Wisco Wednesday: Offense Preview

What do you know about Wisconsin’s Offense? Will Pauling is WR1. The OL has a rock-solid top 6. And there is a new Quarterback in Mad Town… again.

Coaching Changes

Phil Longo is still the OC, but there were 2 major changes to his support staff.

O-Line

Jack Bicknell Jr. followed Phil Longo to Madison from North Carolina. He was the O-Line coach in 2023 but has been reassigned for the 2024 season. This can be seen as a demotion as far as I’m concerned.

This means Wisconsin will have its 4th different O-Line coach in 4 seasons. Not exactly the stability of years past. 4th time’s the charm? AJ Blazek hopes so. He was an All-B1G Center playing for Iowa in 2000 and has been a career OL coach ever since. His 2 most recent stops have been with North Dakota State in 2019 and 2020, and Vanderbilt since 2021. Fickell likes his extensive coaching experience, recruiting familiarity in the B1G footprint, and his success at NDSU.

Side note – Leyton Nelson is a Vanderbilt LT transfer following Blazek to Wisconsin. He is injured for now but might be part of Wisconsin’s future plans at the position.

Wide Receivers

Wisconsin moved on from their OL coach by choice; the same cannot be said for wide receivers. Mike Brown was the WR coach in 2023 and did a phenomenal job getting the most out of slot receiver Will Pauling. Well, maybe a little too good of a job, because Notre Dame swooped in and hired Brown as their new WR coach. Technically this can be seen as a lateral move, but I assume Notre Dame pays quite a bit better than Wisconsin.

In his search for a replacement, Fickell again looked to the SEC. He went with Kenny Guiton, wide receivers coach at Arkansas. Guiton is a relatively young coach at 33 years old but was trusted with the interim offensive coordinator job at Arkansas last season when the incumbent was fired en route to a 2-6 start. While I’m disappointed to see Brown go, Guiton is likely an upgrade as multiple publications tab him as an up-and-coming QB coach and coordinator in the near future.

Quick Formation Overview

Wisco will mostly use 11 Personnel – that’s 1 RB, 1 TE, and 3 WRs. Longo tends towards a 50-50 split, run vs pass, for play calling. The Badgers will mix air Raid passing concepts with RPOs to keep the defense honest. Expect the offense to go into “hurry up” mode often. There will be some 5 WR sets on 3rd down. The QB will never be under center (the opposite of Coach Dad’s style). And surprisingly, this fall there has been some experimentation with 2 RB formations… and sometimes even 3 RBs on the field at once.

This is not the old-school, 3 TE, heavy RBs, smash-mouth Wisconsin team your dad grew up watching.

The Position Everyone Talks About – QB

Starter:
QB1 – Tyler Van Dyke (Transfer)

Backups:
QB2 – Braedyn Locke
QB3 – Mabrey Mettauer (Freshman)

Another year, another transfer QB trying to finish their college career with a bang in Madison.

Tyler Van Dyke (aka TVD) is a Redshirt-Senior transferring to Wisconsin from Miami. The real Miami, not the one in Ohio. If you are looking for optimism, look no further than his 2021 season when he won ACC Freshman of the Year. And I do mean look no further, because he was mostly disappointing in 2022 and 2023. (2023 may not have been his fault, he was playing injured for most of the season).

Braedyn Locke was given the opportunity to compete for the starting job all Spring and for the first few weeks in August. It was a valiant effort, but he’s the backup. Or as Fickell says, QB 1B.

Mettauer is the future of the QB position in Madison… assuming the transfer portal doesn’t change anyone’s plans in the next couple of years.

Wisco’s Bread and Butter – The O-Line

Starters:
LT: Jack Nelson
LG: Joe Brunner
OC: Jake Renfro
RG: Joe Huber
RT: Riley Mahlman

Backups:
Swing Guard: JP Benzshawel
Swing Tackle: Kevin Heywood (Freshman)

This is probably a top 3 O-Line in the Big Ten. By the end of the season, they could be #1.

The tackles, Nelson and Mahlman both project as 3rd round NFL draft picks right now. Adding another good season would only raise their draft stock. The reason Nelson didn’t enter the draft last year was he was dinged in the draft process for having too many penalties. He’s looking to clean that up in 2024.

Renfro was the best center in the AAC in 2022 but spent all of 2023 injured. He’s seen as an upgrade over Bortolini (who was drafted in the 4th round last Spring). There have been 0 issues in training camp with the Center to QB snapping interaction. A massive relief to hear if you paid attention to WOF last season.

Huber was a starting guard last year, and he’ll be a starting guard again this year. He’s also the backup center. I have no more notes on him.

Joe Brunner is the youngest member of the starting OL (sophomore), but also one of the most exciting. All reports from camp are positive so far. He was the highest rated player from Wisconsin in his recruiting class and appears to be living up to the hype.

