Wisconsin Badgers 2023 Fall Position Preview: Tight ends

MADISON — The Wisconsin football team starts training camp nine days from now.

As we move our way toward Aug. 2, BadgerBlitz.com continues its position-by-position analysis of the roster with a look at the tight ends.

RELATED: Quarterbacks | Cornerbacks | Running backs | Inside linebackers | Wide receivers

With all that happened last season, it's easy to forget that Clay Cundiff appeared to be on his way to a breakout year.

In the first three games, Cundiff caught eight passes for 139 yards with two touchdowns, a feel-good start for a player who suffered frightening season-ending injuries in October 2021.

The good times did not last long.

Cundiff suffered another gruesome injury in Week 4 — that time to his left leg — and missed the rest of the season.

“I think the plan is that he will be full go for fall training camp. We’re hoping that he has a really productive summer as well," tight ends coach Nate Letton said in April. "I think Clay has done a great job of balancing his rehabilitation physically but also staying present with the guys.

"When you lose someone who has played a lot of meaningful football, to me, that’s almost as important as the physical rehabilitation. He’s been around the guys and learning the system. He’s done some individual work with us a little bit. It’s been very minimal, low-impact stuff. But we really like what we see so far.”

At full strength, which hasn’t been common over the last two years, this position group will have three experienced players in the mix: Cundiff (fifth-year senior), Hayden Rucci (fifth-year senior) and Jack Eschenbach (sixth-year senior).

Rucci, who's played in 23 games (six starts) for UW, caught six passes for 75 yards and a score last season. His role will change significantly in UW's Air Raid offense under Phil Longo.

"The first thing I noticed is that I never have my hand in the dirt in this new offense," Rucci said. "That's something I was pretty used to going through high school and my first couple of years here.

"In the old offense, my main job was to be in the trenches and move people out of the way (as a blocker). I am asked to do a lot of different things now. There is more route running, which I love and have been looking forward to these last couple of years."

Eschenbach, who's played in 32 games, has 19 collegiate receptions for 179 yards. Most of that production (14 catches for 120 yards) came last season, as his role in UW's offense expanded after Cundiff's injury.

Eschenbach decided to return to UW for a sixth season largely because of new UW head coach Luke Fickell's addition of Longo.

Longo, who spent four years as North Carolina's offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach, had three productive tight ends this past season. Kamari Morales, Bryson Nesbit and John Copenhaver each caught at least 15 passes for more than 200 yards. The Tar Heels ranked third among Power Five teams in tight-end receiving yards (1,026).

"They had those three guys with a bunch of catches, a bunch of touchdowns and a bunch of yards," Eschenbach said. "That looked exciting to me. Not only for myself, but the whole room gets a chance to contribute a lot more in terms of production with the ball. It's exciting."

Redshirt sophomore Jack Pugh and redshirt junior Riley Nowakowski impressed the staff during spring camp.

Pugh, 6-foot-5, 250 pounds, frequently made plays while working with the second-team offense. He's an easy breakout candidate ahead of the 2023 season.

"He's a really big, athletic and physical guy," Letton said of Pugh, who's only played in one collegiate game. "I think when you talk about the combination of size, athleticism and physicality, he has it as well as anyone on the team."

Nowakowski, who came to UW as an outside linebacker before switching to fullback, moved to tight end this offseason. He's an effective blocker and has good hands as a pass catcher.

J.T. Seagreaves (redshirt freshman), Cole Dakovich (redshirt junior) and a handful of others will be pushing those two during fall training camp.

UW gets enough production from more than one player (Cundiff).

Cundiff missed more than half of the 2022 season but still finished first among UW's tight ends in receiving yards and touchdowns. Eschenbach had five more catches (14 to nine).

The Badgers will need more than just Cundiff to produce this season, which means another player will need to emerge as a consistent receiver. Based on spring ball, don't be surprised if that player is Pugh.

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