MADISON, Wis. — Luke Fickell stood in the middle of the field following the final preseason practice at UW-Platteville and was asked where he believed Wisconsin’s team had taken the most significant strides during two weeks on campus. His immediate thought went to the defensive line and the fact that coaches had faith in being able to use six players up front each game.
As Wisconsin prepares for its Friday night season opener against Western Michigan, that number sits at five. Fickell confirmed Monday that starting defensive lineman James Thompson Jr. could miss the entire season. Thompson underwent surgery last week for an upper-body injury he sustained during practice.
“It’s a big loss,” Fickell said. “It’s tough. A guy in his senior year who has been through so many things and has meant so much to us obviously over his time here. … The unfortunate thing happens and now he’ll be in a little bit different role for us this year. I don’t know that we’ll have a chance to get him back.”
Thompson has played in 40 career games at Wisconsin with 18 starts. He led all Badgers defensive linemen last season with 29 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. How the defensive line would perform already was considered among the bigger questions for Wisconsin’s defense entering this season.
Thompson’s absence was reflected on Wisconsin’s season-opening unofficial depth chart released Monday by the school. Here are six takeaways from the depth chart.
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1. Thompson was set to start alongside redshirt sophomore Curt Neal. Instead, redshirt senior Ben Barten will replace Thompson. Barten recorded 12 tackles with one sack last season. Cade McDonald and Albany transfer Elijah Hills are listed as the backups, but Fickell said Stephen F. Austin transfer Brandon Lane “will definitely be a guy that you will see,” which gives the Badgers five upperclassmen on the D-line.
Where does Wisconsin go from there? Next up would appear to be true freshman Dillan Johnson, whom Fickell said “for sure” would play, though the number of snaps remains to be seen. Johnson made progress during the preseason and began earning second-team snaps by the time practices closed to the media. Other options beyond Johnson, according to Fickell, could be redshirt freshman Jamel Howard and walk-on Nolan Vils.
“The idea of us trying to play those guys 40 snaps a game being maybe the top three guys, there’s a lot of other snaps in there that we need from Hills and Brandon Lane and Dillan Johnson,” Fickell said. “We’re only going to be as good, as deep as we can be in that position.”
Here is Wisconsin’s season-opening two-deep. pic.twitter.com/lhYYzaSc2b
— Jesse Temple (@jessetemple) August 26, 2024
2. Wisconsin signed 11 four-star prospects in the 247Sports Composite for its 2024 recruiting class. Two of those players cracked the season-opening two-deep as backups: right tackle Kevin Heywood and cornerback Xavier Lucas.
Heywood worked at second-team left tackle as an early enrollee in the spring and earned first-team snaps at right tackle this preseason with Riley Mahlman sidelined due to injury. Lucas emerged in the second week of preseason practices as a talented, physical defensive back who would have a role this season. Lucas and Toledo transfer R.J. Delancy III are separated by an “OR” as the backup to starter Nyzier Fourqurean.
It was thought that perhaps true freshmen offensive linemen Colin Cubberly (right guard) and Emerson Mandell (right tackle) would be in the initial two-deep. Instead, Wisconsin’s second-team offensive line consists of Barrett Nelson at left tackle, James Durand at left guard, Kerry Kodanko at center, JP Benzschawel at right guard and Heywood at right tackle.
Although freshmen running backs Dilin Jones and Darrion Dupree don’t appear on the depth chart behind Chez Mellusi and Tawee Walker, both players have the potential to be contributors, as does freshman outside linebacker Thomas Heiberger when he returns from an injury.
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3. There are three other instances in which players are separated by an “OR” on the depth chart. Delancy and sophomore Jonas Duclona are co-backups to starting cornerback Ricardo Hallman. Outside linebackers Leon Lowery and John Pius are listed as co-starters opposite Darryl Peterson. And wide receivers Vinny Anthony and CJ Williams are separated by an “OR” for a starting receiver spot on the outside opposite Bryson Green.
Lowery and Pius both were standouts off the edge dating to the spring and will form a trio with Peterson that could be dynamic. Aaron Witt and North Carolina transfer Sebastian Cheeks are listed as the backup outside linebackers. Cheeks moved from inside linebacker following injuries this preseason to Heiberger and Witt and looked like a player capable of contributing this season.
“I think his athleticism, his ability to play in space as a potential drop guy and then his ability to rush the passer,” Fickell said. “He is a really unique, different type of pass-rushing guy that I think could provide a lot for us throughout this entire season.”
Williams and Anthony could split snaps on the outside. Quincy Burroughs is listed as the backup to Anthony and Williams, while Chris Brooks Jr. is the backup to Green.
4. One of the minor surprises based on where things stood when preseason practices began was safety Preston Zachman earning a starting spot ahead of Austin Brown. Zachman will pair with Hunter Wohler. Brown and Kamo’i Latu are listed as the backups. Zachman played in all 13 games last season with five starts but missed spring practices while recovering from offseason hip surgery. Fickell said first-year Badgers safeties coach Alex Grinch “came in and didn’t even know who Preston really was” because he couldn’t evaluate him this spring.
But Zachman came on strong this preseason, intercepting a pair of passes during one open practice. Brown played in 13 games with four starts last season and will still have a major role. He can play either safety or the nickel corner spot, which is where he started for Wisconsin in the ReliaQuest Bowl against LSU. Fickell said people can expect to see “a bunch of different combinations in the back end,” including personnel groupings that add safeties to the field.
5. The reason Brown isn’t listed as the starting nickel corner is because of how good Max Lofy has been in that role since the spring. Lofy has earned the starting job, with Owen Arnett listed as the backup. Lofy missed last season with an ankle injury, which was a challenging spot for him because it marked the first year under a new coaching staff. Fickell said he expected Brown would be the nickel corner when spring began and noted Lofy had taken the biggest leap on the team.
“Even as he came back in the start of spring to where he is now, I don’t think there’s another guy in our program that I have as much respect for because of the way in which he’s handled everything,” Fickell said. “He wasn’t handed anything. There was a time and a place where he probably was on the bubble to be here and not anything that was in his control. …
“He has done an unbelievable job of taking advantage of every opportunity that he has. I really expect some big things for him, and I’m excited to watch him play this entire season.”
6. Wisconsin’s depth chart on offense, defense and special teams consists of 25 seniors. From that group, 11 are seniors who began their careers with the Badgers: tight end Riley Nowakowski, left tackle Jack Nelson, Kodanko, Barten, McDonald, inside linebacker Jake Chaney, Wohler, Zachman, Lofy, starting holder/backup punter Gavin Meyers and backup long snapper Duncan McKinley.
In total, 26 players are holdovers who were part of the team under Paul Chryst two seasons ago. There are 21 transfers in the two-deep who have arrived since Fickell was hired. Eleven of the 15 scholarship transfers Wisconsin brought in this offseason are in the two-deep, which includes Michigan State transfer Tyrell Henry listed as the starting punt returner.
(Photo: Robert Goddin / USA Today)
