MADISON, WIS. -- Finding the best five for Wisconsin's offensive line continues to be the task for assistant Joe Rudolph as fall camp rolls on into late August. Though injuries at the tackle spots have dwindled numbers in the last week, the battle in the middle for the starting center spot remans intriguing with competition between a redshirt senior and a third-year player returning from shoulder surgery.
Kayden Lyles boasts the experience of a multi-year starter, but Joe Tippmann recently came on and has grabbed initial first-team reps in the three practices open to reporters since Aug. 14. Tippmann, a former high school tackle who has slid inside and only played in two career games, believes he has grown.
"Kayden and I have just been battling it out every single day, and I love the competition we got in there," Tippmann said on Wednesday.
Tippmann's emergence - at first receiving reps as the apparent second-team center early on in the first three full fall camp sessions open to reporters - created a new wrinkle in the chapters of fall camp this year. The former high three-star prospect continued to recover from labrum surgery he underwent in November 2020, and reporters did not see him fully participate in the five open sessions in April.
UW listed Tippmann as playing in two games last year, participating in the road win at Michigan and loss to Northwestern.
"That was happening throughout the entire season," Tippmann said. "I got surgery in November after, I think, it was the Northwestern game, but pretty much it got to a point where I just didn't feel like I was able to keep going with it because it was just coming out and everything, so the surgery was the right option."
Tippmann recalled the four-to-six month recovery from the procedure, and with that, the staff held him out during the spring. The Indiana native started to feel back to 100% around midway through, and as the month of April rolled on he slowly started to receive some small opportunities. That included snapping to quarterback Graham Mertz.
Though not able to physically take part in all tasks during that time, Tippmann kept up in meetings to try "to wire in to all the details" that others learned for the interior line positions of center and guard. He also plugged away with Rudolph, Wisconsin's offensive line coach and run game coordinator, in individual work once the staff cleared him for those activities.
"I didn't get the physical end of it, but I was definitely taking the mental aspect of it," Tippmann said."
Tippmann's work in the weight room paid off this summer during max outs, as he compiled some impressive numbers. He hit 430 pounds on the bench press, which he called "really exciting" after returning from shoulder surgery. He also believes he squatted around 615 pounds.
Fast-forward to the latter part of August, and Tippmann now sees himself in the midst of working to claim a starting spot on an offense boasting Mertz, his fellow housemate, as QB1. The lineman believes he realized he could compete, not just for first-team reps but actually take those snaps, when the team finally donned shoulder pads and "we were able to go out and be completely physical out there," according to the lineman.
“The thing about Joe is he is just so physical, and he loves to dominate," Mertz said on Wednesday. "So that's the one thing that for him, it's just connecting everything. And, obviously, he had his shoulder surgery so he didn't get to go through spring. But the biggest thing I'm proud about is just his approach through that time of studying the playbook, understanding the looks, and right now he's been applying and playing really well.
"I love everything that Joe's been up to, and kept it going."
Rudolph called out last weekend how Tippmann started taking "a step of physicality, ability to finish."
"I really liked the way he and Kayden have been battling," Rudolph said after practice on Aug. 14. "You know, it's tight competition. Those guys help each other and they want each other to be great. I got a lot of respect for those two guys, and I got a lot of respect for the way they're going about their business this camp."
Lyles -- a former four-star recruit in the 2017 class -- holds more starting experience at the center spot than Tippmann. The former started four games at the position during the 2020 season before, like Tippmann, an injury resulted in him missing a significant portion of the year.
"I’d just say we're battling every day for it," Tippmann said. "I respect the hell out of Kayden, and he's an awesome guy. But, yeah, just everyday going out at it."
How the competition shakes out at center is just one aspect of the line that has seen multiple combinations in the open practices to reporters this month. Josh Seltzner and Cormac Sampson both received reps as first-team left guard, with Seltzner receiving the starting reps in five of the six open sessions.
Redshirt freshman Jack Nelson continues to hold down the right guard slot from redshirt junior Michael Furtney, but injuries at the tackle positions have forced the latter to slide out to right tackle in the last two open practices.
Redshirt senior Tyler Beach -- who worked as the first-team left tackle in the spring -- has not participated in 11-on-11 periods during the media-accessible sessions due to a left leg injury. UW added Logan Bruss (left leg), Logan Brown (head) and Tanor Bortolini (right leg) to its injury list in the last week as well.
That has forced true freshman Riley Mahlman to receive first-team reps at left tackle in the open practices since Saturday with Beach still not fully dressed and Brown and Bortolini later sidelined during that session. However, both Beach and Bruss dressed on Wednesday, though they did not participate in full 11-on-11 team periods.
Tippmann feels that "everything is progressing well" in this second full week of fall camp.
"We're finding the right guys, and then hopefully we're getting some of those other guys back," he said. "We definitely will be getting them back, so I think we’ll be in good hands."
