Wisconsin Badgers football depth chart release! What to expect Week 1 against Western Michigan?

Badger fans the depth chart is out we are oh so close let's talk about the depth chart we have special guests on today to break it down plus um what do we need to see week one to get excited about this team going forward let's go you are locked on Badgers your daily podcast on the Wisconsin Badgers part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what's going on Badger fans welcome to lockon Badgers your team every single day thank you so much for tuning in I am your host Ryan herrings this is lockon Badgers part of the lockon podcast Network today's episode is brought to you by fandel now through September 22nd all fandel customers can bet $5 and get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV visit fanduel.com loock on to get started all right man we got a fun guest we haven't had a Coach's Corner in a minute it's it's great to welcome coach Anderson back I mean it kind of goes away when football isn't here uh but it's great to welcome coach Anderson Derry raid back coach depth charts are out we're almost there what thoughts did you have looking at the initial depth chart if any it's pretty straightforward it's not a lot of surprises uh found it interesting that they listed only two starting defensive linemen in the start in the in the depth chart and I it was it's going towards what we've seen over last year and going to the Past at Wisconsin anyway that uh going with two down lineman so it's it's interesting now I think they're seeing that as their base package so maybe three three stuff is going to be their sub package going forward um also kind of find it interesting with the receivers that we got an or with Vinnie Anthony and CJ Williams doesn't mean anything it's just gonna be based on all right who's best for that particular uh situation when they get on the field but uh kind of thought we were thinking going through spring that okay Vinnie Anthony was going to take over that spot and solidify and then CJ would have to be fighting maybe this is his answer where he still listed on that depth chart that he's still in that fight um but yeah other than that looks relatively straightforward let me ask you this do you think the the two4 do you think that's more because this is what the staff wants to do or more because the depth chart dictates it and in good and bad right because I think the linebacker depth chart is loaded right so this is a way to get more of those dudes on the field also a way to maybe mitigate some of the the lack of depth on defensive line um because I know I know and i' Trestle has kind of said this in various spots like they they do want to be multiple they don't want to just have to have one front yeah I I would agree with that I I think like we saw last year they based their depth chart out of the 33 all season yet most of the time they were in a two4 uh the depth chart is there for people like us to talk about um it's there because they're mandated by the Big 10 to release something so I'm not gonna set in uh too much uh weight into what they're listing but I do know that with Luke fickles approach to building his system year in and year out um they were looking to solve questions that was found in last year's defense solve problems and you're going to see that into year two where part of what they needed to do was had the ability to be more multiple if you look at how the depth chart is set up I can easily see you know somebody like Elijah Hills or Kade McDonald coming in as a third defensive lineman um we've heard you know Jem Thomas dropping down as an edge rusher which means a linebacker another outside backer could slide in so I think they want to be multiple I think the defense would be best at multiple and they have so many athletes at linebacker that they're gonna have a lot of options uh in terms of that and being multiple is definitely one of them let me give you a few other thoughts I had on the depth chart you hit on the receiver one I wanted to hit on Vin or CJ um thoughts on this I I kind of have internally I feel like Vinnie on the field Works a little better because he gives you something because I think Bryson's goingon to play a ton I think you have TR stret Pauling in the slot I think Bryson's going to play a ton of kind of that X spot Vinnie gives you something different like if you have Bryson and CJ out there I I don't know how much you're stretch in the field outside of Pauling but pauling's not going to go up and Elevate over a safety on a deep post necessarily no and I think that's going to end up being a lot more situational between the two of them I think when they're in 10 personnel and they have both trch and Pauling on the field at the same time you might see them go with the bigger more possession guys on the outside and then one then the base person with a tight end you might see more of a speed guy on the same side with a tight end so you get a little bit of balance and they they both offer different like you said different skill sets so you're putting that or in there to as as a way to signify that you have faith in both of them and you have situations where you could use both of them and both at the same time you never know because I think I think CJ could also very likely be in line to get some reps on Bryson's side if Bryson needs to come out because they have similar body types so we'll see and we've also heard you know CJ was getting some reps in the slot during fall Camp so that that or just mean to me that or means he's in their immediate plans they're both in their immediate plans and in the game plan going forward at least for this uh first week talk to me about uh a guy that I I s Platville I thought he looked great Chris Brooks is there's a lot of competition there he's listen on the two deep at receiver is there a way that Longo has traditionally or the air raid has traditionally used maybe because he's bigger and stronger