Wisconsin mailbag: How much did the Badgers actually improve their roster? (2024)

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin’s preseason football practices begin in less than two months, with Big Ten media days roughly six weeks away. You had questions for the Badgers mailbag. Here are the answers.

Topics include whether Wisconsin’s roster is actually improved, how Luke Fickell will balance high school recruiting with transfer portal additions, optimism for quarterback Tyler Van Dyke and potential recruiting wins out of official visit season.

Are we sure this team isn’t in for a long season? While not star players from last season, we have lost starters: Bortolini, Allen, Dike, Furtney/Wedig, Rucci, Goetz, Johnson, Paez, Maema/Turner, Maitre. We only gained three external starters: TVD, Thomas, Pius/Lowery. We added good depth players and there will be internal growth. But we are replacing a lot of snaps with players who weren’t good enough to beat out the names above last season. Usually, Wisconsin is a school that can count on “next man up,” but that is much harder when you went 7-6 the past two seasons. — Josh M.

I see where you’re coming from with this question, but it’s important to acknowledge that Wisconsin brought in a whole lot more portal players with starting experience at their previous schools, including defensive linemen Elijah Hills and Brandon Lane, wide receivers Joseph Griffin Jr. and Tyrell Henry and inside linebacker Tackett Curtis. You can throw long snapper Cayson Pfeiffer in there, though I know you’re generally talking about the offense and defense.

The jury is still out on where some of those players shake out on the depth chart, particularly Lane, Griffin and Curtis. Lane and Griffin were added during the spring portal window, while Curtis was sidelined for most of the spring while recovering from an injury.

On the whole, I don’t look at the losses you mentioned and think Wisconsin can’t overcome them or be better next season. Tanor Bortolini may be the biggest loss because he finished with the highest pass blocking grade on the team, according to Pro Football Focus. The lack of speed on his snaps also left something to be desired and sometimes altered the timing of plays. His replacement, Jake Renfro, doesn’t have any issues with snapping speed but must show he can consistently block well in the Big Ten. Losing Braelon Allen is tough, but Chez Mellusi looked like a great fit for the offense before he was hurt last season. Plus, the Badgers added an intriguing backup running back in Tawee Walker.

I think offensive lineman Joe Brunner, who is projected to start, is a better player than Michael Furtney. Trey Wedig, while talented, wasn’t even a part of the playing rotation by the second half of last season. Tight end Hayden Rucci caught 11 passes for 125 yards, and I’d guess Tucker Ashcraft is in position to make a big leap as a sophom*ore. At receiver, Chimere Dike’s numbers went way down last season. Perhaps Vinny Anthony can match his 19 catches for 328 yards or slot receiver Trech Kekahuna can take those touches and run with it.

Rodas Johnson and Gio Paez combined for 42 tackles and 0.5 sacks. Jordan Turner and Maema Njongmeta didn’t really fit the scheme Mike Tressel wanted to run at inside linebacker. I’ll be surprised if the Badgers aren’t better at inside linebacker. C.J. Goetz led the team with 11 tackles for loss, yet you can’t tell me Wisconsin didn’t improve at outside linebacker with the additions of Leon Lowery and John Pius. And while Jason Maitre was solid, there’s no reason to believe either Austin Brown or Max Lofy can’t be equally or more effective.

I do think Wisconsin will be a better team than what the Badgers showed last season because returning players have another year in this system, and many portal additions feel like upgrades. But that doesn’t mean I believe Wisconsin will finish 10-2 and compete for a College Football Playoff spot. With the schedule Wisconsin plays, 8-4 would feel like a step in the right direction, though a record like that won’t be good enough to satisfy Fickell.

This transfer cycle aside, going forward, what do you think Fickell’s ideal split between high school recruits and transfer portal recruits is in a given year? — Brian S.

I go back to the conversation I had with Fickell last summer about his approach to high school recruiting at Wisconsin. This is what he said then: “We want to be a high school recruiting team. We want to take 18 to 22 kids every year in high school and develop your program.”

Fickell said that during a time when Wisconsin still was putting together its first full recruiting class under him. In the end, Wisconsin signed 22 scholarship players out of high school for the 2024 class — right in line with what Fickell wanted. I don’t believe anything has changed in the year since that discussion, so my expectation is that the Badgers will continue to sign 18 to 22 high school prospects in a given recruiting class.

The transfer portal numbers, at least to me, are not as cut and dried. Fickell has said he doesn’t want to be overly reliant on the portal. Of course, it’s easy to say that until you have to deal with all the player defections and roster holes that materialize at multiple positions from transfers out or, to a much lesser degree, early NFL departures. Fickell and his staff are going to need to replace players every year through the portal and attempt to upgrade the roster. The balance Fickell — and all other FBS coaches — must strike is how to maintain talent already on the team when he is bringing in new personnel through the portal.

What’s the right number of transfer portal additions per year? It depends. Wisconsin added 15 scholarship players to the roster from the portal for the 2023 season in Fickell’s first year. That’s the same number of scholarship portal additions so far this offseason ahead of the 2024 campaign (offensive lineman Joey Okla was added as a preferred walk-on). But the Badgers have lost 20 scholarship players since last season to the portal.

I wouldn’t be surprised if 12-15 transfers and 18-22 high school players each year is the new normal for Wisconsin. Fickell would prefer that transfers have multiple years of eligibility remaining because it would mean the staff could still develop those players and attempt to build some continuity. But that won’t always be the case when there are immediate positions of need. Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, running back Tawee Walker, defensive lineman Elijah Hills, inside linebacker Jaheim Thomas, outside linebacker John Pius, cornerback RJ Delancy III and long snapper Cayson Pfeiffer are examples of seniors joining the program as transfers for this season.

