8, 300 pounds) to play either tackle spot.
With sophomore Braelon Allen, senior Chez Mellusi and fifth-year senior Isaac Guerendo sitting atop the pecking order at running back, there don't seem to be a lot of carries available for Menomonee Falls junior Julius Davis. But you can never have too much depth at that volatile position — Mellusi and Guerendo are both coming off of season-ending injuries — and Davis has the talent to contribute.
The UW defensive line must replace one starter, but that's a sizeable task given that Matt Henningsen was a four-year fixture and one of the most tactically proficient forces at end. Rodas Johnson, a junior from Columbus, Ohio, is capable of filling that void as evidenced by his strip-sack against Notre Dame that set up the Badgers' fourth-quarter field goal.
Vito Calvaruso, a junior from Jefferson City, Mo., didn't like his chances of becoming the full-time kicker at Arkansas, so he brought his wares to Wisconsin as a transfer. He could be the kickoff specialist — of his 74 kickoffs last season, 63 were touchbacks — in addition to handling placements now that sixth-year senior Collin Larsh opted to turn pro.
