Wisconsin football news – Page 9

Wisconsin releases week 1 injury report for contest vs. Illinois State

Five players ruled out, and three others listed as out for the season in Wisconsin’s injury report for week 1 vs. Illinois State

Madison, Wis. — University of Wisconsin officials released its first injury report ahead of its season opener vs. the Illinois State Redbirds on Monday.

The Badgers already have five players ruled out due to injury for week one and three others listed as out for the season.

UW also released its official two-deep for both the offense and defense.

Although he’s not yet listed, fifth-year quarterback Chase Wolf, who was the backup to Graham Mertz, suffered what appears to be a season-ending injury of his own and will likely be added to the injury report by week’s end.

Here is a look at Wisconsin football’s injury report for Week 1:

See where Badgers RB Braelon Allen ranks on BTN’s top player list for 2022

Wisconsin RB Braelon Allen cracks Joshua Perry’s top five players in the Big Ten for 2022; see where he landed:

Joshua Perry, a football analyst for the Big Ten Network, has been counting down his top 30 players in the conference for the upcoming college football season.

Coming in at No. 3 was none other than Badgers star running back Braelon Allen out of Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin.

After reclassifying and enrolling in the program early, Allen, a Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin native, earned Freshman All-American and second-team All-Big Ten honors after rushing for 1,268 yards and 12 touchdowns.

The 6-foot-2, 238-pound RB didn’t stop there; he also became the fourth Wisconsin true freshman tailback to eclipse the 1,000-yard rushing plateau, joining Ron Dayne, Jonathan Taylor, and James White.

In 2022, Allen is already one of the best running backs in the country and has his eyes set on becoming the next Wisconsin star to win the Doak Walker Award.

He's still only ̶1̶7̶ 18 ‼️@BadgerFootball's @BraelonAllen has a big Year 2 loading, and he's at No. 3⃣ on @RIP_JEP's Top Players Countdown: pic.twitter.com/ivU8A3jtK7
— Wisconsin On BTN (@WisconsinOnBTN) August 25, 2022

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Report: Wisconsin QB Chase Wolf suffers potential season ending injury

Report: Wisconsin may be without its QB2 for the remainder of the year.

According to a report from Dario Melendez, the sports director for Wisconsin 12 News, Badgers quarterback Chase Wolf has a torn meniscus and is likely to miss the entire 2022 college football season.

Wolf was the unquestioned backup QB to third-year starter Graham Mertz and was the only signal caller on the roster with actual in-game experience.

During his Wisconsin career, the Cincinnati, Ohio native has thrown for 155 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions.

With Wolf potentially out for the season, an already thin depth chart at QB becomes even murkier. The Wisconsin coaching staff will now turn to redshirt freshman Deacon Hill, who has yet to appear in a collegiate game to assume the role as the No. 2 quarterback.

#Badgers QB Chase Wolf has a torn meniscus and is likely to miss the entire season, according to Source. @WISN12News
— Dario Melendez (@Dario_Melendez) August 29, 2022

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Wisconsin CB Justin Clark named to The Athletics All-Old Geezer Team

Toledo transfer CB Justin Clark is among the most seasoned players in all of college football in 2022:

Stewart Mandel, who writes for The Athletic, published his annual All-Old Geezer Team this past week. This list featured a current member of the Wisconsin secondary, who was an off-season transfer portal addition.

Justin Clark, who transferred to Wisconsin after six seasons at Toledo, made Mandel’s All-Old Geezer Team – for a good reason.

Clark’s first college football season came back in 2016. Since then, he’s played over 1,700 career snaps for the Rockets and finds himself in Madison for one final ride playing with a Power 5 program.

According to PFF, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound CB has allowed a 57.5% completion percentage on 132 targets in his collegiate career. Clark has also registered 12 pass deflections, four interceptions, and a sack.

The Toledo transfer enters his seventh collegiate season due to benefiting from a medical redshirt and receiving an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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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.

Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz named to Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List

Wisconsin #Badgers QB Graham Mertz named to prestigious preseason award watch list:

Madison, Wis.- Wisconsin Badgers quarterback Graham Mertz was named to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List; it was announced Wednesday by the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation.

