Tag: connor allen

Chris Orr Performs well at Wisconsin’s 2020 Pro Day

Wisconsin held its annual pro day on Wednesday as 11 former Badgers competed in front of NFL teams.

Wisconsin held its annual pro day on March 11th as 11 former Badgers participated as they continue to try and improve there NFL draft stock.

In particular, Wednesday was an important day for Chis Orr as he wasn’t invited to the NFL scouting combine in February. Wisconsin’s pro day served as his combine as he competed in the events that he would have if he was in Indianapolis.

With this being Orr’s first chance of demonstrating his on field abilities in front of NFL teams made it important that he turned in a good performance as he continues to work to hear his name called during the NFL draft.

The biggest drill for Orr that he needed to ace was the 40-yard dash as there are questions on how his speed will translate to the next level and if he can hold up. Orr was able to post a 4.65-second 40-yard dash, which was the same time Zack Baun posted in Indianapolis at the scouting combine.

Outside of Orr running a solid 40-yard dash time he also posted a 4.08 second in the 20-yard shuttle and a 6.99 second in the 3-cone drill. He also put up 20 reps on the bench press too.

Outside of Orr needing to have a successful pro day it was another chance for Quintez Cephus to improve upon his 40-yard dash time that he ran in Indianapolis. After running a 4.73 40-yard dash he ran a 4.56-second 40-yard dash on Wednesday. Outside of catching passes in front of NFL teams that was the only other drill Cephus took part in.

Jonathan Taylor didn’t compete in any of the drills as he stood by what he did at the scouting combine.

Other Badgers to participate in Wisconsin’s pro day were Connor Allen, Jason Erdmann, Zach Hintze, Tyler Johnson, David Pfaff, and Travis Wiltjer.

Erdmann ran a 5.5-second 40-yard dash and put up 21 reps on the bench press. Johnson ran a 4.85-second 40-yard dash time, a 4.15 in the 20-yard shuttle, and 6.93 seconds in the 3-cone drill.

 

Wisconsin to Host NFL Pro Day March 11th

Eleven former Wisconsin players will partake in the Badgers pro day on March 11th

Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst likes to break down a season into four phases. The first phase is winter conditioning, the second phase is spring football, third phase is fall camp, and the fourth phase is the season.

When it comes to the NFL Draft one could break it into four phases too. Phase one would be the college football all-star games, phase two would be the scouting combine, phase three would be the combination of pro days and private workouts, and phase four being the NFL Draft.

For the former Wisconsin players they are currently in phase three as the Badgers will have a total of 11 players competing at the Badgers pro day on Wednesday, March 11th.

The players are punter Connor Allen, outside linebacker Zack Baun, center Tyler Biadasz, wide receiver Quintez Cephus, offensive lineman Jason Erdmann, kicker Zach Hintze, outside linebacker Tyler Johnson, inside linebacker Chris Orr, defensive end David Pfaff, running back Jonathan Taylor, and inside linebacker Travis Wiltjer. Drew Rakers a long snapper from UW-Platteville will also partake in the Badger pro day.

Baun, Biadasz, Cephus, and Taylor were all invited to the NFL scouting combine in February and the four may not compete in all of the drills tomorrow as they may be happy with what they did in Indianapolis.

Cephus will likely run the 40-yard dash again as he posted a 4.73 second time. If he can improve upon his time he’ll likely ease concerns from NFL scouts when it comes to his speed.

The pro day will be particularly important for Orr as he wasn’t invited to the combine and wasn’t invited to play in any of the college all-star games.

Outside of the workouts, he goes on leading up to the draft this will be one of the first times Orr will have a chance to demonstrate what he can do in front of NFL teams. In particular, for Orr, he’ll need to run a good 40-yard dash time.

The NFL Draft will be held in Las Vegas starting April 23rd to April 25th.

Wisconsin 2019 Football Season Review: Specialists

How did Wisconsin’s specialists perform during the 2019 season?

Wisconsin finished its fifth season under head coach Paul Chryst as Chryst improved his overall record to 52-16 and has a posted a 34-10 record in conference games. After not winning the Big Ten West Division title in 2018 the Badgers were back in Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship game as the West representative for the fourth time in the last six years since the Big Ten went to its current format.

In this Badgers Wire feature we will examine the play of Wisconsin’s specialists from the 2019 season and take a sneak into what the 2020 season may have in store for the position:

Wisconsin excelled in certain areas on special teams in 2019 and then there were other areas where the Badgers were inconsistent.

Let’s begin with the highlight of the special teams in 2019, which was the kickoff return team. The Badgers certainly excelled in this area as Aron Cruickshank was able to return two kicks with one coming against Nebraska and another in the Rose Bowl against Oregon.

Cruickshank certainly proved to be a weapon for the Badgers on special teams as he averaged 29.3 yards per return on 23 attempts. As Cruickshank earned Second Team All-Big Ten on special teams this past year.

Although Cruickshank excelled in this area he wouldn’t have been able to have the success he had if it wasn’t for his blockers helping open up return lanes for him to utilize his speed to help set up Wisconsin with good field position.

When it came to punt returns from a game-to-game basis it was hit or miss. For a second consecutive year Jack Dunn handled the primary responsibilites as the punt returner.

Dunn was able to statistically improve as a punt returner as he improved his average from 5.5 yards to 8.3 and he went for 94 punt return yards to 200.

In terms of punting the football, Wisconsin struggled as Anthony Lotti handled the punting duties. Although he was inconsistent his last two games as a Badger weren’t strong as in the Big Ten Championship game and the Rose Bowl game he struggled to handle a snap resulting in a fumble as Ohio State and Oregon were able to take advantage of the miscue by Lotti.

Overall Lotti finished the season averaging 39.7 yards per punt on 45 attempts.

While the punting game struggled with consistency kickoff specialist Zach Hintze was a model of consistency. Hintze routinely kicked the football in the end zone as 69 of his 89 kickoffs resulted in touchbacks.

Hintze’s strong leg came useful when the Badgers played Purdue as he made a program record 62-yard field goal before halftime. Hintze went 2-for-3 on his field goal attempts.

Collin Larsh was the regular kicker when it came to field goals and PAT’s as he finished the season 12-for-18 on his field goal attempts and made all of his PAT’s except one.

Larsh started the season 3-for-6 on his field goal attempts over the Badgers first six games but ended the year going 9-for-12.

2020 Wisconsin Specialists

Wisconsin will need to find a new kickoff returner as Cruickshank following the season announced he was transferring the Badgers also lose Lotti, Connor Allen who held for PAT’s and field goals, and Hintze. Spring will be important for all the specialists to continue to work and try to make Wisconsin’s kicking and punting game more consistent. Who replaces Lotti at punter and Hintze on kickoffs won’t be determined until fall camp. The Badgers will also likely try a combination at kickoff returner as the two that may get long looks at filling the role could be Isaac Guerendo or Kendric Pryor.