ESPN B1G Blog: Way-too-early Big Ten Power Rankings

[The Big Nebrowski]

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[The Big Nebrowski]

Why are some under the impression that POB couldn't beat out Fyfe? I'm fairly certain he didn't beat out TA and then the staff decided to redshirt him to not waste a year of eligibility. If TA would have went down in the third game and was lost for the season, anybody actually believe we start Fyfe the rest of this year? I don't.

I think if POB was beating out Fyfe, you don't redshirt him and he's the b/u. You always go w whoever will give the best chance to win should the circumstances arise. Maybe he gives us 1-2 more Ws when TA went down. In the end, all this says is that the so-called #11 pro style recruit in the country can't beat out Ryker Fyfe, so good for Fyfe, he does have some game to him.

[B.B. Hemingway]

 

Why are some under the impression that POB couldn't beat out Fyfe? I'm fairly certain he didn't beat out TA and then the staff decided to redshirt him to not waste a year of eligibility. If TA would have went down in the third game and was lost for the season, anybody actually believe we start Fyfe the rest of this year? I don't.

I think if POB was beating out Fyfe, you don't redshirt him and he's the b/u. You always go w whoever will give the best chance to win should the circumstances arise. Maybe he gives us 1-2 more Ws when TA went down. In the end, all this says is that the so-called #11 pro style recruit in the country can't beat out Ryker Fyfe, so good for Fyfe, he does have some game to him.

 

 

Tommy didn't hurt his hamstring until the 10th game of the season.... It would have been asinine to pull POB's redshirt at that point, even if he was the better QB

[The Big Nebrowski]

 

 

 

Why are some under the impression that POB couldn't beat out Fyfe? I'm fairly certain he didn't beat out TA and then the staff decided to redshirt him to not waste a year of eligibility. If TA would have went down in the third game and was lost for the season, anybody actually believe we start Fyfe the rest of this year? I don't.

I think if POB was beating out Fyfe, you don't redshirt him and he's the b/u. You always go w whoever will give the best chance to win should the circumstances arise. Maybe he gives us 1-2 more Ws when TA went down. In the end, all this says is that the so-called #11 pro style recruit in the country can't beat out Ryker Fyfe, so good for Fyfe, he does have some game to him.

Tommy didn't hurt his hamstring until the 10th game of the season.... It would have been asinine to pull POB's redshirt at that point, even if he was the better QB

That's not what I'm saying. At the beginning of the season, if POB is the clear #2, then he's the b/u. You don't know if and when the starter may go down, but if that happens, you want the best #2 to take over. So, it appears that POB did not beat out Fyfe.

[lo country]

People have been trying to write off Wisconsin for a couple years now. All they do is keep winning. They just do a very good job of getting the most out of the guys that they have.

 

That's bound to end at some point. But until someone can prove otherwise, they've earned their spot.

Wisky has a clearly defined system and culture in place. They recruit for that. They are fundamentally and technique sound. They won't beat themselves. They make other teams win. They remind me so much of NU of old........

[Sargon]

I'm not one who will be assuming the new Wiscy DC will be a weakness. Since Barry's arrival what is their great/stupid ratio in hiring? Pretty great. Now, about the DC. He's smart. Very.

 

http://www.uwbadgers.com/coaches.aspx?rc=210&path=football

 

 

 

Jim Leonhard
Defensive Coordinator/DBs

Few could be considered more knowledgeable on the ins and outs of Wisconsin’s defense than Jim Leonhard, a 2015 inductee to the UW Athletic Hall of Fame who was one of the most successful players to ever patrol the Badgers’ defensive backfield.

Leonhard joined the Badgers’ coaching staff for the 2016 season as defensive backs coach, a matter of months after becoming a Hall of Famer. Less than a year later, on Feb. 2, 2017, he was named UW's defensive coordinator.

Leonhard’s impact on the Badgers’ secondary was immediate in 2016. His unit was instrumental in the Badgers grabbing 22 interceptions, a total that ranked second in the FBS and marked UW’s highest output since 2002, when Leonhard himself recorded a school-record 11 of UW’s 22 picks.

The secondary contributed to an overall effort that saw the Badgers finish the season ranked No. 4 nationally in scoring defense (15.6 points per game), No. 7 in total defense (301.4 yards per game), No. 3 in rushing defense (98.8 yards per game) and No. 10 in passing efficiency defense (106.9).

