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 offensive line from the 2019 season and take a sneak into what the 2020 season may have in store for the position:
Wisconsin entering the 2019 season had to replace four starters along their offensive line as the only starter to return was center Tyler Biadasz.
Wisconsin ended up starting seven different offensive line combinations over the course of the season, which includes six different starting combinations over their first eight games.
The Badgers officially settled on an offensive line combination starting with the Illinois game that included from left to right Cole Van Lanen, David Moorman, Tyler Biadasz, Jason Erdmann, and Logan Bruss.
That combination started five games for the Badgers over the season. Despite the constant shuffling to begin the year the Badgers offensive line still was able to exert their dominance as they helped clear the way for Wisconsin to average 233.1 yards on the ground and for Wisconsin’s offense to average 433.2 yards of total offense.
The one player for Wisconsin to start every single game this season was Biadasz at center. Biadasz has started 41 career games for the Badgers and over his time at Wisconsin emerged as one of the top centers in college football.
Biadasz was able to accomplish a first for an offensive lineman at Wisconsin, which was winning the Rimington Award, which is given each year to the nation’s top center.
Although Wisconsin’s offensive line was consistent for the most part this season the Badgers worst performance came against Ohio State in the regular season. Against the Buckeyes, they allowed a season high five sacks as Ohio State was also able to hold the Badgers to a season low 191 yards of total offense.
But in the rematch with Ohio State, they only allowed two sacks and registered 432 yards of total offense on 71 plays.
2020 Wisconsin Offensive Line
Wisconsin for a second consecutive year saw one of their offensive linemen declare early for the NFL Draft as Biadasz decided to forego his senior year. Biadasz will be difficult to replace due to his consistency at the center position making spring football an important first step in finding his replacement for the 2020 season. The Badgers also lose Erdmann and Moorman at the guard positions as the two started 12 and eight games respectively last season. Josh Seltzner and Kayden Lyles who both started four games last year will likely get the first crack at starting at the guard position. Lyles will also likely get a look at center too. Spring football will also allow for offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Joe Rudolph to play with a variety of different offensive line combinations. Based on those combinations will give Badger fans a better idea of who might be starting on the interior once fall camp does open up.
