Tag: Jay Shaw

Wisconsin Football congratulates six college graduates

Six outstanding football student athletes earned their degree this weekend.

The Wisconsin Football team is gearing up for a much-anticipated 2023 campaign with new head coach Luke Fickell taking over for his first full season at the helm. That being said, some of the returning athletes and some that have gone on to the next level earned one of life’s highest honors this weekend, they became graduates of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In what was a tumultuous 2022 season for the Badgers, the team finished 7-6 and won the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in December over Oklahoma State. Operating under both Paul Chryst and Jim Leonhard at head coach, the team had to be level-headed in the tough year.

Balancing both athletics and academics is certainly no easy feat, here’s each of the athletes that were honored for their degrees on the Badgers’ official Twitter:

Former Wisconsin cornerback Jay Shaw earns NFL rookie minicamp invite

Former Wisconsin cornerback Jay Shaw earns NFL rookie minicamp invite

Former Wisconsin cornerback Jay Shaw is reportedly headed to the New York Giants for a minicamp invite. Tanner Phifer was the first to report the news on Twitter.

Shaw played in 13 games for the Badgers in 2022, and transferred over from UCLA. He started 12 of the 13 games in 2022, and totaled 31 tackles and a pair of interceptions. He had one of the big plays of the Guaranteed Rate Bowl win over Oklahoma State as he hauled in a second-half interception.

Shaw will join fellow Badger cornerback Justin Clark in New York for Giants minicamp as the two look to make an NFL roster.

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Watch: Badgers host 2023 pro day

The Badgers’ football team hosted their 2023 pro day on Thursday, showcasing the talents of eight potential NFL draft selections.

The Badgers hosted their 2023 pro day on Thursday, showcasing the talents of nine potential NFL draft selections.

After a 7-6 season that ended with a Guaranteed Rate Bowl victory over Oklahoma State in late December, some of Wisconsin’s top players elected to move on to the next level.

Among those participating Thursday were offensive lineman Joe Tippmann, interior defensive lineman Keeanu Benton and linebacker Nick Herbig. They are expected to be the first former Badgers off the board in the 2023 draft.

Here are the brief highlight reels the team’s official Twitter account produced and released after the pro day.

Five Badgers declare for the 2023 NFL draft

Over the last week, five Wisconsin Badgers have declared for the 2023 NFL draft:

Over the last week, several Wisconsin Badgers announced that they would be declaring for the 2023 NFL draft and presumably forgoing the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against Oklahoma State.

The first Badger to announce their decision to declare last week was cornerback Justin Clark, who transferred to Wisconsin from Toledo for his final year of eligibility. Unfortunately, Clark struggled to stay healthy throughout the season and only played in five games this year recording 10 total tackles.

Senior transfer cornerback Jay Shaw and junior offensive lineman Joe Tippmann announced their decisions on Thursday. Shaw started in every game for the Badgers this year and racked up 31 total tackles, six passes defended and an interception. Tippmann has been a consistent presence on the Badgers’ offensive line this season and was named as a consensus All-Big Ten honorable mention.

Wisconsin senior nose tackle Keeanu Benton announced his decision on Twitter on Friday night after his dominant senior season for the Badgers. Benton ranked in the top 20 in sacks and tackles for loss in the Big Ten this year with 10 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. He was a third-team All-Big Ten selection by coaches and was named as an honorable mention by the media.

The latest Badger to announce his decision was junior outside linebacker Nick Herbig, who has been one of the best edge rushers in the county this season. He was named a second-team Walter Camp All-American and a consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection after racking up a conference-high 11 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss this season.

It will definitely be tough for Wisconsin to lose so much talent ahead of their bowl game, but it will be very exciting to see these Badgers take the step to the next level.

Below are the five Badgers’ announcements to declare for the 2023 NFL draft:

Badgers PFF grades: Top 5 defensive players from week 2 loss to Washington State

Here’s a look at the top 5 highest graded defensive players from Wisconsin’s 17-14 loss to Washington State, according to Pro Football Focus:

Weather, as they say, is the great equalizer in football. That held true on Saturday when the No. 19 Wisconsin Badgers (1-1) suffered a sloppy, unacceptable home loss against the Washington State Cougars (2-0) at Camp Randall Stadium.

Jim Leonhard’s defense was good on Saturday but not as great as we’ve grown to expect.

Wisconsin, still without No. 1 cornerback Alexander Smith and top nickel corner Justin Clark chose to combat the Washington State air raid offense by playing significantly more dime package, deploying six defensive backs throughout most of the game.

Although the Badgers’ defense only allowed 17 points, 253 yards of offense, and forced three turnovers, Wisconsin’s offense couldn’t help get them any additional breathing room.

And when the game mattered most, UW’s defense failed to make a big play to allow the offense one last crack at winning the game. Washington State held the ball for the final 5:14 of regulation.

Overall, Wisconsin needs its defense to be elite for the Badgers to win games consistently, so while they performed well on Saturday, it wasn’t good enough.

