Wisconsin's 2018 football season is right around the corner, with fall camp expected to start at the end of the month. With that in mind, BadgerBlitz.com will be running through the burning questions the Badgers are facing at each position group as they look to build on last year's 13-1 season.
Position Primer
The Badgers were able to rely on Troy Fumagalli to create mismatches over the middle of the field during his senior season in 2017, and he wound up posting almost the exact same stat line as he did during his junior season:
2016: 47 catches, 580 yards, 2 touchdowns
2017: 46 catches, 547 yards, 4 touchdowns
That level of consistent production - with upside in the red zone - made Fumagalli a perfect fit for Wisconsin's offense. He also became an effective blocker during his UW career - and leaves behind some big shoes to fill in 2018.
The good news for the Badgers is that the cupboard isn't bare in 2018. Senior tight end Zander Neuville should be ready to resume his role as the team's primary in-line blocker after he suffered a season-ending knee injury towards the end of the 2017 season. Neuville, a converted pass rusher, also has pretty good hands and can catch teams off guard in the passing game when he gets targeted on a play-action pass.
And with Kyle Penniston and Jake Ferguson competing to take over for Fumagalli as the team's primary H-back, the Badgers have a few talented players to sort through during fall camp as they start to finalize their depth chart.
One Burning Question: Who will take over for Troy Fumagalli as Wisconsin's primary receiving tight end?
The Badgers don't have many starting jobs open on their offensive depth chart - in fact, tight end is probably the only job that's truly "open," since Alec Ingold should seamlessly step in to replace Austin Ramesh at fullback.
That means that Kyle Penniston and Jake Ferguson will continue to compete for the first-string spot during fall camp.Both players flashed at times during spring camp earlier this year, with Ferguson turning a lot of heads with some highlight-reel catches. But Penniston has contributed over the last few seasons while playing behind Fumagalli, and he has the receiving chops to help Wisconsin's offense move the chains through the air.
The competition will probably come down to which player winds up being the most consistent - both as a receiver and as a blocker. And while Penniston and Ferguson will compete for the lion's share of the reps, there's a good chance that both players wind up helping the Badgers in 2018 - no matter who ends up being the official starter.
Micro-Blitz
In preparing for our fall camp series, Jon McNamara and John Veldhuis sat down to break down what they are expecting to see out of Wisconsin's position groups during the pre-season. Their conversation is included below.
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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.