Under Leonhard’s tutelage, senior cornerback Sojourn Shelton was named first-team All-Big Ten for a season in which he recorded four interceptions and 12 pass breakups. Senior safety Leo Musso, the Badgers’ MVP, finished with a team-high five picks, while fellow safety D’Cota Dixon grabbed four and cornerback Derrick Tindal had three.

A product of tiny Tony, Wisconsin, Leonhard arrived on campus in 2001 as an unheralded, 5-foot-8 walk-on and left four years later as a three-time first-team All-American. He played in every game of his four-year career, including each of the last 39 as a starting safety, en route to becoming one of the best defensive players in school history.

He matched UW’s school record with 21 interceptions in his career, the fourth-most in Big Ten history, and finished with 50 passes defended — 25 of which came during his breakout sophomore season in 2002. His nation-leading 11 interceptions that year tied the Big Ten’s single-season record.

Leonhard went on to earn first-team All-America laurels that season and became the first sophomore to be named Wisconsin’s team MVP since 1947.

The following season, Leonhard proved those numbers were no fluke, again being named a first-team All-American. He led the Big Ten once again with eight interceptions, including a key fourth-quarter pick in Wisconsin’s 17-10 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, and tied for the team lead with 98 tackles. He also returned two punts for touchdowns and broke his own school record with 470 punt return yards.

As a senior, Leonhard again earned first-team All-America honors and was a finalist for the inaugural Lott IMPACT Trophy. He finished his career with 21 interceptions, tying Jamar Fletcher’s school record. He also broke the Big Ten record with 1,347 career punt return yards, a mark that currently ranks second in league annals.

In addition to his three All-America nods and three first-team All-Big Ten honors, Leonhard excelled in the classroom as well. A two-time Academic All-American, he joined Alan Ameche, Dave Mohapp and Don Davey as the only Badgers to earn that distinction multiple times. He was also one of 15 players nationally to earn a post-graduate scholarship from the National Football Foundation in 2004.

Though he went undrafted, Leonhard put together a 10-year NFL career with Buffalo, Baltimore, the New York Jets, Denver, New Orleans and Cleveland. He played in 142 games over his 10-year NFL career, starting 73 of them. He made 14 career interceptions and averaged 9.2 yards per punt return.

He earned a spot on the Bills’ 53-man roster after signing as an undrafted free agent following his senior season and spent three seasons in Buffalo, playing in 38 games.

Leonhard got his big break in 2008 after signing with the Baltimore Ravens. Following an injury to Dawan Landry, he started 16 of Baltimore’s final 17 games, including all three in the playoffs. He signed with the New York Jets the following season and started 40 games over the next three seasons. He then played for the Denver Broncos in 2012 and the Bills again in 2013 before retiring following the 2014 season with the Cleveland Browns.

Leonhard, 34, resides in Madison with his wife, Katie, and two sons, Reese and Graham.

[NUance]

Heh, so Leonhard is in the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame? Not to rain on your parade, but here is another esteemed Wisconsin Athletics HoF inductee:

 

LINK

[Red Five]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't think Wisconsin will have the offense to be #3 in the B1G. They lost too much of their offensive line. They're gonna have two RS freshmen and a sophomore on their O-line. Just sayin..

Who's gonna be their QBV

QBV? Is that a typo or are you interested in IEEE 802.1 performance of their LAN??

 

=========================

 

Ourlads has QB Bart Houston at the top of the Badger depth chart.

"ourlads", what kinda word is dat? So, is Houston the guy that beat us last year or is a new? I can nvr remember the names of all the damn QBVs they got up their.

Hornibrook will be their starter.

Gotta give them the nod then, we'll be breaking in a rookie.

Of course. If its Lee, he'll be a rookie in a sense that its a new offense but he'll have more D1 snaps than AH.

Lee's #s @ Tulane are very mediocre and that's being kind. Went 3-9 both yrs. I was hoping POB would be "who we thought he is" and come in guns ablazing, but he couldn't beat out even Fyfe, so I'm not holding my breath over either of those guys.

 

Who's AH, is he that JUCO or something?

