2021 football preview – Syndication Server

Paul Chryst is one of CBSSports’ ‘most underrated Power Five college football coaches’

Agree with their thoughts on the Badger head coach?

CBSSports compiled a ranking of the top 65 Power Five football coaches a few months ago, notching Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst No. 18 overall and No. 5 in the Big Ten.

Chryst has done a remarkable job since taking over as the Wisconsin’s head coach back in 2015. He’s 56-19 overall, 5-1 in bowl games and has brought the team to the Big Ten Championship three of his six years.

And all that said, he’s done it with a lower recruiting profile compared to the other consistent 10-win teams across the country.

This weekend, the CBSSports returned to discuss their coaching rankings and find which guys do not receive the credit they deserve. And as could be guessed, Paul Chryst was one of those names.

Here’s what Chip Patterson had to say about Chryst and his time at Wisconsin:

When we filled out our ballots for the Power Five coach rankings earlier this offseason, this was one of the more noticeable spots where I broke from the consensus. Not the most notable — that would be Geoff Collins, who I had about 30 spots ahead of his consensus ranking because I’m a sucker for good branding and a quick turnaround in recruiting — but the aggregate ranking had Chryst at No. 18 while I have him among the top coaches in the game at No. 10.

Chryst is 56-19 in six seasons at Wisconsin with three division titles and three New Year’s Six appearances, and I think his success is overlooked because there’s an assumption that’s a turnkey operation. Chryst has advantages as a Wisconsin native and former Badgers player that help him, sure, but not enough to be the only reason he’s one of the winningest coaches of the College Football Playoff era.

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

Paul Chryst is one of CBSSports’ ‘most underrated Power Five college football coaches’

Agree with their thoughts on the Badger head coach?

CBSSports compiled a ranking of the top 65 Power Five football coaches a few months ago, notching Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst No. 18 overall and No. 5 in the Big Ten.

And all that said, he’s done it with a lower recruiting profile compared to the other consistent 10-win teams across the country.

This weekend, the CBSSports returned to discuss their coaching rankings and find which guys do not receive the credit they deserve. And as could be guessed, Paul Chryst was one of those names.

Here’s what Chip Patterson had to say about Chryst and his time at Wisconsin:

When we filled out our ballots for the Power Five coach rankings earlier this offseason, this was one of the more noticeable spots where I broke from the consensus. Not the most notable — that would be Geoff Collins, who I had about 30 spots ahead of his consensus ranking because I’m a sucker for good branding and a quick turnaround in recruiting — but the aggregate ranking had Chryst at No. 18 while I have him among the top coaches in the game at No. 10.

Chryst is 56-19 in six seasons at Wisconsin with three division titles and three New Year’s Six appearances, and I think his success is overlooked because there’s an assumption that’s a turnkey operation. Chryst has advantages as a Wisconsin native and former Badgers player that help him, sure, but not enough to be the only reason he’s one of the winningest coaches of the College Football Playoff era.

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

2021 Wisconsin football position preview: Wide receivers

In our second edition of Wisconsin football 2021 position previews, the focus is on the wide receiver position. It’s a group that struggled

In the second edition of our Wisconsin football 2021 position previews, the focus turns to the wide receiver position.

It’s a group that struggled last season, mostly due to injuries to top options Danny Davis and Kendric Pryor.

But the whole group returns for the 2021 campaign. With a full spring and summer session set to help Graham Mertz’s connection with the group immensely, we should expect a bounce-back season from the pass-catchers.

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Wisconsin football’s returning production compared to the rest of the Big Ten

ESPN.com ranked FBS football programs based on returning production for2021. Here is where Wisconsin and the rest of the Big Ten fell on the

One of the stories of the Wisconsin Badgers’ 2020 football season was the young names that emerged on the offensive side of the football.

The team’s initial depth chart was supposed to have senior Jack Coan at QB, seniors Danny Davis and Kendric Pryor at WR and senior Garrett Groshek leading the way at RB.

What did the depth chart soon become? Freshman Graham Mertz at QB, freshman Chimere Dike as one of the team’s top receivers and freshman Jalen Berger leading the way at RB.

Related: Wisconsin’s projected 2021 depth chart on offense, defense

While it wasn’t pretty at times, what the experience from the season will do is set up the team’s offensive core to succeed for years.

Then you look at the whole roster and see Jack Sanborn and Jake Ferguson, arguably the team’s two best players, returning along with the three underclassmen I listed above, Leo Chenal, Caesar Williams, Scott Nelson and Nick Herbig. The list goes on and on.

So while the 2020 season was defined by the team’s inexperience at key positions, the 2021 campaign is lining up to be the complete opposite story. One of the most important factors for success at the college level is production, and the 2021 Badgers will have it.

Now backing up to look at the Big Ten as a whole, ESPN ranked FBS football programs based purely on how much production they’ll return in 2021. I went through the list and ranked every Big Ten team, but first here are the Badgers’ three out-of-conference opponents.

Eastern Michigan: No. 61 overall (71% returning production), No. 45 offense (78%), No. 85 defense (64%)
Notre Dame: No. 123 overall (49% returning production), No. 123 offense (44%), No. 108 defense (53%)
Army: No. 42 overall (77% returning production), No. 42 offense (79%), No. 46 defense (76%)

Now, the Wisconsin Badgers and the rest of the Big Ten:

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