Who are the most important Wisconsin Badgers football players this year?

I'm going to tell you who I think are the most important players on the Badgers roster this year you are locked on Badgers your daily podcast on the Wisconsin Badgers part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what is going on Badger fans welcome to lock on Badgers your team every single day thank you so much for tuning in I'm Ryan Harring part of the lockdown podcast Network really do appreciate every single person whether you're listening in the car watching it somewhere at work doing yard work whatever it is thank you so so much today's episode brought to you by ultimate culture head coach brand new mobile game that lets you be the coach of a team completely free no ads 100% playable online offline use the promo code locked on CFB all caps inside the game store receive a free boost to your program begin your coaching Legacy today okay I I was trying to think about this the other day and first of all I want to start with it's game week welcome to game week congratulations to everybody who survived the the summer drought of college football we are almost here we are excited take a breath because it's about to get down I cannot wait I'm so excited I'm so excited to be here with all of you for this we are here it's game week let's go and then based on just some recent I mean listen the James Thompson news is out there we don't know how long he's out and I don't want to speculate too much so we hear more so I'm not going to but it got me thinking who not the best but who are the most important players on the roster this year like the guys that if something were to happen to them yikes city right I'm gonna rank the top 12 who are the top 12 in my opinion most important players on the Badgers roster this year we're going to start at number 12 I'm gonna tell you why I think each one is so important Tucker rcraft now again this is not the ranking I just want to reiterate I'm not saying tuer Ashcraft I think is the 12th best player on this team what I am saying is he's the only tight end on the roster right now that I think gives you a little bit of both I think he can catch the ball I think he can get out in the route tree a little bit third down right third and five third and six I think he can be kind of a safety option there he's got pretty good hands remember he was a true freshman last year and he played he played okay for a true freshman played in fact for a true freshman he played pretty good so what's he going to look like now he has a full year on college football but again you look at that tight end room he's the guy that you can put in on first down and you can trust him to block a little he's a guy you can put in on third down and you can trust him to catch a little I think everybody else in that tight end room is a little limited I think they're maybe a little one trick that's I don't want to say that but like listen Jackson mcon he's he's not the blocker Ash crap is he can give you something in the passing game for sure he's a better athlete um Rob Booker and Grant St I think Grant STC eventually is the do everything tight end on this roster I love him he's not there right now Rob Booker has the athletic tools he's not there right now you start to look at this uh SE Greaves hasn't JTC Greaves hasn't really come through Ashcraft is the one guy I think you can use as at a tight end spot if Phil longa wants to employ one any down in distance I think you can um and they did this some last year with Mory they they used him as kind of a personal protector in the backfield you can use him in pass block run block um some Outlet throws I just think he's a little Irreplaceable with his skill set right now on the roster so and and I'm excited to see what he does in year two I think there's growth there I think there's absolute growth there for um toer Ashcraft so I got him at number 12 number 11 I have Jake Cheney and it's again it's hard sometimes to parse the player versus the position versus the depth what is most important that's a that's kind of a loaded room inside linebackers got a ton of depth right Jahim jansy Allegro tacket um kany there's five or six bodies in there that you can you can roll with and be like okay we're all right there but I just don't know if any of them brings the leadership that Cheney does like he is just a demonstrated guy in that locker room I think he's a culture Builder I think the team I think he's a bit of a modifier right like I think everybody gets a little better when he's out there and I also believe that he's going to have a monster year so yeah from a depth standpoint you can replace aocd inside linebacker I don't know if you're replacing the leadership that a guy like Cheney brings I don't know if you're replacing some of the instincts some of the it gets a little hyperbole attemp but some of the coach on the field stuff I he's a coach's kid he understands football when you hear him talk he gets it I think there's an intangible benefit to having Cheney on the roster and I would point out again I've said this all year you have brought all these guys in and what if the coaches consistently said yeah Cheney's one of those guys he's one of the top guys it didn't matter who they brought in they could have brought in eracer and Cheney would be in that top group I mean maybe that's a little hyperbole at this point but I don't think you replace him from a leadership standpoint and just from an on the field play standpoint I think he's gonna have a tremendous year so chenia got at 11 I think from a pure talent standpoint he'd be higher but again the depth that inside linebacker you do have some margin there if something were to happen number 10 I have Barton like you just can't lose another defense lineman and again this goes back to the whole point of the exercise I don't think he's the 10th best player on the team but I think he's a solid Dependable guy on that defensive line that is going to give you like he's going to be able to play against the Run he he's got some of what James Thompson had right he's got size he's got uh veteran ability or a veteran status right which means he's been through the rigers he knows what to expect no the moment's never going to be too big for him he's got some of the wingspan right that we like with ch Thompson where he can affect the passing game he can get offensive tackles off him a little bit he can be Stout against the run and we're just so low on bodies on the defens line that I think I had to put Barton in my top nine it's not the last defens linan you're GNA find on this list because there's just very few people now you can lose in that group and still continue to feel good about that front seven so I have Barton at at 10 and then at nine I have will Pauling again will Pauling is a better player than number nine on this team but I just really like the depth at Receiver right if you were to theoretically lose a guy like that I think TR could step into the slot rle I thought kenberry Johnson as a freshman he showed some really interesting things got some reps with the twos I think you could probably put him in some of those roles and be okay I like that they have three or four options on the outside um I think you could do some of um some receiving stuff interesting stuff with dpri if you had to out of the backfield pauling's a stud Pauling is one of the best two or three probably best players on this entire football team he is an absolute stud from the slot spot but there's a lot more depth there there's just a lot more options there in my opinion now Stars matter and I think you could definitely make the argument he should be higher on this list if if because even though there's depth there you're not replacing him Pauling and I again this is just my list I feel free to disagree I'd love to see the comments what you all think uh who are the most important players on this team I have Pauling at nine just because I think the depth is better so my 9ine through 12 I have Pauling who's an absolute stud one of the top five players on this team I just like our depth there if something were to happen I we got Barton at 10 defensive line defensive line defensive line you talked to Brian Smith you talked to me you talked to anybody they need more bodies there um Jake Cheney at 11 really from a leadership standpoint I don't think you were replacing that guy and then I got Tucker Ashcraft at 12 again it's a depth thing there's not a lot of bodies in that tight end room that you feel okay saying go compete at the line of scrimmage and then go catch a pass on Third and six I think Tu rash can do both of those things so that's my 9 through 12 coming up we're going to get my next grouping most important players on the Badgers football team this year the guys they cannot afford to lose that's coming up next on lock down Badgers but a quick break for our friends of the show a quick second to say thank you again to everybody tuning in today's 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great time to go check out our locked on College podcast um Spencer mcgloin's got you covered all year long everything you need as football gets going uh check that out at Al lockdown college football all right let's get back into our show here um and keep talking about the next the next group I have right so again we're ranking the 12 most important players in my opinion on this Roster number eight I got Joe Huber again a big emphasis on this is going to be depth where do we have depth where do we don't have depth Huber I think hu Huber is probably my award for I need to come up with a name for some of these Awards I'm thinking of he's like my construction worker award working on the name but he's the guy that you pass going to work and he's he's out there building the roads he's laying the CTS like he's putting asphalt down he's cutting down a tree working on the line um that's Joe Huber to me Irreplaceable but a little forgettable unfortunately and he's a guy who what I mean by that is he doesn't get enough attention he really doesn't and I talked about this in a previous show um I think he's a potential NFL guy like I really think teams could look at him because the NFL roster crunch is such that you need versatility in one- your backup lineman you need a guy who can play left guard Right Guard maybe's coming at tackle if in a pinch if you need it Huber can play everywhere and he's a veteran he's functionally strong um tons of experience his coaching staff really likes him he's going to start this year he's an Irreplaceable piece to this line because not only is he in that starting group but he's the guy if if chaos happens he's the guy um you can plug him and into a bunch of spots to kind of help help fill holes right you know if your dam is starting to leak you can you can take your Joe Huber bubble gum and plug it into that hole and say all right that holds fix now I can worry about something else that's Irreplaceable that's absolutely Irreplaceable that level versus a ility and experience on an offensive line in general but even more so when you have so little of it in the trenches Huber is vitally important this year I got him at number eight again coming down to the depth but again also the talent I think he's a more talented player than give people give him credit for en coupled with his depth incredibly important number six and seven I'm going to talk about both of them because I think they're intertwined um seven I have Jack Nelson six side Riley mman I don't know how you separate them but they're both incredibly important again we talk about it all the time it's going to be a a theme on this show right as depth in the trenches it's that's going to make a break this year as much as Tyler van djk as much as the pass rush as much as some of the young players being able to step up as much Asal teams being better right the trenches and our ability to hold up over what we know is going to be a physical season just look at the schedule who who on this schedule do you term a physical team Alabama yeah that's a festar if let's just do it by by recruiting rankings Alabama's a festar physical team they are gonna they're gonna beat on people okay that's a really physical game Iowa physical game Nebraska is going to be a physical game with Matt Rule and the way he's rebuilt The Trenches he's got veterans in the defensive line that's a physical game uh let's see what else oh Oregon Oregon's going to be a very physical game they've done a really good job over the last several years developing offensive lineman putting them into the NFL he's got eight or n Blue Chip defense Al lineman they've recruited incredibly well there that might be the deepest spot in the Big 10 Oregon's defense Aline so those are all physical games um let's see what else Penn State's gonna be a physical game absolutely even if they're offensive line I don't think it's quite as bad as some Badger fense te seem to think it is I don't think it's great but they got dudes they got recruiting dudes but the defense line the defensive front seven for Fen State's always good and if we're talking about offensive line depth that's who they're blocking so that you're looking at this schedule there's five six physical games it's offensive line and defensive line going to have to power through which means depth is incredibly important which makes the health of guys like Nelson mman Huber insanely important so that's my six and seven mman and Nelson I think you can flip-flop them either way I have Nelson a little higher because I actually kind of think Nelson's the better player our M sorry m a little higher because I think he's been a little more consistent I think he's a little bigger probably a little little bit stronger longer reach um and he's already a player we've seen tweaked a little bit right we've seen him Miss some practice some time in in in practice which leads to a guy like Kevin Haywood getting reps which is great for Kevin Haywood but that's kind of terrifying for this year I think long term Haywood's gonna be a star we talked about he's like Bigfoot out there I mean he's you just you don't see guys like this in the wild very often right people with his size frame and Mobility skills but not this year like I don't want to see him as much this year unless we're mopping up Iowa in the fourth quarter we're up 28 to3 now it's Kevin Haywood time let's get some reps and kinnick um so Nelson and mman Incredibly important and number five I have Curtis Neil again talking depth on the lines right who can you not afford to lose and you had Thompson and Neil you're kind of two veteran returning guys penciled in there along with Barton along with some other pieces coming in you know obviously Kate McDonald Elijah Hills Brandon Lane hopefully you get something from Jamal Howard but Kurt Neil is poised for what I think is a pretty good year he's a player if you remember back to the Curtis Neil recruitment this was a guy who was iow um Alabama uh some really good programs um some other SEC programs were kicking the tires on him and then he had that knee injury in high school missed basically a year and some of those schools backed off but he's that type of guy where he could be a disruptive defense lineman really the type of player we haven't had a lot of right that defens lineman defensive tackle that inside presence that can get some disruption that can get because he has a low center of gravity he's got a pretty good get off he's strong he can kind of shoot some gaps and create some Havoc you need him healthy now like you have this has to be a big Curtis Neil year and not big in terms of stats but big in terms of impact and more importantly big in terms of consistency and big in terms of reps like if you get consistency in reps from Curtis Neil and you get it over the course of this year I think it's G to be huge for this defense and I think I think they need it right so I have let's just recap this list I have Curtis Neil at five Riley mullman at six Jack Nelson at seven and Joe Huber at eight so defensive line offensive line offensive line offensive line line yeah you can see you can see where my concern is and again let me know in the comments who you think your 12 most important Pi or your five most important guys you don't need to be an overachiever like me and do the 12 most give me your five most important guys this year the people we can't lose um I have a heavy emphasis on the trenches for obvious reasons because we've already seen some attrition there we've already seen some minor attrition there and the depth just isn't there uh before we get into the top four who I think are the top four important players on the team this year let's focus a little bit on how do they fix this so is the light at the end of the tunnel right we we've talked all offseason defensive line offensive line depth defensive line offensive line depth the light is at the at least on the offensive side I don't think next year but the light is at the end of the tunnel we are approaching that they got five really strong freshman offens line from last year's class they coupled it up with a really good group this year's class 10 guys in the last two years however you look at next year I think so that that 10 that 10 group of freshman all of which won't hit obviously because that's recruiting works but they're going to start paying benefits really in a couple years outside of guys like Mandel maybe coverly Haywood it's hard for a freshman and rard freshman to play right away you're looking at next year you're gonna lose a rro a Huber a mullman a Nelson you have a lot of bodies going out the door next year you're gonna need so next year could be the numbers are better but there's a lot of kind of learning curve inconsistency I love I I I do love the fact that U blasik a really good coach I think Brady Collins is going to get him ready I think that accelerates the growing curve right there it lessens it but next year's still going to be I think a little wobbly because you're gonna be working in a ton of newer more inexperienced pieces now I think you're going to pencil Haywood into one of those tackle spots ideally you probably pencil in Leon Nelson maybe the Vanderbilt transfer who's coming in maybe he's becomes kind of a Joe Huber with versatility can play everywhere but you're going to have to hit the portal again I think next year to find a body or two ideally Maybe Center who can step in and play but the light is at the end of the tunnel there defense line they just got to get more bodies I mean I think they need a couple classes I like the class this year I think Toren pedway could have huge upside I like uh Clayton coming off the edge telok like I like the class this year I think this is this is what you need to do this is a really solid good class they need to stack it up again next year and probably get probably get a a one more of those star type guys like a Willer plus three bodies they gotta start getting four to five bodies a year until they build those numbers back up and that's my opinion um and you saw some of that emphasis it's your two transfer defense lineman but you remember how hard it was to get those guys so I don't know if the light is fully at the end of the tunnel on the defense line yet they have to get four or five guys for a couple years to really rebuild those numbers and they inherited those numbers but at this point it's it's now on them to rebuild that depth I do see the light at the end of the tunnel on the offens line for sure it's coming all right we're going to take a quick break then we're going to get to our top four for what I think are the four most important players on the Badgers roster this year plus is Phil Longo getting catching some Strays from Badger fans uh warranted or not we're going to get into that next un locked on Badgers but quick break for new friends of the show new sponsors of the show 5 Hour Energy welcome to the lock on family 5 Hour listen I use this sometimes when I have I have an immense DIY list right like I'm trying to tackle stairs and and attic and I'm redoing my office that's why I'm still recording in the basement I got to make a new one I use Five Hour Energy to help tackle all of that kind of to-do list so I don't get too tired I can power through it I can still talk Badgers when I'm done that's what Five Hour Energy does for me uh zero sugar which is always incredibly important because so many of those energy drinks are caked with it it's insane convenient portable size perfect pick me up for getting stuff done the 5our Energy website has flavors Galore you like watermelon tropical burst grapeberry there's a flavor for everybody they got the Cornucopia flavors try them all on the site you can even have the option to build your own 12pack or 24 pack you choose the flavors delivered right to your door if you go to 5our energy that's the number five hour energy.com gets a 5our Energy Products today use our promo code locked on CFB and you're going to get 20% off your order that's saving Cold Hard Cash the offer is only valuable to or valid till September 30th and you cannot use it with other promotions the code is not good on subscription orders go over to 5our energy.com today first a all right let's get into our top four again we've been going top 12 most important players on the Badgers roster this year number four I got Rico Ricardo Holman that dude seven picks last year quarterback number one I I do like the depth at corner but it's a little unproven right you have Xavier Lucas you have Duna uh you have Max loafy in the slot jayon Arnold is somewhere out there I just you RJ Delany who I I really think had a pretty solid practice uh fall practice set but he's a star and sometimes you just can't replace Stars right so I think Rico as the anchor of that defense the the veteran quarterback you can count on he's he's quarterback one there's just not many of those guys I don't think he's a true shutdown corner like I don't think he's a true we just leave this guy in an island against whomever he Shadows him he falls around the field he's not he's not s Gardner because physically he doesn't have those tools but he's really really really good and Pro Football Focus the advaned metrics back it up the eye test backs it up uh seven interceptions a little fluky like some of that is luck but you also you also don't fully luck your way into seven picks if you know what I mean right like he he anticipates he knows coverages he watches film he has great short area quickness incredible hands he's a playmaker um really good anticipation got to get a little better tackler like he's got to get a little more physical but and I think he knows that but ultimately tackling is one B for cornerback right if you are a really good cover guy you can live with some some Miss tackles here and there it's not ideal I think you'll be a little better there but yeah I got I got r at for because he's a star he's a star cornerback in a in a an era of football where it's all about protecting the quarterback finding the quarterback um covering the guys hitting the quarterback it's all about the passing game so if you can affect the passing game you are vitally important and there's just there's no replacement for Rico if he goes down right there's there's depth but there's not a RICO replacement You' have to start scheming more things I think Rico allows you to do a ton of things right if the defensive line is struggling at the point of attack against Alabama having a guy like Rico maybe allows you to be a little more aggressive with your safety in the Box to bring another guy in down there because you trust Rico to at least hold up on an island maybe not the entire game but you feel pretty good about it so Rico I got at number four number three I got Hunter Waller again Stars I don't mind the depth at safety at all in fact it's pretty good right behind him you got Lou you got Moore you got Austin Brown you got Preston zackman that's that's four bodies that aren't aren't bad but there's much like Rico there's no replacing a hunter Waller I just think he means so much to the defense his ability to play coverage be in the Box um be a depend tackler and a defense last year that was often missing it I think you're going to see an even better Hunter Waller this year we saw a couple picks from him in in practice I he's maybe the best player on the team period stop it could be Pauling maybe it's Rico maybe it's I don't even know else You' put in that discussion and you cannot replace Stars this is an NFL defensive back with experience who's added 20 pounds of muscle who is ready for a big time year instate kid understands what it's like what it means to play for for the W Irreplaceable much much like Cheney you can't replace his leadership you can't replace um the the intangibles he brings and then from a physical standpoint he's still Elite so I've got Waller at three uh number two I have Tyler djk he's a quarterback like I you can you can argue that he shouldn't be this High because Braden lock looked better because there's a serviceable backup but ultimately he's the quarterback and he's a quarterback that I thought looked decently better better than Tyler or than Bren lock in at least what I saw I think he's a quarterback that gives you more upside because of his arm strength he's going to help you win the tougher games whereas I I'm not sure if brayen lock can do that this year so yeah to me he's number two because the season it's gonna essentially as long as we don't have crazy injury stuff on the lines as long as we don't have really bad luck much of the season's going to depend on how good this offense is how tight this passing game is and a lot of that is firmly on the shoulders of Tyler beny namely that right shoulder of Tyler Van Dyke so I am at number two because I just ultimately touches the ball every time there are questions there and I think this offense is poised to be better if we get consistent play out of Tyler van djk and that number one you might have guessed at this point I think it's rro I think it's Jake Renfro which makes the what fourth offens lineman I have in my top 12 incl I also have two defense linemen so six out of the 12 on this list I have it in the trenches I think Renfro is just immeasurably important and people talk about the LSU game it's it's not a one for one it's not like you took a Lego piece in bortolini out and you put a Lego piece in redro in and then that's what changed everything it was also other people getting healthy morai having a little more time it was also a really bad LSU defense but it was also also rro was back and the offensive line clicked and we had tight snaps and everything just look cleaner from a timing standpoint from a physical standpoint rent throw is incredibly important to this line and there's not who's who's your backup center right again it's probably Hubert because we already talked about his versatility but you see the the Cascade that that leads to right if you lose you lose a rro then it's Huber moving over then somebody else has to move into a new spot and then you again you just can't lose a rro and I think he's poised for like a potential if he can stay healthy I'm not I don't think I'm overblowing it based on who I've talked to what I've heard I think he's poised for an allconference type of year like second third team honorable mention whatever is I think he's going to be that good if he can stay healthy and it looks like he is it looks like he's healthy it looks like he's ready to go um I I think he's irreplaceable in the line for what he gives you and it's not just the physical skills it's not just the oh he can snap the ball he is um been part of a winning culture much like chenian Waller he provides leadership on the line Irreplaceable so that's my list those are my top 12 guys on the team this year that you cannot lose Renfro van djk wer Rico um Curtis Neil mullman Nelson Huber and my bottom 12 was Pauling Barton Cheney and Ashcraft there's there's better players than some of these guys that aren't on my list a guy like Pas Thomas Lowry I just think linebacker outside linebacker is kind of stacked to some degree um there there's niser forren I there's really good players that aren't on this list Hy Walker chz Maloy Bryson Green Vinnie Anthony I just think some of the other spots are more depth limited I want to get into this really quick to wrap up the show couple people JM saying I'm thinking six and six maybe seven and5 I don't believe this air raid nonsense Nathan r Phil Longo catching heat that isn't warranted um so there there is and this is the part I want to talk about is Nathan's comment here I think there is a little bit the the certainly the patience is not going to be there if this is another offensive struggle here for Phil Longo I'm seeing fans saying y's not gonna work fil Longo is not gonna work guys you got just my opinion again we never tell anybody how a fan but you got to give it more than a year you got to give it more than a year in my opinion because it has worked like the idea that the air raid's nonsense in just in my opin or that he can't do it we've seen him do it multiple places multiple times for multiple years right like it can work now he has to prove it in Madison but I think some of these and this is what Nathan's saying catching heat that isn't warranted he took a major step back from a player Personnel standpoint inheriting Tanner morai and Tyler vany through the transfer portal the one spot out push back there like ultimate at this point he's not inheriting these quarterbacks these are his guys right he he he brought in Mory he brought in vany he got brought in lock he's recruiting Landon lock he recruited I mean even a guy like Cole L Crew He had the final say on that brought him in May's his guy there's no more I don't want to hear anymore like he it's not his fault he inherited these guys this is his quarterback room now now it's time to start putting up or shutting up but I think it's way too early to say it's not going to work I think it's way too early to say Longo can't do it because we've seen him do it we've seen him build explosive offenses with quarterbacks that he recruited and developed we also hear quarterbacks talk about how much they want to play for him so I think it's too early I understand the sentiment U from guys like JM and J I just put JMS up here he's not the only one that said this I'm not believing in the Arid nonsense or thinking Longo is is the problem I don't think he is I I like Longo I like the idea to modernize Wisconsin's offense I think you got to give it another year if it doesn't click this year yeah then then we got issues anyway on Wisconsin appreciate yall so much it is game week let's go I can't wait yes on Wisconsin we will talk later when you're done your go check out lockon college football Spencer MC mlin got you covered with all things college football all things transfer portal nil whatever it is lockon college football 247 stream on Wisconsin and we will talk later