Wisconsin is a third of the way through fall camp, and Tuesday morning inside the Kellner Family Athletic Center gave a clearer picture of who’s making noise. Practice No. 5 brought a handful of players to the front, with the defense flashing in a big way and the quarterback battle continuing to sort itself out.
The loudest moment of the day belonged to Heiberger. He delivered the defense’s top highlight when he jumped Ryan Hopkins’ eyes in 11-on-11 work, cut in front of the throw and took it back for what would have been a pick six.
He wasn’t done there, either. He added multiple pass breakups in team periods and kept showing the kind of feel in coverage that stands out at both Mike and Will linebacker.
On the other side of the ball, Hilton kept looking like the dependable target in the receiver group. He had one drop on a hard throw from Colton Joseph over the middle, but that was the exception.
Everything else seemed to stick, including a pair of diving grabs. He has a knack for getting under the ball before it hits the ground, and he lined up with the starting wideouts alongside Chris Brooks Jr and Tyrell Henry.
Joseph’s morning started unevenly in quarterback/wideout drills, where he missed high and low on several throws during individual work. But once the team periods began, he answered with a couple of strong plays.
He spun away from pressure, extended the play and found Hilton for a diving catch that moved the chains. Later, he put a well-layered ball on a corner route to Jaylon Domingeaux in 7-on-7 work.
What may have mattered just as much as the throws was Joseph’s presence. After offensive line coach Eric Mateos went after his group during another break, Joseph headed over to his linemen to lift them up before the next period.
And when the offense hit a rough patch in 11-on-11s, he helped swing the energy back with a few plays of his own, including the escape-and-toss to Hilton. The Badgers need his arm, but they also need that voice.
In the backup quarterback race, Adams had the better day than Hopkins. He was the most accurate of the Badgers’ passers and turned in some of the better offensive moments in team periods.
He worked through his reads on one snap and hit Jackson McGohan over the middle on his third or fourth option for about 15 yards. On another, he rolled left to avoid pressure and still managed to find Ryan Schwendeman over the middle on a cross-body throw.
His best throw may have come on a deep out to McGohan, placed perfectly for a big gain.
Garner kept making life miserable for the run game on the edge. He logged multiple tackles for loss in both 11-on-11 work and more specific run drills, and at 6-foot-7, 315 pounds, he’s a problem just by showing up. He looks like someone pushing for a larger role this fall.
Perkins also continued to climb. The big body in the middle of the defensive line looks like one of the top two players in that room alongside West Virginia transfer Hammond Russel IV, and he backed that up Tuesday.
He blew up one run in the backfield, then did the same thing on the very next play, this time throwing the halfback to the turf. The defensive line as a whole had a strong morning, but Perkins’ rise feels like a major factor for this group.
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Joe Brunners move from Wisconsin to Indiana this offseason is the kind of transfer that lingers with a fan base, especially after a down year for the Badgers. A player once expected to be part of the lines foundation is now lining up somewhere else in the Big Ten, and the early signs in Bloomington suggest he is finding a different kind of fit.
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One of the brighter offensive moments came from JUCO transfer tailback Juju Pope, who broke loose for a long touchdown with the second-team offense. Even so, the defense had the louder answers overall, with Posa coming through on one of the most disruptive plays of the day by knifing into the backfield on a jet-motion look and blowing it up before it could get started. For an offense still sorting itself out, it was a useful reminder that camp progress often looks more like resistance than comfort. [Read more 🡒]
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The most interesting part of camp is not just who is practicing, but which players are starting to separate themselves as the staff evaluates the first units and the key contributors behind them. There is a real sense that several of these battles could shape how the offense and defense look once the games count, and a few spots already have the feel of decisions that may not be settled until camp is deep into its final stretch. [Read more 🡒]