than Bryson he's bigger and stronger than CJ and those are physical guys how have maybe long ago in this offense used a guy like Chris Brooks situationally well they're definitely to me they are that you know the Bugaboo we heard all all off season one The Boundary receiver for me a boundary receiver is that big body that you put on the short side of the field that's going to get you the tough yards on Slants on hitches and have enough in the tank to uh to get over the top quickly on on a quick vertical route on the outside that's definitely where I see his game fitting best so he could be that situational extra boundary receiver where you need physicality uh because the one knock we all had on CJ Williams last year he lacked physicality on the outside and if they have a situation where they want to get a jump ball type receiver or a guy who can who can get you that tough Win It win a b excuse me win a a battle on the five yard line and get to the back of the endzone that's the type of guy that you'd like to see and everyone you know all Camp last year people were talking about oh maybe he should play tight end well he's not a tight end but he's physical enough to act like one so he could definitely be that type uh because you're going to see that's receivers running running Slants running crossers running mesh and that fits that fits Chris Brooks game I always thought I always thought it was funny when people were like I just moov to tight end I'm like it doesn't change anything he's either a a receiving tight end or a jumbo receiver like the guy yeah he could be a big slot receiver and that's fine I mean I I like big slot receivers too but I think maybe that's more at the time where we were so down on the on the tight end group like oh we're on our third and fourth string tight ends what are we going to do oh put Chris Brooks there the the air the the spread offense doesn't use real tight ends anyway so put receivers in there but uh no I think he's got the physicality that could serve well in the system let me ask you this and a couple these questions I just put you on the spot but I I you always handle it fine how big of a deal you look at the secondary dep chart you look at this dep chart there's a bunch of upper classman a bunch of guys who are going to be gone next year um as a coach as someone who like Works to manage roster like how important is it to get the young guys reps this year or is that a little overrated I think you want to get reps from kids that are serviceable reps you don't want to get players playing time for the sake of playing time for the sake of I'm worried that if I don't get him reps now he's going to transfer in the offseason get him reps if you feel like those reps are going to be meaning ful for your defense I mean we saw that with Jonas Delona last year he was in the two deep um and you know this obviously now it's um why is my brain shutting downier Lucas Xavier Lucas there we go there we go I got I got the J depth chart over here on the side but I don't have my glasses on so I can't see oh good uh but uh but anyways um zoom in a little bit yeah zavel Lucas um we've been hearing kind of the same all the hype about him and if he's in the in the two deep if he's going to play they're playing him and they're going to burn his red shirt for a reason they're not going to just play him for the sake of getting reps and so if we got young guys in the depth chart hopefully we don't need to use them but if they're there they're there because the coaching staff expects that they can get some contribution from them yeah I'm so hyped for him man he was my number two recruit in last year's class um I'm I'm so hyped for him all we're going to come back we're going to talk about Coach uh what is he looking for week one players is he keen on what does he need to see week one to feel good about this Badgers team going forward that's coming up next on lock on Badgers first a quick break for our friends of the show new friends of the show over at 5 Hour Energy I've talked about them and listen sometimes I just need a little bit of a pickme up right it's a lot of work continually sparring with gopher fans and Iowa fans and Husker fans and the three Northwestern fans that live in in planet Earth like it's difficult it takes a lot of energy sometimes after lunch I'm sparring with all these these fans espousing the virtues of Wisconsin I need to 5 energy to pick me up a little bit no sugar small convenient size it's easy to use great flavors they got everything you want I had the watermelon the other day was fantastic 5 Hour Energy is there for you to get you through your day so you can you can finish sparring with all these these fans that that are quite frankly go to teams and programs and cheer for places that aren't quite as cool as Wisconsin right now if you go to 5our energy.com that is the number five hour energy.com you get the same 5 Hour Energy Products you love in the store you can get them online you use our promo code lockon CFB 20% off your order this offer is only valid till September 30th you can't use it on subscriptions but you can get it online build your 12-pack your 24 pack go to 5our energy.com today all right and also great time if you need to get caught up on college football it's happening right here it's here it's now we're live go to our lockdown college football feed uh get you caught up on all the conferences all the news all the matchups all right let's get back into this with Coach Anderson Coach's Corner uh one of my favorite shows because I think we get a little Smarter with it I know I do coach before we get into the next part I always want to give you an Unity man you I know you got a lot going on where can people find what you're doing yeah everything at the dairy raid uh YouTube substack Twitter a little bit of everything now we're finally getting into what this whole thing was built on and that's being able to break down games uh plus you know getting into this season