A redshirt junior, Mertz is one of 13 players from the Big Ten conference on the watch list for the prestigious postseason honor, which recognizes the top upperclassman QB in the country.

The Kansas native enters a make-or-break season for Wisconsin in his third year as the Badgers’ starting quarterback. Last season, Mertz threw for 1,958 yards with 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, registering an underwhelming 56.1 QBR, good for No. 76 in the country.

Now, under first-year offensive coordinator Bobby Engram, there is renewed hope among Badgers fans that their QB1 can right the ship and improve Wisconsin’s passing attack with the help of a re-tooled wide receiver room.

Anotha ☝️ pic.twitter.com/TxEs6Z3Liy
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) August 24, 2022

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See where Wisconsin football lands in On3’s preseason Big Ten Power Rankings

Here is a look at On3’s preseason Big Ten Power Rankings for the 2022 college football season:

When the No. 18 Wisconsin Badgers return to the field on September 3 against Illinois State, things will look a little different than they did during the Las Vegas Bowl victory over Arizona State.

Following an underwhelming 9-4 season, where Wisconsin failed to win the Big Ten West, Paul Chryst made some noteworthy changes on the coaching staff, more specifically on the offensive side of the ball.

UW’s offense has sputtered the past two seasons; there is no arguing that, so he hired three new assistant coaches and moved several others into new roles.

The most notable offseason hire came in the form of offensive coordinator Bobby Engram, who joins UW after spending eight seasons as an assistant with the Baltimore Ravens. He’ll attempt to reinvigorate a stale, uninspired Wisconsin offense and get the program back on track.

Here is a look at On3’s preseason Big Ten Power Rankings for the 2022 college football season:

5 Wisconsin Badgers named to the Reese’s Senior Bowl Watchlist

Keeanu Benton and Chez Mellusi headline a list of five Badgers selected to the Reese’s Senior Bowl Watchlist:

The 10th Annual Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List for the upcoming season was announced on Wednesday.

Their scouting department’s first publication of said list includes 484 position players, all of which are 2018 high school graduates or true fourth-year seniors at their respective programs.

Last season, seven Badgers were named to the Senior Bowl Watchlist; however, tight end Jake Ferguson, now a member of the Dallas Cowboys, was Wisconsin’s lone representative in the aforementioned Senior Bowl.

This year, the University of Wisconsin had five players named to the Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List for the upcoming season; let’s take a look at who they are:

Packers trade former Wisconsin Badgers OL Cole Van Lanen

The Packers traded a former Badgers OT on Tuesday:

According to a report from ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, the Green Bay Packers traded former Wisconsin Badgers offensive lineman Cole Van Lanen to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a seventh-round draft pick on Tuesday.

The Packers selected Van Lanen with the 214th selection in the sixth round of the draft in 2021; however, opportunities to play were limited due to the impressive depth Green Bay has at the position.

Van Lanen, a Wisconsin native, spent most of his rookie season on Green Bay’s practice squad but did appear in one game, logging one snap.

Through two preseason games, he’s played 71 total snaps, 65 of which came at left guard, and six came at right tackle, and he hasn’t allowed a single pressure.

Due to his versatility, Van Lanen should have a solid chance at making the Jaguars’ 53-man roster.

The Packers are trading OL Cole Van Lanen, a Green Bay native, to the Jaguars, a source said. It’s for an undisclosed draft pick.
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) August 23, 2022

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A Look at 247Sports 2023 Big Ten Football Recruiting Rankings

Here is a look at where each Big Ten team currently stands in the updated 247Sports football recruiting rankings:

The University of Wisconsin football program is in the midst of its second disappointing recruiting cycle in the past two seasons.

After finishing as the No. 41 recruiting class in the country last season, UW currently sits at No. 52 nationally – a far cry from the impressive three-year run from 2019-21, where the Badgers finished 30, 27, and 16, respectively.

An unusually weak in-state class could partially be to blame. Still, the Badgers coaching staff lost out on several key recruiting battles during June and July that have led to uncertainty at several key positions.

As it stands, Wisconsin currently has 13 scholarship players committed in the class of 2023, but according to 247Sports, they have yet to land a single four-star prospect.

Here is a look at where each Big Ten team currently stands in the updated 247Sports football recruiting rankings: