All-Decade Team: Wisconsin Badgers Offense

A decade of dominance is about to come to a close for the University of Wisconsin.

Putting the bow on the winningest decade in program history, Wisconsin went 102-33 (.756 winning percentage) from 2010-19, enjoyed seven double-digit winning seasons, won three Big Ten championships, had 10 consensus first-team All-Americans and brought home bowl victories in the Cotton, Holiday, Orange, Outback and Pinstripe. You don’t accomplish those feats without having great players.

With that in mind, BadgerBlitz.com does its best to name our Wisconsin all-decade team. There are sure to be some snubs or disagreements, but bottom line is that the Badgers would win a ton of games with this 22-man lineup.

In part one of our series, we look at our first-decade offense.

Joel Stave was a four-year starter and won a program-record 31 games for Wisconsin, but there’s no denying the impact that Wilson made in his magical 2011 season. A summer transfer from N.C. State who was elected captain prior to the start of the season, Wilson transformed the quarterback position at Wisconsin while leading them to an 11-win season, a victory in the inaugural Big Ten championship game and a Rose Bowl berth. He threw for a school-record 3,175 yards (making him 14th in career passing for UW), completed 72.8 percent of his passes and set a then-FBS record with a pass efficiency rating of 191.8. He also threw for 33 touchdowns, ran for six touchdowns and caught a touchdown. A third-round pick in the NFL Draft, Wilson’s success has continued, becoming one of the league’s highest-paid quarterbacks and a Super Bowl champion.

How spoiled has Wisconsin been at this position that players like James White, Montee Ball, Melvin Gordon and Corey Clement don’t make the cut? Taylor’s accolades make him one of the greatest in the history of the conference. Finishing in the top-10 of the Heisman Trophy three times, Taylor has set numerous school and FBS records. He is the seventh player in FBS history to rush for 6,000 career yards and the first to do so in just three years. The Rose Bowl will likely be Taylor’s final collegiate game, giving him one more chance to dazzle UW fans.

Watt wasn’t originally given a full scholarship offer by Wisconsin and was committed to Northwestern. Good thing the Badgers fixed that oversight. Coming in as a linebacker in 2011, Watt transformed himself into a ferocious lead blocker for Melvin Gordon and company, helping the tailback transform into one of the top runners in the country. It’s only fitting that Watt was drafted by the Chargers one year after Gordon, reunited that duo in the backfield.

Wisconsin had a lot of scholarship wide receivers who failed to produce results over the last decade, but the Badgers walk-on program delivered two tremendous gems. Both high school quarterbacks who molded themselves into scholarship receivers, Abbrederis and Erickson were responsible for top yardage total by a Badgers receiver for five straight seasons (2011-13 for Abbrederis, 2014-15 for Erickson). Abbrederis’ best season was when he caught 78 passes for 1,081 yards in 2013, the first 1,000-yard receiving season for UW since Brandon Williams’ in 2005. Erickson’s 2015 season was just as impressive with 77 catches for 978 yards.

As Wisconsin celebrated its 2015 Outback Bowl win, outgoing tight end Sam Arneson proclaimed that Fumagalli would be one of the best to play the position at Wisconsin. He was right. Fumagalli caught 135 passes over his four seasons, including leading the Badgers in receptions in 2016 and 2017 and in yards in 2017. A second-team All-American and a finalist for the John Mackey Award, Fumagalli could always be counted on to make a big reception.

Gabe Carimi earns some recognition for his 2010 season in which he was a unanimous consensus All-American and the 2010 Outland Trophy winner, but Ramczyk’s 2016 season was equally impressive. A consensus first-team All-American and first-team All-Big Ten selection, Ramczyk was the highest-graded run blocker in the nation and rarely allowed any form of pressure against Wisconsin’s quarterbacks. A first-round pick of the Saints after skipping his senior season, Ramczyk has been just as dominant during his young NFL tenure.

A key early foundation piece to Wisconsin’s 2009 recruiting class, Groy’s 54 games are third most in school history. He started all 27 games his junior and senior season, 25 of which came at left guard and earned him a first-team All-Big Ten selection his senior 2013 season.

Like running back, there are a lot of great choices at this position. First-team All-American Peter Konz (2011) and first-team All-American Travis Frederick (2012) are worthy choices, but Biadasz has separated himself over the last two seasons. Starting every game in his illustrious career, Biadasz was a freshman All-American in 2017, an honorable mention All-American in 2018 and an unanimous first-team All-American this season. Biadasz will be one of first linemen selected when he enters the NFL Draft, which is likely to happen following the Rose Bowl.

Zeitler wasn’t a heralded recruit coming out of Wisconsin Lutheran High and wasn’t a four or five-star prospect, but he earned All-American status during the 2010 and 2011 season, the latter being a first-team honor from the American Football Coaches Association. First-Team All-Americans Beau Benzschawel and Kyle Costigan are deserving here, too.

Reforming his body to start in 42 of his 54 games played, Havenstein made his final 41 starts at right tackle and was part of units that set school records for total offense (480.8 ypg) in 2013 and rushing offense (320.1 ypg) in 2014. Named first-team All-American by AFCA and named first-team All-Big Ten in 2014, Havenstein was the big reason why Melvin Gordon delivered so many home runs.