might be able to get a little bit better better view of those games get a little bit better breakdowns show you guys once we get into the season about that but uh yeah it's been a very long off season and I'm really looking forward to actually being able to break down film and see what's working what's not working uh this season I cannot wait um speaking of of breaking down stuff seeing what's going to work what's not going to work week one um Wisconsin what are you looking for like specifically what do you want to see week one uh because I think if this is a close game people are going to be frustrated like what are you looking for I want to see consistency I want to see all the little procedural penalties and the substitution problems and the communication issues and all that stuff that seemed to plague us well into the season last year at least show signs that they are on their way out the door obviously little penalties are going to be there stupid thing but because it's the first week but no more seniors going fall start on an offense that doesn't run any Cadence stupid offside penalties stuff like that need to be gone offense needs to show consistency being getting good flow getting good substitution flow picking up yards in chunks we lack that last year I want to see signs that that is on its way back into the offense and defensively I want to see pressure and pressure created by the linebackers pressure created by the defensive line we don't nobody should be expecting them to completely empty the toolbox on offense and defense these first two weeks obviously these first two games are building up towards Alabama but this is a tup game use it as the tup game to get building going forward and show that the problems with the discipline issues that we saw last year are a thing in the past yeah on offense the word I wrote down is just clean so very similar to what you have I I want to see clean in and out of out of uh execution from a penalty standpoint I want to see clean snaps I want to see receivers holding on to the ball those those little fundamental things that Wisconsin for so long listen football and basketball Wisconsin for so long has been the feif of fundamentals and last year we just uh dropped passes missed cadences like bad snaps uh we finished zero in the turnover margin like that none of that's Wisconsin football and uh the other thing I wrote down is TVD like I want to see a quarterback that feels in control of the game I even if there's no interceptions I don't want him seeing putting the ball in harms way I want him to understand where to go with it I want him to be smart running the ball I think we're going to see more of it but I don't want him seeing see him take big hits right I want him to see the field and pull it down when it's when it's there that's kind of what I want to see from TVD anything in specific on Van Dyke that you're looking for at the helm of this offense I want to see the willingness that I'm expecting for him to push the ball down field um I I've been looking a lot of film from last year over the last couple weeks to kind of get ready for this year and again we've talked about a million times how where was the vertical passing game where was the downfield passing game last year and with it not being there who was at blame was it the QB was it the receivers I at least want to know that the QB is no longer the issue in the downfield passing game we've heard so much about his arm strength being able to fit the ball into Tight Windows to be able to push the ball farther downfield than we've had here in the past I want to see it I want to see him take shots I want to see him push the ball into tight window because he's like you know what this is Western Michigan I'm not a Mac QB I'm going to throw the ball in there like a big 10 quarterback should and it's okay early on to throw you know if he throws a Miss throws an interception fine we'll tighten that stuff up but I want to see him taking a shot get the ball downfield I mean Tanner threw two interceptions in the the Buffalo game last year m and both of them you could say were on errors on the receiver and I just want to see that kind of lack of cohesion and the lack of willingness to push the ball start to go away let me ask you this do you think if we don't see that but we don't see because the week I got to see in plat field they were not connecting on their deep throws they just weren't now Western Michigan secondary is not our secondary to be completely fair but they weren't connecting on those and there were some ch do you think it's if we don't see it and they try it let's say they're not able to connect on a couple I almost feel like we don't necessarily have the receivers to consistently push it down the field quite yet I feel like a lot of our receivers are more geared intermediate throws mesh routes you know working the middle um is that necessarily A TVD thing I guess is what I'm asking I think for me pushing the ball downfield doesn't necessarily mean chucking the ball 40 50 yards downfield um there are windows in that the upper edge of the intermediate passing range in that 15 to 25 yard range that I don't think we hit last year and that allowed defenses to really be able to play top down on us uh and and why you know we throw the short stuff to the tight ends or or the Pauling and then there wasn't much in terms of yards after the catch because the whole defensive structure was able to come downhill on it um at least pushing those windows deeper and forcing the defense to play uh Deep Over the Top is going to open up Windows underneath opening up Windows underneath is going to open stuff up further down field and to be successful in a deep passing game in that 35 Plus range whatever all it takes is one you take one you know strategically timed shot and it's there and it could change the the outcome of an entire game when we we we can pick you know the in every game that one shot that could have changed the