I do not doubt that coach Leonhard and the Badgers’ defense will learn from this game and improve as the season progresses.

Here’s a look at the top 5 highest graded defensive players from Wisconsin’s 17-14 loss to Washington State, according to Pro Football Focus.

Predicting Wisconsin football’s superlatives for the 2022 season

BadgersWire forecasts our expected superlatives for Wisconsin during the 2022 college football season:

Madison, Wis. – An underwhelming 9-4 season where Wisconsin football failed to win the Big Ten West for the second straight year led to wholesale changes along the coaching staff this offseason. 

With fall camp in full swing and Wisconsin’s season opener against the Illinois State Redbirds just around the corner, the Badgers, who are the Big Ten West favorites in 2022, will have a much different look this fall. 

UW hired new offensive coordinator Bobby Engram, who joins the program after eight seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. He’ll attempt to reinvigorate a sputtering Wisconsin offense and is working to make opponents defend the entire field in 2022. 

On defense, Jim Leonhard lost eight preferred starters from last season’s top-ranked defense. However, the cupboards in Madison are far from bare, and a new batch of players is hungry to uphold the program’s standard of excellence. 

With the season opener just around the corner, I decided to follow in the footsteps of former BadgersWire great Ben Kenney and explore my expected superlatives for Wisconsin during the 2022 college football season.

Eight Badgers named to PFF’s Preseason All-Big Ten Team

Take a look at the Wisconsin Badgers named to PFF’s All-Big Ten Team:

On Monday afternoon, Pro Football Focus writer, Anthony Treash, released PFF’s 2022 Preseason All-America and All-Conferences teams. Wisconsin football had eight Badgers make the cut on Treash’s All-Big Ten team.

Related: Updated Big Ten football recruiting rankings for early August

Only one Badger made first-team All-Big Ten, while four were named to the second team and three as honorable mentions. One of the most notable players on the list is outside linebacker, Nick Herbig, who was ferocious in his second year as a starter in 2021 finishing with 61 total tackles and nine sacks.

Although these are just preseason awards, it shows how high expectations are for this talented Wisconsin team going into this upcoming season.

Below are the Wisconsin Badgers named to PFF’s All-Big Ten Team:

Wisconsin CB Jay Shaw named in ON3’s most impactful DB transfers of 2022

UCLA transfer CB Jay Shaw lands in ON3’s 15 most impactful DB transfers of 2022:

On Monday morning, ON3 writer Mike Huguenin ranked the 15 most impactful defensive back transfers of 2022. Wisconsin CB Jay Shaw was ranked as the No. 6 most impactful DB transfer because of his exceptional play for UCLA last season.

Related: New transfer portal windows could soon be approved

In his final year for the Bruins, Shaw was a full-time starter and finished with 27 total tackles, four pass deflections, three interceptions and a forced fumble. The Corona, Calif., native will likely make an immediate impact as a starter for the Badgers after the graduation of Caesar Williams and Faion Hicks.

I am excited to see what Shaw can do in his first year with the Badgers, and his experience will be crucial in helping to lead Wisconsin’s young secondary this season.

Badgers rebuilt secondary no longer a position group of weakness

Badgers rebuilt CB room has a chance to be really, really good this fall:

Entering the college football offseason, the Badgers top ranked defense was set to lose starting cornerbacks Faion Hicks and Caesar Williams, both of whom had been multi-year starters for UW. Couple that with starting nickel corner Dean Engram switching to the offensive side of the ball, and the nation’s top ranked defense has some serious holes to fill in their secondary.

Thankfully, Paul Chryst and company saw this glaring need on the roster, and took to the transfer portal to fix it. Wisconsin brought in Justin Clark (Toledo), Jay Shaw (UCLA), and Cedrick Dort Jr. (Kentucky), all of whom have considerable experience at the collegiate level to help rebuild an otherwise inexperienced secondary.

Not to mention, there have been several instances of in-house options taking the next step in their development and working their way up the depth chart. Senior CB Alexander Smith has the most experience of any returning player, and appears set to sit to begin fall camp as the team’s CB1 after a strong showing in the spring. Red-shirt freshman Ricardo Hallman also appears ready to push for meaningful snaps on the outside despite the influx of experience added to the roster.

These additions through the transfer portal helped patch up a gaping hole on the roster that allows Wisconsin to maintain their level of excellence on the field now, while allowing younger players like Al Ashford, Auman Williams, Max Lofy, and Avyonne Jones to continue developing until they’re ready for larger roles of their own in the future.

At their core, Wisconsin will continue to be a recruit and develop program. However, the transfer portal also allows for teams like UW to pursue stopgap options that prevent their younger players from being thrust into roles they’re not ready for. It’s a win-win for UW, and an overall masterful use of the transfer portal.

What was once viewed as a position group of weakness, is now viewed as a strength for the Badgers as they move past spring ball and into summer workouts.

Entering fall camp, Wisconsin’s projected starters at CB are expected to be Alexander Smith and Jay Shaw on the outside, with Toledo transfer Justin Clark starting at the nickel corner.

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