RUNNING BACKS
Tailbacks
Starter: Jonathan Taylor, 5-foot-11 and 219 pounds, junior.
Key reserve: Garrett Groshek, 5-11 and 220, redshirt junior.
Fullbacks
Starter: Mason Stokke, 6-2 and 239, redshirt junior.
Key reserve: John Chenal, 6-2 and 252, sophomore.
INSIDE THE HUDDLE
UW’s coaches tried last season to get Taylor more involved in the passing game. Nevertheless, Taylor finished with only eight catches in 13 games. As dangerous as he could be as a receiver who gets the ball in the open field, Taylor doesn’t consistently catch the ball cleanly in practice. He won’t be a factor in the passing game until he shows improvement in practice.
Just as important, the staff doesn’t plan to force-feed passes to Taylor just to make him more attractive to the pros.
“There’s not one decision that we’ve made that puts a kid ahead of the team,” head coach Paul Chryst said.
Preseason camp should be interesting as several players jockey for playing time.
Brady Schipper, a walk-on from Stoughton, looked to be the third-best tailback in the spring. Can he continue his impressive play and steal a spot in the rotation? Will Nakia Watson, who came on late in the spring, find the consistency the staff wants? Remember, the coaches initially thought Watson might be able to help last season but he needed a redshirt year instead. Can freshman Julius Davis show he has recovered from the sports hernia he suffered as a senior last year at Menomonee Falls?
And will Bradrick Shaw, who hasn’t played since suffering a torn ACL in the 2017 regular-season finale, make it back onto the field? Shaw was held out of contact work in the spring and still didn’t appear to be fully recovered from the injury. The comeback would make a wonderful story but is that realistic?