Wisconsin Badgers' Positional Previews: Offensive Line
We are about two months away from the first home game of the season against Utah State, on a Friday at Camp Randall Stadium. With the expectations increasing after making the Big Ten Championship and winning the Cotton Bowl in head coach Paul Chryst's second season, the Badgers definitely look the part. Today, I'll be discussing the best position on the Badgers, year in and year out, the offensive line.
DEPTH CHART
LT-David Edwards (RS SO), Cole Van Lanen (RS FR)
LG-Jon Dietzen (RS SO), Micah Kapoi (RS JR)
C-Michael Deiter (RS JR), Tyler Biadasz (RS FR)
RG-Beau Benzschawel (RS JR), David Moorman (RS SO)
RT-Patrick Kasl (RS FR), Jacob Maxwell (RS JR)
There's no "Ryan Ramczyk" in this year's group of offensive linemen, and the good news is that there are no seniors. The other good news it that the classes have around the same amount of linemen (juniors-4, sophomores-3, freshmen-3). However, since they are all redshirts, all but the freshmen are eligible for the NFL Draft.
That's not that bad, however, as the only Badger in the cbssports.com top 100 prospect rankings for the NFL draft is TE Troy Fumagalli, meaning no linemen are currently on the radar. Ramczyk's presence with the scouts grew over time, and you have to figure somebody here will, but it probably won't be enough, since all four returning starters are, well, returning.
The keys to this group being successful will be the left and right tackles, and showing that a redshirt freshman can protect the blind side of the lefty QB Alex Hornibrook. Edwards will have to move from right to left to fill in the shoes of Ramczyk. The most underrated aspect of this group of line is the depth, as both Kapoi and Maxwell have a significant amount of playing time as well.
