Wisconsin Badgers 2023 Spring Position Preview: Specialists

As Luke Fickell's first season in Madison draws closer, the Badgers will hit the field for spring practice starting in late March.

Following its Pro Day on March 23, UW will run spring ball between March 25 and April 27 this year, according to a recent social media post. With a completely revamped coaching staff, a few key incoming transfers and brand new schematics, Wisconsin football will look plenty different in 2023. Spring ball will be the first glimpse at this new era.

BadgerBlitz.com is once again expected to watch any open practices available for reporters to attend. Thursday, we take a look at the specialists, who welcome a new scholarship addition to their room.

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Wisconsin's specialists went through a somewhat tumultuous 2022 season.

Vito Calvaruso, a transfer from Arkansas, was expected to hold down the placekicker responsibilities. However, he didn't practice for the entirety of fall camp, and went 1-for-3 on field goat attempts before sustaining a leg injury and getting leapfrogged by Nate Van Zelst.

The kickoff specialist spot was a battle for most of the season, with Jack Van Dyke and Gavin Lahm going back and fourth, sometimes splitting the kickoff duties evenly in a game. Ultimately, Lahm won out and served as the Badgers' sole kickoff man over the final six games.

Wisconsin added a commitment from former Ohio kicker Nathanial Vakos by way of the transfer portal this winter. Vakos was a College Football News Freshman All-American for the Bobcats a season ago, going 22-for-27 on field goals and 49-50 on extra point attempts. His longest field goal came from 55 yards. The Badgers didn't convert on a field goal of 50-plus yards in 2022.

Vakos is projected to be the lone scholarship specialist on the roster, and should be the frontrunner to kick field goals. Vakos didn't handle kickoffs his freshman year at Ohio, so that job is still likely up for grabs. Lahm and Van Dyke will battle for those duties, with Calvaruso potentially in the mix as well.

Gavin Meyers, who backed up Andy Vujnovich a season ago, should slide into the starting punter spot for the 2023 season. Vujnovich, who averaged 43.9 yards-per-punt a season ago, will try his hand at the pros.

Peter Bowden is expected to hold down the long snapper spot once again during his senior season.

Note: BadgerBlitz.com will withhold the preview of kickoff and punt returners until we watch spring camp practices starting next week.

While there should be competition at plenty of spots amongst the specialists, kickoff is looking like the biggest battle. All signs point to Vakos holding down field goal and extra-point responsibilities, as long as he can stay healthy. Meyers should slide right into the starting punter gig following Vujnovich's departure.

Kickoff specialist is a position the Badgers struggled to find consistency at until the later half of the season. As mentioned, it was a battle between Van Dyke and Lahm until Lahm took over sole responsibility of the position following the Michigan State game.

The battle between those two will be interesting to watch, as they each have their own strengths. The opponent's average starting field position was slightly better for Lahm, at about the 23 yard-line compared to about the 26 for Van Dyke. Van Dyke, however, posted just one less touchback on 26 fewer attempts. That came out to 19 percent of his kickoffs being returned, as opposed to 40.4 percent from Lahm. Then again, Lahm's kickoffs only garnered 14.2 yards-per-return, while Van Dyke's were at 22.5. Both kickers had a nearly identical average hang time. New special teams coach Matt Mitchell will need to evaluate both and determine which traits he favors.

The addition of Vakos might've flown under the radar in the larger scope of Wisconsin's elite transfer class. Nevertheless, the former Ohio kicker shouldn't be taken lightly.

If Vakos pans out for the Badgers and can build on his Freshman All-American season in 2022, he'll give Wisconsin something they didn't have last year: a true threat to kick long field goals.

Wisconsin only attempted one field goal of 50-plus yards, which Calvaruso missed. Vakos alone attempted three last year, hitting one of them. Having a kicker with range should allow the offense to finish out more drives and give Fickell more to work with when making decisions in fringe field goal territory.

It's also worth noting that in the Badgers' three-point loss to Washington State in week two, Calvaruso missed two field goals. In low scoring games like that, having a reliable placekicker is absolutely necessary, and Vakos could be the answer.

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