Our occasional series of Rose Bowl reflections moves not to a position group or a coach or a specific sequence in the game, but to an individual player.
The Wisconsin Badgers came up just short of a Rose Bowl victory against Oregon on New Year’s Day. The Badgers found success with Jonathan Taylor, both as a running back and as a receiver. But running the ball isn’t a one-man show, and a big part of Taylor’s success is the Badgers’ center, Tyler Biadasz. He is an elite player and a potential first-round pick.
Given how well Wisconsin ran the ball in that game, especially in the second and third quarters — with combinations of straightforward running and jet sweeps — no one could walk away from that game thinking the Badgers’ offensive line graded poorly. Biadasz and his teammates surely lamented the outcome, but the offensive line did its part. Skill players (and punters) who fumbled created the possibility that Wisconsin could lose, not Biadasz.
If Taylor is the hammer, Biadasz is the nail. The amount of space he opens up for Taylor is nothing short of impressive. Biadasz is the front man for the Wisconsin offense and he does a heck of a job in that role.
Biadasz has been the top-ranked interior lineman for Pro Football Focus. He’s also been consistently playing at this level for several years. With a run blocking grade of 82.7 last year, the next closest player was 13 points lower. Biadasz overall grade of 86.7 for PFF is due to the fact that he’s only allowed five pressures over two years and he happens to be the only center in the nation with elite grades in both the run and passing game.
Biadasz has the ability to be Wisconsin’s next great offensive lineman at the professional level. He has the ability to run block with the best in the nation, as evidenced by the successive Doak Walker Awards brought home by Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor. If nothing else, this is going to make him very appealing to a run-first team at the NFL level. A team trying to protect its star quarterback would also fit, even if that team might try to pass a little more. (Consider the Green Bay Packers, for instance.) While run-first and pass-first are fading concepts with many offenses opting to blend the two, there are still a couple teams that favor the run, and Biadasz could be appealing to them out of the gate. (The Seattle Seahawks would be a good example – they have Russell Wilson, but Pete Carroll still prefers to run the ball the way he did several years ago.)
This past year in the NFL, all four of the league’s top passing teams failed to make the playoffs. Meanwhile, all four of the league’s top rushing teams did make the playoffs. The league ebbs and flows vis-a-vis playcalling, but whenever there is an elite run and pass blocker like Biadasz, it opens up myriad options for the team which selects him. Biadasz might not be the first lineman off the board, but he may be one of the best.