JP Benzshawel deserves a shout-out as the 6th man. He’s a senior who’s good enough to start on almost any Big Ten OL, but he’s 2nd string at Wisconsin. He’ll serve as the primary backup for both guard spots.

New Found Depth – The Running Backs

Expected Starters:
RB 1A: Chez Mellusi
RB 1B: Tawee Walker (Transfer)

Depth:
Jackson Acker
Darrion Dupree (Freshman)
Dilin Jones (Freshman)
Cade Yacamelli

Last year Chez had a season ending injury in week 4, and Braelon Allen played injured for most of the season. That revealed how shallow Wisconsin was at the running back position.

This year, Chez Mellusi is back, and he is the type of speedy RB who is tailored to thrive in a spread out offense like Longo’s. Tawee Walker is a Senior Transfer from Oklahoma who is more of the bruiser type Badger fans are used to seeing. He has done so well in camp he might steal the starting job from Chez. That is not hyperbole, it is a point of discussion amongst many media members who have access to Wisconsin practices.

Acker has put on some significant weight and is now listed at 6’1” 245 LBS. He is being used in a more FB/H-Back versatile role instead of as a traditional RB now.

Yacamelli is back, but he has likely fallen on the depth chart (but I must admit another year of experience can only make him better).

The 4 above are not the headlines of the offseason though. That honor goes to Dilin Jones and Darrion Dupree, highly touted 4* freshman recruits. Both are considered top 10 RBs for the 2024 class. Both have flashed enough in fall camp to earn 2nd and occasional 1st team reps. And even Fickell himself has said the team needs to find a way to get both on the field this season.

Now you understand why Wisconsin has experimented with 3 Running Back formations this August. This is the deepest position group on offense and a major strength of the team right now. #RBU

Who Can Step Up? – The Wide Receivers

Expected Starters:
WR-X: Bryson Green
WR-Y: ???
WR-Slot: Will Pauling

Depth/Backups/Who Knows:
Trech Kekahuna (Red-Freshman)
CJ Williams
Joseph Griffin Jr. (Transfer)
Tyrell Henry (Transfer)
Vinny Anthony II

Wisconsin brought in a lot of transfer receivers in 2023. Apparently, it wasn’t enough, because they went and got 2 more this Spring. Joseph Griffin Jr. from Boston College and Tyrell Henry from Michigan State are the new guys (both are Juniors) and are expected to compete for the other outside WR spot that no one in camp has been able to lock down.

Will Pauling is absolutely WR1. He is the most productive returning WR in the Big Ten. It doesn’t matter that he primarily lines up in the slot, he’s the guy.

Bryson Green has solidified his starting spot as an outside receiving threat. Being a bigger body, he will mostly play the X-WR position. (That means he’ll be on the line of scrimmage and have to deal with a lot of contact. The Y and Slot can line up off the LOS and avoid contact).

Wisco’s 3rd best WR? It’s probably freshman Trech Kekahuna. He is lighting up DBs in training camp. The problem is he is also a slot receiver specialist. He’s generally only on the field when Wisconsin is in a 4 WR set, or when he’s subbing in for Pauling.

CJ Williams (Junior) has the WR-Y spot for now… probably, but his name is definitely written in pencil based on the amount of competition around him. Like other Junior wideouts Giffin Jr., Henry, and Anthony II.

Non-existent in 2023 – The TEs

Expected Starters:
TE 1: Tucker Ashkraft
TE 2: Riley Nowakowski

Depth/Competition:
Jackson McGohan (Transfer)
JT Seagreaves
Grant Stec (Freshman)
Rob Booker II (Freshman)

This is a position that was woeful in 2023. Ashkraft is a sophomore with some promise in the receiving game, and Nowakowski is a senior leader and solid blocker. Behind the two of them are a bunch of question marks. This part of the preview will be marked as “incomplete,” and will remain that way until we see who can make the most of actual in-game snaps.

I will throw a dart and guess that transfer Jackson McGohan (Sophomore via LSU) emerges as a legitimate receiving TE near the end of the 2024 season. I have nothing to base this prediction on, it’s just a feeling.

Will Wisconsin be Better On Offense in 2024?

God, I hope so.

Wisconsin was 69th in total offense in 2023 at 381 yards per game. That is unacceptable. This group HAS TO be better than that.

If TVD plays anything like he did in 2021, then QB got better.
RB absolutely got better, and will be strong for years to come.
The OL is more experienced which to me means better.
WR didn’t get worse, but is a legitimate question mark.
TE was so bad in 2023 that it has to be better in 2024.

Based on all that, I think they’ll be significantly better than last season. And maybe, just maybe, Mad Town can get some QB magic to pair with their always good RBs and OL and do something special.

#BuckyByAMillion

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This article was written by Cole Tollison and edited by Hayden Breene