UW faces injury issues, questions on DL
First in a series of nine position previews leading to the opening of Wisconsin’s preseason camp Aug. 2.
MADISON – Wisconsin defensive line coach Inoke Breckterfield emerged from spring ball confident in his top three players:
Senior nose tackle Olive Sagapolu, junior end Garrett Rand and redshirt sophomore end Isaiahh Loudermilk.
“I’ve got three guys that have played ball,” Breckterfield said at the time. “I need more guys to roll in.”
Then came the hits. Loudermilk, slowed by injuries to both knees in 2017, underwent surgery on his left knee after spring ball concluded. The surgery was to address the issues Loudermilk was able to play through as a redshirt freshman.
Loudermilk was able to discard his crutches and brace by mid-June and could be ready to play before the Big Ten opener Sept. 22 at Iowa.
Rand, who appeared ready to blossom at end after serving as the No. 2 nose tackle his first two seasons, suffered a torn Achilles during summer workouts in June. He is expected to miss the entire 2018 season.
Those developments forced the staff to alter its game plan heading into camp, which opens Aug. 2.
According to UW officials, redshirt freshman Kayden Lyles will switch to nose tackle from the offensive line. Offensive coordinator/line coach Joe Rudolph loves Lyle’s potential at guard or center, but UW has enough depth on the offensive line to absorb the shortterm move.
Whether the 6-foot-3, 323-pound Lyles can make a successful transition to defense is one of many questions facing the unit entering camp.
With Loudermilk sidelined indefinitely, is redshirt freshman Aaron Vopal ready to step in at end? Vopal, a 6-6, 299-pounder from De Pere, was the third end in the spring.
“He is still growing and learning,” Breckterfield said. “He has size. He is athletic. He has length. I want him to be an every-down player.”
Is freshman Bryson Williams, who graduated from high school early and participated in spring ball, ready to help out at nose tackle or perhaps end?
Williams, 6-2 and 306, has the strength to play immediately. But he missed three of the 15 spring practices because of a minor leg injury and needs all the reps he can get.
“Physically he is fine,” Breckterfield said. “That is not an issue. There is some hesitation because it is all new to him. That is just throwing more reps at him and having him figure that part out.
“We need to get him ready. I like where he is at. He understands what is being asked of him. It is just about getting it done.”
Is freshman end Isaiah Mullens, a 6-5, 290-pounder from Ohio, ready to play early?
According to Breckterfield, Mullens is strong enough to hold up on the line. Whether he can grasp the schemes and handle the mental demands of college ball from Day 1 is to be determined.
“I’m going to throw a lot of reps at him in the fall to see if he can figure it out,” Breckterfield said.
Can a veteran reserve step forward to help shore the unit?
Kraig Howe and David Pfaff, both redshirt junior ends who have been relegated to mop-up duty, will have an opportunity to earn playing time.
Pfaff, from Homestead High School, redshirted in 2015, did not play in ’16 and played in only five games last season.
Howe redshirted in ’15, did not play in ’16 and played in one game last season.
Can redshirt sophomore Keldric Preston, 6-4 and 249, help in certain packages? Preston, from Tampa, played in one game last season.
Sagapolu, who has 19 starts and 39 games played at UW, played at 348 pounds last season. He is down to 338 and hopes to be on the field for all three downs. Could he slide to end to give UW more beef up front against certain foes?
The ability of UW to maintain its recent level of excellence defensively could hinge on how well the staff can develop the younger reserves.
“I think we found some guys that are going to be in that rotation and we need to find more,” defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard said in the spring. “That has been a big-time strength of this defense.”
UW opened last season with six linemen who had played in games. That included senior ends Alec James, Conor Sheehy and Chikwe Obasih.
Sagapolu had played extensively in each of his first two seasons; Rand got valuable work as a reserve as a freshman in 2016; and end Billy Hirschfeld could fill in if needed.
A knee injury cost Obasih six games and Loudermilk missed three because of knee injuries. Hirschfeld played in nine games before giving up football to concentrate on school.
“You’re going to have injuries,” Leonhard said. “You’re going to get banged up. We’ve done such a great job of stopping the run and making teams one-dimensional. They’re a huge part of that process with what we ask those guys to do.
“We’ve targeted some guys that we know are going to be in that rotation … now it’s trying to accelerate that (growth) process.”