Wisconsin Badgers 2022 Spring Position Preview: Wide Receivers

Less than three months after Wisconsin pulled off a 20-13 win over Arizona State in the 2021 Las Vegas Bowl, the Badgers return to the field in late March to kick up spring practices.

UW will run spring ball between March 22 and April 22 this year, according to a recent social media post. This new iteration of Wisconsin football in 2022 will bring the annual additions and attritions the program works through, but the program also revealed several notable changes on the coaching staff.

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BadgerBlitz.com is once again expected to watch any open practices available for reporters to attend. Thus, our position previews start this week. On Wednesday, we highlight the wide receiver room, which will look very different from what was seen at the beginning of the 2021 season.

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Gone are Danny Davis and Kendric Pryor, the starting duo that caught 32 receptions each for a combined 894 yards and five touchdowns in 2021. Both exhausted their eligibility, as did sixth-year senior Jack Dunn, who played in all 13 games last season and contributed four catches for 24 yards.

Transfers also hit the group. Second-year receiver Devin Chandler left the program during the season and eventually signed with Virginia in December. Fellow 2020 signee Isaac Smith also departed after last year, as did fourth-year junior A.J. Abbott. Their overall contributions on offense were limited, but they add to UW's attrition within Alvis Whitted's room.

Rising junior Chimere Dike appears ready to answer the call as one of the leaders of the wide receivers. He caught 19 passes for 272 yards (14.3 yards per catch) and a touchdown in 2021. Two key back-to-back receptions against Michigan last season stand out -- a 36-yarder which was then followed by an 18-yard snag in the end zone with seven seconds remaining in the first half to pull UW within a field goal at halftime.

Two 2021 signees, Markus Allen (three receptions, 65 yards last season) and Skyler Bell (one, 15) saw enough snaps during the 2021 Las Vegas Bowl to warrant intrigue. Both caught one pass each that gained 31 and 15 yards, respectively. Allen caught two passes for 34 yards, while also carrying the ball once for four yards at Rutgers with the game firmly in hand last November.

Stephan Bracey Jr. flashed his speed on a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Nebraska in the regular-season home finale, but he has reeled in only one reception in his career so far.

Wisconsin officially announced the signing of UCLA transfer Keontez Lewis on National Signing Day. The 6-foot-3 wide receiver and former three-star recruit played in 11 games last season but did not record a reception for the Pac-12 program.

Then there's Dean Engram, who will transition over from cornerback to wide receiver. The rising fourth-year junior started five games last season in the defensive backfield for the Badgers, but has not played the position since high school.

UW's list of walk-ons at this position with remaining eligibility after last season include Haakon Anderson, Jordan DiBenedetto, Mike Gregoire and Alex Moeller. Class of 2022 signees Tommy McIntosh, Vinny Anthony II, Chris Brooks Jr. and walk-on Cole Toennies are expected to arrive on campus in the summer.

Whitted praised Dike during coach availability on the Dec. 15, and the assistant believed the third-year Badger is primed to be the most experienced player in the group.

"He's been ready since his freshman year," Whitted said. "I have no doubt about his ability to lead and the things that he can do on the field and just how he goes about his daily routine," Whitted said. "How he prepares, how he studies, I think those guys will have no better person to learn from once we start getting back into camp and so on and so forth.

"But I love that kid like he was my son, and he's the standard right now. So he practices the way he plays. Those are the things that I think the other guys will see, and Markus [Allen] has seen that, and excited about the direction that he's going and trending."

Dike shined during the spring practices open to reporters last April. Now, who will emerge from a relatively inexperienced group starting this month? Pryor, when asked about his former room, thinks several could step up as key contributors.

"I think actually a bunch of guys," Pryor told BadgerBlitz.com on March 5. "You got Skyler, you got Markus, you got Chim. You got Stephan Bracey. You have Dean, who just switched over to receiver as well. Then you got the transfer from UCLA [Lewis].

"It almost reminds me of how in 2017, my redshirt freshman year, where it was just a bunch of young guys -- me, Danny, 'Q' [Quintez Cephus] and A.J. [Taylor] out there -- and I feel like it's kind of the same with this group. How we stepped up and made a name for ourselves and what people thought of us throughout that time, and just I feel like this group can do the same thing where you have a good receiver corp."

Engram, who ties Dike for the most career games played (20) among those now in the position group entering 2022, told reporters in early February that the move to wide receiver "was just a natural fit."

"I just thought it was the best move for the team overall, so I'm excited to work with that receiver group and the offense and see what we can do this year," Engram said.

Engram sat next to his father, new UW offensive coordinator Bobby Engram, during that press conference. He mentioned the transition did not result from a sudden conversation with the UW coaching staff.

“It was kind of an ongoing discussion with me and coach [Paul] Chryst, just for a while back now,” Engram said. “When we sat down and talked about it, we seemed like it was the best fit and, honestly, I'm just ready to work and do whatever I can to help this team.

"How I fit, I'm going to be a guy who's ready to work every day, set an example for my teammates, and that'll just play on to the on-field success that we'll have.”

Allen received praise from many players when asked who stood out early on during bowl prep practices, albeit it in a short sample size. BadgerBlitz.com also chronicled his first season in December.

Whitted called out Allen's size and play strength late last year, along with having "some twitch" on his 215-pound frame, as discussed in BadgerBlitz.com's 2021 position review from January.

Bell is another name to watch for in this room. Whitted noted during the early signing period that the true freshman missed some time last season, but he reeled in a diving, third-down catch against Arizona State to move the chains.

Bracey did not appear to receive snaps on offense last season, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF). How will the 5-foot-10, 184-pound wide out fare in March and April?

PFF credited Lewis with 207 snaps played last season. Rivals.com rated the East St. Louis, Ill., native as a three-star prospect for the 2021 class. He received 27 offers, according to Rivals.com. That included opportunities from Arkansas, Auburn, Iowa, Iowa State, Kentucky, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Oregon and Texas A&M.

Wisconsin has a tradition of walk-ons making an impact at this position group in the last decade, such as Jared Abbrederis and Alex Erickson. Can Anderson, DiBenedetto, Gregoire and Moeller make any splashes in the next month to build towards more snaps in fall camp?

Engram can be placed in an honorable mention category here with his transition to receiver, but Allen, Bell and Lewis will participate in their first spring practices at Wisconsin later this month.

Pryor called out Allen and Bell as two of his three potential breakout players for next season on offense. He discussed their brief exposure from the Las Vegas Bowl among other factors.

"Them two just making some great catches, and then just talking to them throughout my process and then talking to them since I've been here," Pryor said. "Asking them how things are going, 'how y'all doing?' Catching up with them, just seeing their mindset and talking to coach [Shaun] Snee asking about how they've been doing and talking to coach 'Whitt', just that type of stuff.

"Just hearing from everybody around here and then talking to them, seeing their mindset going into this season where they got that taste in their mouth a little bit the last game of the season last year. Markus had a little stuff towards the end the year before that last game -- a catch and like a jet sweep [at Rutgers in early November]. But just them getting that taste in the mouth, it's super exciting for them to go out there and show what they can do."

Lewis played more snaps at UCLA than Allen and Bell combined last season (207 to 53), according to PFF. At the moment, and if UCLA's measurements are correct, he would be the tallest receiver in the room this spring by two inches. What he can bring in the aerial attack and complement those in the room will be a storyline within this group as well.

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