Wouldn't go that far. I do think its easy to look at stats at a player on a team that normally wouldn't beat Nebraska on its worse day. Also POB was done a solid not being thrown to the wolves.

 

AH = Alex Hornibrook

Lee's #s don't impress and he won 6 ttl games in 2 yrs--at Tulane. Why's he @ Tulane in the 1st place? So, I'm not holding my breath there.

 

As to POB, well he was supposed to be one of those elite 11 blue chipper types like say Rosen or something, so much hype and the guy can't beat out Fyfe? Do you think Rosen wouldn't beat out Fyfe?

 

Well, so why do they hype these guys if its still gonna take em til there Jr. Year to be good? He's either elite or he isn't and he if can't beat out Fyfe for the b/u job, minimally he's not elite. Well, don't say a guy's elite when he's not and if the "guru" QB coaches Riles and Langs can't tell a guys not elite, then they aren't good at their jobs and they are way over paid. Am tired of getting these so-called elite or high ranked QBs and they get here and more or less suck or can't play for some reason--am thinking Stanton, Darlington, and Starling went baseball on us. H Beck, alotta busts over the years.

Sounds like more of a "you" problem elevating POB to "the savior". Comparing him to Rosen isn't fair at all. Rosen was the #1 pro qb his year.

 

POB was the #11 pro qb, and only 3 of the top 10 started a game last year (#1 Patterson, #2 Eason, and #10 Bentley. Interestingly, Eason was on the only team to have a winning record). So I think that we can chill a bit on hating him, unless you believe the other 7 qbs ahead of him have no future as well.

I personally never hyped POB. I READ on message boards months and months of hype re POB, "he's gonna beat out Tommy", "he's gonna save us", etc.

 

One would think that the #11 pro QB recruit in the country could, minimally, beat out Ryker Fyfe, a guy who only started 3(4?) games in his career, only because the other guy was injured. One would think POB, according to the hype, could beat out Tanner Lee, who prlly has nvr been hyped. I'm trying to be "nice", here. Just the way I see it.

So you are upset you read random fans on a Husker message board hyping up an incoming freshman QB.

 

Amazing...

[Sargon]

Heh, so Leonhard is in the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame? Not to rain on your parade, but here is another esteemed Wisconsin Athletics HoF inductee:

 

LINK

 

I hereby report you to you, for trouble-making. LOL good one as usual. Need more...this board is way low on humor IMO.

[Saunders]

 

Heh, so Leonhard is in the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame? Not to rain on your parade, but here is another esteemed Wisconsin Athletics HoF inductee:

 

LINK

 

I hereby report you to you, for trouble-making. LOL good one as usual. Need more...this board is way low on humor IMO.

 

I'll ban the trouble maker for you!!!

[MyBloodIsRed16]

 

 

 

 

Why are some under the impression that POB couldn't beat out Fyfe? I'm fairly certain he didn't beat out TA and then the staff decided to redshirt him to not waste a year of eligibility. If TA would have went down in the third game and was lost for the season, anybody actually believe we start Fyfe the rest of this year? I don't.

I think if POB was beating out Fyfe, you don't redshirt him and he's the b/u. You always go w whoever will give the best chance to win should the circumstances arise. Maybe he gives us 1-2 more Ws when TA went down. In the end, all this says is that the so-called #11 pro style recruit in the country can't beat out Ryker Fyfe, so good for Fyfe, he does have some game to him.

Tommy didn't hurt his hamstring until the 10th game of the season.... It would have been asinine to pull POB's redshirt at that point, even if he was the better QB

That's not what I'm saying. At the beginning of the season, if POB is the clear #2, then he's the b/u. You don't know if and when the starter may go down, but if that happens, you want the best #2 to take over. So, it appears that POB did not beat out Fyfe.

I looked at it this way, TA was the 3 yr starter and no way was POB playing unless TA got hurt in camp or 1st game. Fyfe seems to be a players player so you know he had fans on the team so coaches say he's #2 knowing they don't want to burn POBS redshirt. I think they were just trying to keep moral of the team as high as possible. I also think they were trying to temper the expectations of fans when it came to POB. They would always give short answers when asked about him. They were trying to slow down the hype train. Not very many scenarios where POB plays over TA or Fyfe just because that's the way the coaches wanted it. Also you have Lee who they brought in and seem to love. If you play POB and he does ok then what do you do with Lee?.. they avoided a QB contiversy before it started. Now they have all spring and fall to find out who the starter is. It will be Lee just based on how the coaches respond when asked about him

[marko polo]

I don't think Wisconsin will have the offense to be #3 in the B1G. They lost too much of their offensive line. They're gonna have two RS freshmen and a sophomore on their O-line. Just sayin..

