A LITTLE BIT GREEN
Fans will just have to wait and see if UW can overcome its inexperience at outside linebacker
MADISON – Seven of Wisconsin’s top 10 tacklers last season were linebackers.
Five of those players return in 2017, but the two departures are significant.
T.J. Watt led UW in sacks (11 1⁄2), tackles for a loss (15 1⁄2) and finished third in tackles (63).
Vince Biegel, who missed two games, finished second in sacks (four), sixth in tackles for a loss (six) and seventh in total tackles (44).
In addition, only one of those five returners played outside linebacker last season. That was Garret Dooley, who started the two games Biegel missed and played in all 14 games.
The projected top four inside linebackers have a combined 51 starts at UW, which opens camp Saturday. The projected top four outside linebackers
have a combined six starts.
“We want to put our best 11 guys on the field,” outside linebackers coach Tim Tibesar said. “We want to put our best four linebackers on the field.
“If that involves a position change for one guy or another we’re certainly going to look at it.”
Redshirt junior T.J. Edwards (25 starts), redshirt senior Jack Cichy (11), redshirt sophomore Ryan Connelly (eight) and junior Chris Orr (seven) give UW four proven playmakers to man the inside spots.
UW’s top four outside linebackers at the close of spring were redshirt senior Dooley (two starts), senior Leon Jacobs (four), redshirt sophomore Zack Baun (zero) and junior college transfer Andrew Van Ginkel (zero).
Can that quartet work together to compensate for the departures of Watt and Biegel?
Dooley finished eighth on the team in tackles last season with 40. He recorded 3 1⁄2 sacks and 6 1⁄2 tackles for loss and appeared confident during spring ball.
Baun, a standout quarterback at Brown Deer High School, battled minor injuries last season and played in 12 of 14 games.
“He needs to stay healthy enough that he
can be on the field on a consistent basis,” Tibesar said of Baun. “He didn’t have a serious injury, but he had three separate minor injuries that limited him.
“He shows flashes of being a real good player. But he has got to show
that all the time. I think he’s got a chance to be a breakout player for us. He will be one of the fastest players on our defense. And he is starting to fill out a little bit more.”
Van Ginkel, from Rock Valley Iowa, played at the FCS level (South Dakota) in 2015 after redshirting in ’14. He then transferred to Iowa Western for 2016. The 6-foot-4, 234pounder, who has two seasons of eligibility remaining, moves well and appeared to grow more comfortable in the scheme as spring progressed.
“We wouldn’t have brought (him) in unless we thought he could contribute right away,” Tibesar said. “He is a Midwest kid who brought his lunch pail to work. That is how he got to where he was. He was not highly recruited.”
Jacobs has bounced around like a pinball since arriving at UW in 2013. His first position was outside linebacker, but he played on the inside in 2014 and ’15 and then was switched to fullback in the spring of ‘16. His stay there was short, however, and he was moved back to inside linebacker after injuries to Edwards and Orr.
The coaches moved him back to outside linebacker last spring.
“I’m excited for Leon and about Leon,” head coach Paul Chryst said. “There's a guy that would do anything for this team, and he did it . ...
“I think the outside is a really good fit for him . ... I think he's a guy that is capable of having a really big impact on this team, and I'm excited for him to have that senior year that you’re playing your best football. He works. He's talented. I think he'll be really a big part of what we do defensively.”