complete outcome of the game so yeah we don't necessarily have the the six foot4 speed demons on the outside that every recruiting analyst in the world tells you that you have to have to win a National Championship but we have the guys who can get in those windows that can win you a big 10 championship yeah and that's what I want to see yeah to your point like we had shots last year too and it wasn't necessarily the most dynamic receiving core you you think back to Skyler Bell dropping a couple um yeah there was an opportunity for Bryson Green on one down down against Purdue I think it was on the right sideline like there were opportunities last year as well so yeah and you're totally right like you hit one deep shot against some of these teams and even if that's the only one you hit the safety is going to be a few yards deeper next time and now you can hit something underneath him or he's not there in run support like it changes everything you're you're completely right with that give me one player uh you're keying in on outside of TVD like who are you really excited and my list of this could be like 20 different guys but off the top of your head someone you're really excited to see week one I'm gonna sound like a broken record because pretty much everyone I've talked about this has been the same is is twe Walker I'm I'm so excited to watch him play I think he is the the perfect system fit and if and the best um complimentary back to chess that we could have because they have similar enough uh playing styles that the offense doesn't change when one is on the field and one isn't but he has a different Dynamic he has that thud he has that falling forward every time he gets hit uh and that's something that this offense could use and we definitely saw it last year when brillan was banged up we never got that second effort yardage and he's gonna bring that uh it'd be it'd be fun to see some of the young guys get in and get some reps get some maybe some more garbage time type reps um any one of the The Freshman running backs obviously and then trch I want to see trch and Pauling on the field at the same time I want to see how the offense looks with those two on the field at the same time and how that is going to affect how defenses play us uh going forward yeah give you some flowers too I remember we did a show when Walker committed and you were really high on them then I think you were a little ahead of the curve there so he looked incredible in Platville I thought he he looked to me in the week I saw which is not the entirety of practice for sure I thought he looked like the most complete back on the roster so I'll give you flowers on that one you're ahead of the curve there all we're gonna come back with Coach do a couple predictions and talk about how you can scheme around maybe not having quite as much depth on the defense line and if there's just some teams where that's GNA maybe matter a little bit more than others that's coming up next on lockdown Badgers but first a quick break for our friends of the show over at ultimate college football coach listen if you want to role play a little bit be a be a college football coach see what it's like to build your strategy call the plays and Coach Anderson hasn't invited you on his staff yet this might be the best place to do it ultimate college football head coach you download from the App Store you can play it offline it's 100% free it's ad free again you get to pick the strategy if you want to go old school like Barry Alvarez right you really want to run the rock couple tight ends throw it 10 times a game you can do that you want to be Gary Anderson and find you a Tanner makoy to run your version of the offense you can do that too although maybe not advisable that's over there at ultimate college football head coach again completely free and we have a special offer for locked on Badgers listeners use the promo code locked on CFB all caps inside the game store to receive a free boost to your program make sure you take advantage of this perk it'll get your team op to the strongest start download the game just visit ultimate Tac cfb.isd Legacy today let's get back to coach Anderson continue talking here um coach I do want to talk about really quickly scheming up against the defensive line uh obviously other teams aren't stupid they're gonna know we lack a little bit of depth there they're gonna know James Thompson Jr has been hurt um how do the Wisconsin coaches coach Trestle how do they scheme for this this kind of lack of depth the easiest thing is just be situational with your rotation situational with the Personnel groups that you're going to put on the field and if you don't have three guys that you think can give you starter reps the entire game but you've got two guys who can and then a group of two or three other guys who between the three of them can give you first team reps that's a way you work around it um regardless of what we see in terms of which players are on the field we're still going to see probably a four man front or fourman uh front with either 3D line and outside linebacker up on the line so you way you work around that it depends on which uh linebacker is up on the line if if you've got your your speed Edge guy like Pas on the edge then you're that third defensive lineman you're G to look to bring in a a run stopping three Tech type if you're going to put the bigger stronger type outside line back up of the line then that third defensive linan you're going to bring in is a boundary type run stopping uh outside line or defensive tackle so or a defensive end excuse me so you can you can scheme around it you can substitute and bring in different Personnel packages you can change up the blitz structure to where the defensive linemen are their job is to occupy blockers and that's a big thing with with this kind of system anyways whether they're in the two4 OR the 33 the defensive lineman in a nickel style defense their job is mostly to occupy blockers