Wisconsin spring football: practice No. 8 recap

A look at what stood out from Thursday's spring practice from the McClain Center.

The Wisconsin Badgers football team was back on the field for their eighth of 15 spring practices Thursday morning.

Contents

1. Injury news
2. Top plays
3. Standout performers
4. Offensive notes
5. Defensive notes

The team practiced in shoulder pads, helmets, and shorts for just over 90 minutes. Individual work and red zone time comprised the majority of practice, with practice culminating with team reps. 

Here is a breakdown of what went down...

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Injury news

• Nick Herbig participated today for the first time this spring. He lined up with the first-team defense at outside linebacker and recorded a nice pass breakup during 7-on-7. 
• Travian Blaylock did not practice after suffering a leg injury earlier in the week. His status is still to be determined according to UW. 
• Jack Nelson did some individual work with the offensive line, but he did not participate in team drills. He has a left arm injury. 
• Redshirt freshman tight end Jack Pugh was a new addition to the injury report today. 
• The following players continued to be out: Semar Melvin (CB), Joe Tippmann (OL), A'Khoury Lyde (CB), Aaron Witt (OLB), Cam Large (TE), Chez Mellusi (RB), Isaac Guerendo (RB), Brady Schipper (RB), Preston Zachman (S), Clay Cundiff (TE), Stephan Bracey (WR), Jack Eschenbach (TE), Jordan DiBenedetto (WR). 

Another beautiful day in the office 📈💼 pic.twitter.com/ztTMOAFFIC

— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) April 7, 2022

Top plays

• Skyler Bell hauled in a touchdown throw from Chase Wolf at the back of the end zone. Bell beat Max Lofy and held on to the catch through traffic. 

• Graham Mertz had a touchdown toss on a seam route to Chimere Dike. 

• Mertz also connected with Hayden Rucci on a long toss during team drills. 
• Hunter Wohler came up from his safety position and jarred the ball loose from Jaylan Franklin on a pass attempt from Mertz. 

Standout performers

• Skyler Bell had a big day. The redshirt freshman wide-out had two touchdowns during red-zone work, and he also had a 20+ yard reception in traffic on a beautiful throw by Mertz during skelly. 
• James Thompson Jr. was in the backfield on multiple occasions from his defensive end spot. Rodas Johnson and Isaiah Mullens earned most of the first-team reps, but Thompson made plays when he rotated in. 
• Nate Van Zelst was 3-for-3 on field goals and appears to be emerging as the clear favorite for the placekicking duties.

Offensive notes

• The offensive line is still coming along. With Jack Nelson unable to take part in team drills the two-deep was as follows:

Left Tackle	Left Guard	Center	Right Guard	Right Tackle
Riley Mahlman (71)	Tyler Beach (65)	Tanor Bortolini (63)	Michael Furtney (74)	Logan Brown (50)
Trey Wedig (78)	Dylan Barrett (61)	Cormac Sampson (62)	JP Benzschawel (67)	Nolan Rucci (66)

• Nolan Rucci also saw a couple of snaps as an extra blocking tight end with the Badgers low on players at the position. 
• Braelon Allen saw plenty of work as a receiving target out of the backfield. 
• Chimere Dike, Skyler Bell, Markus Allen, and Keontez Lewis received the bulk of the wide receiver reps with the first-team offense. Dike and Bell definitely made the most plays on Thursday. 
• The passing game is much more consistent with Mertz under center than any of the other quarterbacks. He had some really nice throws on Thursday but did narrowly avoid an interception on spring out where he should have thrown the ball away. Overall, a good day for Mertz though, which is promising. 
• Cole Dakovich saw the field a bit more with all of the injuries and looked good in limited opportunities. He did have a touchdown during 7-of-7's. 

Offensive line had multiple penalties during team time.

Bob Bostad had his group running after the team broke down.

— Matt Belz (@savedbythebelz) April 7, 2022

Defensive notes

• The defensive line looked really good on Thursday. I think the top four of Isaiah Mullens, Keeanu Benton, Rodas Johnson, and James Thompson Jr. should give the Badgers a tremendous foundation. 
• Nick Herbig and CJ Goetz were the top players at outside linebacker during skelly, but Kaden Johnson took over for Herbig during team periods. 
• TJ Bollers had a pretty run stuff during the team portion of practice. He and Darryl Peterson were with the second group at outside linebacker. 
• The inside linebackers continued to rotate through. Tate Grass and Maema Njongmeta were still the first up in the rotation.
• In the secondary Hunter Wohler and John Torchio were the starting safeties with the Blaylock injury. Owen Arnett and early enrollee Avyonne Jones worked behind them during team time, though Jones also took snaps at cornerback. 
• Speaking of cornerbacks, Alexander Smith and Justin Clark were the top two corners during the base defense early on. Clark slid in to play the slot during nickel packages with UCLA transfer Jay Shaw working outside with the top group. 

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