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Jim Leonhard on growth of Rodas Johnson, Darryl Peterson, depth at corner

MADISON - Following practice Wednesday morning, defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard spoke with members of the media.

With the Badgers at roughly the halfway mark of fall camp, Leonhard touched on the rotation at inside linebacker, growth of Rodas Johnson and Darryl Peterson, the depth at corner and provided an update on Alex Smith, among other things.

Defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard talking to reporters during Wisconsin's media day.
Defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard talking to reporters during Wisconsin's media day.
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Question: Inside linebacker was essentially just Leo (Chenal) and Jack (Sanborn) with (Mike) Maskalunas filling in at times, do you envision that same type of battle where it’s just two guys, or do you see all those guys being able to play?

Answer: I envision that whole group being able to play. I think there’s a little more youth and inexperience where you’d want sometimes to be able to more individually, take it serious, take it all in, what’s happening. How they attack this. I think sometimes with young guys when you limit their pitch count a little bit can help them see the game, settle down at times. Sometimes a special team rep is your best rep because you just get to let it go and play. Kind of allowing those guys to have some of those reps rather than saying, 'you’re the two guys, get ready to go.' There’s guys that, physically, can do some special things.

I think at this point in camp, very pleased with the progress of that group and just want to keep it going.

Q: With Alex (Smith) is there any timetable of when you think you’ll get him back?

A: Hamstrings with corners are tough so we’re not trying to rush him. We know what he’s done, he’s played a lot of ball for us. He had a tremendous spring and summer and the biggest thing is hopefully when he gets back there are no setbacks, so we’re trying to be smart with him. It’s hard to be patient. He knows that. He wants to be out there and compete with those guys. We have a group that is really competitive and is pushing each other every day and it hurts him every day he’s not out there. You just want to make sure he continues to progress in the right way as we get closer to game week.

Q: Seems like Rodas (Johnson) made a bunch of plays today. Has he made a big jump for you guys?

A: The No. 1 thing about Rodas is how hard he plays. He’s a high-energy guy that plays extremely fast and twitchy and, at times, there’s that inconsistency you have to work through. But as a coach you just love the passion he plays with, the energy he plays with. He’s got more things to clean up but when he’s hot, when he’s on he’s a big problem for teams in the run game and how active he is in the pass game. He’s definitely made big improvements and he sees opportunity. Obviously he got that taste last year of getting a decent amount of snaps and he’s a guy that doesn’t want to leave the field. It’s really fun to watch guys like that continue to grow. They know what their strengths and weaknesses are and he’s working on them.

Q: With the guys lost on defense. Have you guys reached the point where the standard doesn’t change and there is no drop off from the defense ?

A: That’s the goal of the program. That’s the goal of what you’re trying to build with recruiting and development is reloading and not taking steps back from year to year. This year was a little different using the transfer portal to create some depth and competition, and at the same time trusting your ability to develop and the willingness of guys to put in the work and develop. So I think we have a lot of depth and competition where maybe coming out of last season, I don’t think you felt that way.

Obviously you have guys like Keeanu Benton and Nick Herbig to build the defense around and that’s a pretty good place to start. I think we have a really good mix of experience and some veterans and some young, hungry guys that have felt like they’ve waited their turn and put in the work. So every day has been a lot of fun as a coach because every day a different guy seems to stand out and, you know, as a coordinator when you have that, you have some things to work with. It’s not just the same guys over and over. It seems that every day there are two or three guys that flash.

Q: With Preston (Zachman), he dealt with some injuries last year but you saw him a little bit last fall camp, where has he taken a jump this year?

A: It’s been such an impressive transition for him. Last year was really his first time playing safety. He was a high school quarterback who played a little bit of linebacker, safety and then came in as a backer. Last spring really getting into the safety position having to figure out how he has to transition his body, the movements and the communication that we’re asking him to do and still flashed that ability. Some playmaking ability as well.

I think he had a lot of confidence going in and out of the summer knowing what he had to work on and then an injury hit, so he wasn’t able to show where he was at. Battled through that - long process. A lot of ups and downs. Seeing a guy in fall camp right now that put in the work and understands what we do. The football side of it, not going to say easy, because he put in the work, but sees things and he understands things really well, and now he looks like a safety. He’s kind of made that transition with his body and moving really, really well. It’s really fun when you watch guys who put in the work and have gone through some adversity and they kind of question things and kind of coming out of the other side and playing really good football for us.