They reload like we used to do.

[The Big Nebrowski]

 

 

 

 

 

Why are some under the impression that POB couldn't beat out Fyfe? I'm fairly certain he didn't beat out TA and then the staff decided to redshirt him to not waste a year of eligibility. If TA would have went down in the third game and was lost for the season, anybody actually believe we start Fyfe the rest of this year? I don't.

I think if POB was beating out Fyfe, you don't redshirt him and he's the b/u. You always go w whoever will give the best chance to win should the circumstances arise. Maybe he gives us 1-2 more Ws when TA went down. In the end, all this says is that the so-called #11 pro style recruit in the country can't beat out Ryker Fyfe, so good for Fyfe, he does have some game to him.

Tommy didn't hurt his hamstring until the 10th game of the season.... It would have been asinine to pull POB's redshirt at that point, even if he was the better QB

That's not what I'm saying. At the beginning of the season, if POB is the clear #2, then he's the b/u. You don't know if and when the starter may go down, but if that happens, you want the best #2 to take over. So, it appears that POB did not beat out Fyfe.

I looked at it this way, TA was the 3 yr starter and no way was POB playing unless TA got hurt in camp or 1st game. Fyfe seems to be a players player so you know he had fans on the team so coaches say he's #2 knowing they don't want to burn POBS redshirt. I think they were just trying to keep moral of the team as high as possible. I also think they were trying to temper the expectations of fans when it came to POB. They would always give short answers when asked about him. They were trying to slow down the hype train. Not very many scenarios where POB plays over TA or Fyfe just because that's the way the coaches wanted it. Also you have Lee who they brought in and seem to love. If you play POB and he does ok then what do you do with Lee?.. they avoided a QB contiversy before it started. Now they have all spring and fall to find out who the starter is. It will be Lee just based on how the coaches respond when asked about him

All good speculation. Politics. TL, BTW, had to sit out a year.

 

Fyfe beat out POB, prlly just as plain as that. Kudos to Fyfe, and I'm still worried re POB. But I'll get over it.

[NUinID]

 

People have been trying to write off Wisconsin for a couple years now. All they do is keep winning. They just do a very good job of getting the most out of the guys that they have.

 

That's bound to end at some point. But until someone can prove otherwise, they've earned their spot.

Wisky has a clearly defined system and culture in place. They recruit for that. They are fundamentally and technique sound. They won't beat themselves. They make other teams win. They remind me so much of NU of old........

 

 

The bolded statement says it all. Wisky is what Nebraska was from about 1974-1992. Alverez has said many time he patterned Wisconsin after Nebraska. Overall they may not be the most athletic team, and it can show when they go up against ultra talented teams, but by and large they stay in games and win a lot of games because they do all the things said above. The one thing that they really do well is produce great offensive lines. That is what I see is the most like Nebraska of the past.

 

Wisconsin's recruiting classes are usually in the 40's, but I also think a lot of their homegrown talent is undervalued a lot. Just like a lot of Nebraska's instate talent is undervalued. The big difference is that the state of Wisconsin has 3x the population of Nebraska and they get a lot more homegrown talent than Nebraska. They consistantly get 7-8 solid players out of their home state every year. That is huge compared to the 2-3 NU typically gets out of the home state. I just looked at their class from this year, they took 7 in state guys. All are 3* guys. They had 1 guy listed as a TE he was 6'7" and 280. I doubt he plays TE, but will be playing tackle in about 3 years at about 325. Couple that with the fact that they also get very solid walk ons from instate. They also recruit the states around them very well especially Illinois.

[Old Nebraska Guy]

Another little plus for Wisconsin's walk-on program is, I believe, all the UW-directional schools are D-III. If I am an instate kid with interest from only D-III schools and an offer to walk-on at UW-Madison I might as well go for the gold and walk-on at UW-Madison since I am writing a check no matter where I go to school.