Mike Tressel clarifies his approach to defensive rotations

After moving on from Jim Leonhard's highly successful system, the Badgers turned to Mike Tressel's secondary-based, sub package-heavy scheme. Results have been...mixed.

It's worth pointing out that for this team's myriad of defensive struggles, they're actually having a fine season in regards to the ultimate goal — stopping the opposing offense from scoring. Wisconsin's scoring defense (18.3 points-per-game) is 20th in the nation. Not quite at the lofty standards set by Leonhard and Badger defenses of old, but very serviceable.

Still, Wisconsin has struggled in various areas week in and week out defensively. From pass defense, to run defense, to quarterback contain to tackling, the Badgers have had their issues in just about every imaginable area this season, though not simultaneously. If it's not one thing, it tends to be another.

At the forefront of the discourse surrounding the defense is the at times head-scratching personnel decisions Tressel has made on a week-to-week basis.

The biggest aspect of that conversation is undoubtably inside linebacker Maema Njongmeta. After leading Wisconsin's defense in tackles a season ago and populating a litany of preseason award watchlists, Njongmeta has been in and out of the Badgers' lineups.

The linebacker didn't play at all against Purdue, Wisconsin's first Big Ten game. He returned to face Rutgers, although didn't log starter-level snaps by any stretch of the imagination. He then played just six snaps against Iowa, and a week later played 63 against Illinois.

"You want the guys who are playing the best playing at all times. Sometimes that has to do with the opponent you’re facing, sometimes that has to do with the health of a player, sometimes that has to do with simply who’s playing better at that time," Tressel said in regards to Njongmeta's sporadic playing time. "So quite honestly, it’s been a little bit of a combination, I think that would go with multiple positions across the board.”

Njongmeta hasn't played his cleanest half-a-season of football. He's missing tackles at a 17.9 percent rate, according to Pro Football Focus, which would easily be a career low. Despite his obvious talent and nose for the football, Tressel stressed that his linebacker is still learning how to play sound assignment football.

"I think he’s becoming more disciplined as opposed to just trying to take off and find the ball," he said. "I think he’s understanding the big picture more and more, instead of purely being a ballhawk when your assignment doesn’t allow you to do that.”

Tressel also noted that through half a season, the defensive staff is still getting to know the strengths and weaknesses of its players.

"I think over the past half of the season, defensive coaches are getting to know the players and their strengths better," he said. "I think we're growing."

Of course, that philosophy doesn't only apply to Njongmeta. There's been interesting rotations at other positions as well, most notably safety.

Hunter Wohler is a superstar and plays almost every down. But after him, there's a massive falloff in total snaps. The safety that's played the second most? Preston Zachman, with 228 less snaps than Wohler.

With his standing as a sixth-year senior, it was expected that safety Travian Blaylock would play early and often. Well, he played early, but hasn't played often. Tressel again cited constant competition and evaluation as the primary determining factor for who plays, and when.

"We’re not gonna make a permanent decision in preseason camp that’s gonna last through Week 12. It’s constantly going to be evaluated. How you do this given week, in addition to the data you have from the previous week, is gonna determine what your opportunities are moving forward, regardless of position," the coordinator said. "It’s constantly under evaluation, the guys that are performing the best or the healthiest or that fit best against the guys that are playing that week, those are the guys that we'll see on the field.”

Those that wanted the Badgers' defense to be a finished product early in Tressel's first season in Madison have been sorely disappointed. From the outside, some of the personnel decisions Tressel has made are awfully curious. He was very honest, however, that this unit is still very much a work in progress.