Q: You mention guys popping on limited pitch counts. One of those guys was Jordan Turner. If he does come out of there as a starter, what does his skillset bring to the defense and how have you seen him handle the extra workload ?

A: Impressive. Physically you look at him and you’re like 'wow.' He’s big, he’s physical, he can run, he’s a striker. Probably runs as well as any backer we’ve had here recently out of that inside backer group. When you start talking about the physical side, sometimes you overlook that he understands ball. He gets it. He can communicate. So it’s a lot of fun pushing him because the ceiling is high with what he can do, and obviously on limited plays last year he proved he has big-play capability and it’s fun.

Tate (Grass) has been that consistent guy that knows who he is, what his capabilities and is by far playing his best football. So it’s been a good back and forth between those guys, but Jordan, he can do some special things on the field and just getting him to understand to let it all go and play. Learn every rep and we’ll get you on and off the field to continue to learn and play at that high level consistently.

Q: Titus (Toler) missed all of last year and is trying to get himself re-acclimated with being back on the field. Just wondering if he’s made any initial impressions and what have they been?

A: Another guy that is just so fun to coach. Guys who’ve gone through adversity they don’t know. When you go through injuries that just seem to nag and you can’t seem to knock, guys really start questioning whether I’m going to be the same guy, and the biggest thing with him coming out is every day coming out and being available. Pushing through those things and he’s gaining a lot of confidence from that.

Naturally, he’s so fun to watch. The way he moves and does things, that’s it. That’s what you want it to look like. To me it’s confidence. Now he’s trusting his body where he can go out there everyday and compete and just get in that rhythm after missing a lot of ball. I think he has big-play capability. He’s physical and he can do a lot of things in this defense. The safety group as a whole, versatility and physicality is very high and he’s right in the mix.

Q: Have a lot of senior transfer corners. Is there anybody else that is stepping up and pushing those guys in fall camp?

A: Yeah absolutely. Of the guys that were here, Alex Smith was a guy who was phenomenal for us in the summer and the spring. Obviously very limited in what he’s been able to do in fall camp for us and really elevated really everything. Another guy who stands out every day and is consistent every day is probably Ricardo Hallman. He knows who he is. He has tremendous feet and he’s very competitive. He’s been really, really good in a lot of different situations for us and, day in and day out. He’s been at the top of that group as far as how consistent he’s playing.

Semar Melvin, another guy that’s coming off an injury, you just weren’t sure exactly where his body was going to be. He feels the best he’s felt in a long time. He’s very competitive. Long, really long and he’s made some big plays for us this fall camp. There was a little bit of hesitancy of how this group was going to play out when you bring in guys and I think they’ve gotten this summer and they’ve kind of bonded over how they competitive they are and how hard they work. So it’s been fun to watch that group of guys that were here. Another guy, Avyonne Jones is flashing a lot of ability. We put a ton on him in the spring having to play safety and corner. We kind of settled him in at corner this fall camp and he’s kind of showing his natural ability on a daily basis, too.

Q: Darryl Peterson went out today but it seems he settled in. Are him and C.J. (Goetz) pushing each other for time ?

A: Absolutely. I think DP took a huge step in that second half of the season where you kind of knew he was ready to go and we were able to get him in the bowl game a decent amount of snaps. This spring and winter was really big for him just taking another step forward. Spring, we hampered him a little bit just flipping from field to boundary a lot and he learned a ton. Different skillset, different things we ask that position to do and from a health perspective in the spring, we kind of had to do that.

Now in fall camp we’ve been able to kind of settle him in to do the boundary and battle with C.J. Goetz everyday. Those guys are going back and forth and it’s really fun to see the physicality, the playmaking of those two guys and I think he’s grown and he knows what we’re going to ask him to do and how to impact this thing, and he’s bringing it every day.

Q: Is his (Peterson) work ethic a little different ?

A: He’s a grinder. He’s a guy who knows what he wants. Very high goals and he’s going to put in the time. I’d say last season outside of Herbig, he was probably in our offices more than anyone. That’s just who he is, how he’s wired. Obviously fun to coach a guy like that. You get guys that aren’t playing a lot of snaps that are putting in that time, as coaches you trust that it’s going to happen for them and they’re going to be a factor sooner than later. Awesome personality. Guys like being around him. Coaches like being around him. You see the drive and hunger he has and sometimes you forget how young he is because he’s a very mature kid.

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