This isn’t part of your question, but another point this topic brings up is the sheer volume of new players Wisconsin fans must adapt to every year given that players now have unlimited transfers. On the low end, we’re talking 30 scholarship players, with somewhere around 35 to 37 newcomers on the high end. It’s a different world in college football these days.

How does the transfer portal affect high school recruiting? Is this staff less willing than others in the past to take on projections or players with lower floors in the fear that they’ll transfer out before reaching their potential or that they’ll be able to recruit them in two years if they’re successful at a lower level? — Thad N.

I wrote a story last week with Scott Dochterman in which we talked to eight high school football coaches across Chicagoland to gain a better sense of how programs recruit the area. One of my biggest takeaways was how many coaches lamented the way the transfer portal had changed high school recruiting. Said one coach: “It’s killing recruiting for high school kids.”

Those coaches, at least anecdotally, cited Power 4 programs no longer even bothering to recruit developmental prospects because they could find more experience and instant impact potential through the portal. The thought was that schools would let developmental-type players go to the MAC or the FCS and then grab them a couple years down the line when they were ready to contribute at a major-conference level.

Your question about the portal impacting high school recruiting appears to be well-founded. But when it comes to Wisconsin, I’m not sure I see this staff being overly hesitant to offer a developmental-type player as long as the Badgers see the growth potential there. Again, Fickell said he wants to be a high school recruiting team. And when you do that, it means most of those players aren’t likely going to play right away.

Let’s consider the fact that Wisconsin had 11 early enrollees in the 2024 class who participated in spring practice. Only two of those players — left tackle Kevin Heywood and outside linebacker Thomas Heiberger — were in the two-deep by the end of the spring, with Heiberger there because of injuries. There may be a handful of freshmen contributors beyond special teams this season, but I wouldn’t count on too many out of the 22 scholarship signees.

It’s difficult to compare the current Wisconsin staff to others that came before because the transfer portal era is so new. It is clear, however, that the staff will need to be much more flexible with roster management because of how impactful the transfer portal is, both with departures and new additions. But that won’t preclude the Badgers from pursuing developmental players who are good fits for the system.

What have you seen from Tyler Van Dyke so far to give Badgers fans optimism for this upcoming season? — S N.

I think there is reason for optimism about what Van Dyke can achieve with the offense during his only season at Wisconsin, but until he proves it on the field, that optimism will come with equal parts skepticism based on his past. Van Dyke was benched twice during his Miami career, went 15-13 as a starter there and battled injuries. The good news for Wisconsin fans is that Van Dyke demonstrated steady improvement during spring practices as he earned more opportunities to run the offense.

His best day came during the team’s spring scrimmage, when he led three touchdown drives while completing all 11 passes on those series for more than 135 yards. He can deliver throws with impressive arm strength, and Fickell really likes the physicality he can provide (on occasion) as a runner, even if it won’t be in the same way as Tanner Mordecai. Though Van Dyke wasn’t perfect, he also didn’t commit a bunch of turnovers this spring, which is an encouraging sign.

Of course, Van Dyke’s success will come down to how well his teammates can support him. The offensive line must protect him well. There is a lot to like about the 1-2 tailback combination of Chez Mellusi and Tawee Walker (or one of the two incoming freshmen if they can climb the depth chart). And there are good pieces at wide receiver, though the Badgers still need more big-play threats on the outside.

It will be one thing to succeed against Western Michigan and another thing entirely to do it against the likes of Alabama, Oregon and Penn State. We’ll all be watching to see whether the offense displays the productivity necessary to elevate this program where Fickell wants it to go.

Which current non-committed recruit would be the biggest “win” for this staff? — Cj H.

I’ll pick one on offense and one on defense. On offense, I’m going with four-star running back Byron Louis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). He’s set to visit Wisconsin this weekend and is coming off a visit to Miami, with a trip to Florida State still on the docket. His offer list was massive and included Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State and USC, among many others.

Louis finished his junior season at American Heritage with 1,224 yards rushing on 7.7 yards per carry and 18 touchdowns. He’s not heavily involved in the passing game, having caught seven passes for 23 yards, but he is one heck of a runner. It would be quite a coup for Wisconsin to land him on the heels of adding four-star tailbacks Dilin Jones and Darrion Dupree in the 2024 class. Louis visited Wisconsin for a junior day earlier this year, and the Badgers likely are going to have to pull off some magic during the official visit to pry him away from either Miami or Florida State.

On defense, the answer for me is linebacker Mason Posa. He listed a top three of Wisconsin, Oregon and Texas A&M. Posa is coming off his official visit to Wisconsin, and signs are pointing up toward the Badgers. Posa, a three-time state wrestling champion in New Mexico, is an absolute wrecking ball on film. One of my favorite plays is when he bursts off the edge into the backfield and then runs across the field to track down a wide receiver from behind after the player catches a quick screen toward the sideline.

Where’s HOME⁉️#AGTG pic.twitter.com/KuDfzZAvLd

— Mason Posa (@MasonPosa) May 30, 2024

Posa also has a play in which he gets a free run at the quarterback, bats a pass high into the air and showcases the athletic ability and concentration to intercept it while falling on his backside. He is a four-star prospect who recorded 99 tackles, 14 tackles for loss and seven sacks as a junior last season. No doubt he would be a massive recruiting victory for Wisconsin.

(Top photo of Tyler Van Dyke: Mark Stewart / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA Today Network)