so you don't need flashy playmaking from those type of guys so hopefully they have been able to scheme around that and get the playmaking from the linebackers and from the secondary and where those interior linemen can do the Dirty Work and if we don't hear their name called during a game that's usually a good thing because they're not doing something wrong maybe outside of line depth what's something that and when I say line depth I mean offensive line and defense line depth which I think have been generally acknowledged as the Mass's biggest questions here right I think those are real concerns potentially what else about this team maybe worries you right now at this point how the offense is going to change if TVD goes down what are we going to do if yeah I I gotta think about that the line because the off because the offensive line one is the big one for me yeah I think it's much easier to scheme around the defensive line issues in terms of injuries if the offensive line loses a couple starters we could be in serious trouble because we're going to be relying on Walk-Ons and true freshman so that that concerns me um really quick that's that's the other reason I think these early games it would behoove this team incredibly if they could have those games Out Of Reach in the third quarter and then the starters a the starters don't need to take the punishment of a full game right when they shouldn't need to and then those backups that you talked about that you're probably gonna need at some point this year you just are they can get meaningful reps in real games in a real environment I I think those to me that's one of the biggest keys of the first two games and that's I think what you might see um that they might go a little bit deeper in their rotation early in the games to just in especially against Western Michigan I think Western Michigan will be that game uh South Dakota's gonna be no joke South Dakota South Dakota let's face it could probably beat Western Mich or Western Michigan um so I think they might get a little bit because we saw it last year too where they were they rotated a little bit more early in the season as the year r on the rotation got smaller and smaller so you might see some of the younger guys getting some some situational reps early and then once the game is put out of hand that yeah they'll put them in not just to run inside zone for 30 plays in a row but actually get some meaning meaningful reps because yeah I mean if you look at the depth chart how many seniors are in the two deep I think there's seven on seven starters on offense seven or eight on defense so next year's team is going to be young and talented and the choice is either they're going to be young and talented inexperienced or young talented and have some reps in them that they could be start of something special because they played early and I think you're seeing that especially with the with the offensive lineman and with the with a guy like Xavier Lucas you know they're setting them up to be quarter stones of the team for years to come because they want to get them reps early something you feel great about the team right now so we kind of talked about some of the concerns here what where are you flying high on this team right now I like the leadership amongst the players I think the the questions of who is buying into the system are gone I I like that through you know we have the staff issues in the early before spring how concerned we are and how those concerns have gone away completely you know I think AJ blasik is everyone's favorite coach in the staff I think Kenny gon is right up there with everybody with him as well and EJ Whit low is silently doing a pretty good job he's bringing in recruits and he's coaching his guys up and you don't hear any issues and that's really great to see that I think the first year personality issues the first year getting to know each other issues are gone and this a this is a program with solid leadership that isn't gonna get caught in a situation like they were last year where we have to ask if everyone's bought in I think everyone's bought in right now yeah that's gonna make a big difference and I agree with you there I love I love love having the guys like Cheney back um Peterson back wer back Rico back chz the stuff that chz has gone through to have him back on this roster that alone is worth the scholarship quite frankly not to mention he's a good back give me a score prediction Western Michigan if you're willing not Everyone likes doing these uh but what do you think what do you see the game script in the the end game coming up here I'll go either 38 to six let's go or or if the defense has a couple jit Jitters earlier maybe like a 45 17 kind of thing where it was put away a little bit earlier gave up some garbage time I have a lot more confidence now in this team that I did maybe if you would have asked me this question back in January I I would have said oh it could be 28 to 14 or it could be 2421 I don't know I have a little more confidence in the team I'm not getting excited but yeah 38- 6 38 to 10 42 to 14 something like that yeah that you're pretty in line with where I am also pretty in line with where Vegas is I think Vegas has a line about 24 and a half so again Western Michigan's not a good team that that is the outcome that should happen if Wisconsin is a good team this year so yeah uh he is coach Anderson over at the da raid please go check out his work YouTube substack I subscribe to it it's really good stuff it makes people smarter um and just honestly a great addition to the badger Community he's been doing it for a while coach as always man this has been Coach's Corner really do appreciate your time um if you're listening to the show thank you so much on Wisconsin it's game week when you're done here go check out lockdown college football get you up to date on everything that's happening in the big picture world of college football on Wisconsin and we will talk later