Wisconsin’s offensive line picture has shifted fast in fall camp, and the move that started as a left tackle competition has now spilled into the right side.
Coming out of spring, Ole Miss transfer PJ Wilkins looked like the tentative answer at left tackle, even if Florida State transfer Lucas Simmons-Johansson was starting to close the gap. By the end of spring practice, Simmons-Johansson was taking some first-team reps, and he carried that momentum into the summer. Offensive line coach Eric Mateos singled him out as one of the more impressive performers in workouts, saying the lineman had added 20 pounds since spring training.
That set up what looked like a real battle for one of Wisconsin’s most important spots. Then Kevin Heywood got hurt.
Wisconsin’s starting right tackle suffered a lower body injury at the second practice of fall camp and is currently considered “day-to-day.” With Heywood unavailable, Simmons-Johansson has moved over and taken over the starting right tackle job, turning a projected left tackle fight into a broader shuffle across the line.
“All O-line coaches are grinding out to make number seven, number eight on the roster viable to go win football games. This to me gives us an opportunity to do that even earlier and more frequently than we already anticipated.
We were gonna rotate guys who were number six, seven or eight... I look at it as an opportunity to develop the depth now," Mateos said Tuesday after fall camp practice No.
That depth matters. Wisconsin’s offensive line depth was one of the offense’s biggest problems last season, right behind the mess at quarterback. If the right side of the line misses real time in camp, the Badgers won’t have much choice but to lean on that depth sooner than planned.
Simmons-Johansson is dealing with more than just a new spot, too. He has to switch sides while learning a much bigger offensive menu.
"You know, he always kinda played a style of offense that was like two run plays in it and that’s it. The playbook has expanded for him dramatically and he’s responded well to it," Mateos said.
"He’s responded well to sudden change. Like, ‘Okay, I gotta move over to the right,’ he’s never done right tackle in his career. That’s a big change, and some people don’t think it’s a big change, but try wiping when you go to the bathroom with your opposite hand, tell me how it goes."
The key now is Heywood’s timetable. If he comes back soon, Simmons-Johansson could be flipped back to the left side to keep pushing Wilkins.
If Heywood stays out through Week 1, though, Wisconsin may be forced to keep Simmons-Johansson locked in at right tackle and leave the left tackle battle in a very different place than expected. Either way, the dominoes along the offensive line are already falling.
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