Wisconsin wrapped up its sixth spring practice of 2022 inside the McClain Center on Saturday morning, and in doing so, completed the second full week of its schedule.
This time will go a long way for the Badgers' need to replace key starters on all levels of its defense, plus its offensive line, tight end and wide receiver. These sessions will also allow a coaching staff with significant changes to continue to build chemistry.
BadgerBlitz.com saw all three practices this week, and we report our thoughts and observations from the trio of sessions as a whole. As a disclaimer, this article highlights just one week and is not indicative of players' entire performances during the spring. For that matter, these sessions in late March through late April allow the staff and players to test their limits, so mistakes can happen without immense penalty.
RELATED: Practice No. 4 Recap | Practice No. 5 Recap | Practice No. 6 Recap |
1) Still holding judgment on the offense after one week of observation
Many questions swirled leading up to spring ball after the hire of new offensive coordinator Bobby Engram. What new wrinkles or concepts could be added to a team that has averaged 25.1 and 25.4 points per contest in 2020 and 2021, respectively?
Reporters have seen only three practices so far, so it is hard to tell just how much it could change, especially in a spring where the offensive line has a new top five and key players at running back and tight end have not seen team work so far. Plus, there are four "new" assistants coaching on that particular side of the ball. UW hired Engram and Al Johnson (running backs) this offseason, but Bob Bostad (offensive line) and Chris Haering (tight ends) transition to new roles within the program from inside linebackers and special teams, respectively.
Thursday's performance by the unit did not look great overall. Credit for that can go to Wisconsin's defense and the pressure often applied in the backfield (more on the unit overall below). The offense performed better on Saturday in both churning yardage forward in the run game and smoother connections in the passing game.
UW's aerial attack has fared better during 7-on-7 periods. But, obviously, quarterbacks Graham Mertz, Chase Wolf and Deacon Hill do not need to contend with a pass rush during those sessions. Mertz displayed sharper play in team periods on Saturday.
Wisconsin will make quarterbacks available to reporters on Monday morning, and BadgerBlitz.com plans to ask them what updates they have seen that may not be noticeable to the casual fan, or even media.
2) Defense has impressed despite new pieces added to the puzzle
