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Predicting Three Wisconsin Football Depth Chart Shakeups this Summer
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- Predicting Three Wisconsin Football Depth Chart Shakeups this Summer
Wisconsin wide receiver Eugene Hilton. | Christian Borman.
As football season inches closer, we've reached the calm before the storm of media days and fall camp that takes us up to kickoff.
And in the dog days of the summer, no one's job is set in stone just yet .
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Sure, there's some forgone conclusions - I can obviously tell you with great certainty that Colton Joseph will be Wisconsin 's starting quarterback. But aside from that job and few others, there's competition up and down this roster that will only intensify under the August sun at fall camp.
Whose position on the depth chart is in jeopardy, and who could leapfrog teammates to earn a bigger role this fall? Badgers On SI takes a look below:
1. Eugene Hilton cracks Wisconsin's top three receivers
Wisconsin WR Eugene Hilton | Christian Borman
Which is to say, the true sophomore earns a starting role. Hilton didn't consistently run with the starters in spring camp, muddying his outlook for this fall. Still, I believe it's only a matter of time before he's a starter.
This is a big fall camp for Hilton's Wisconsin career. He's going to have some role this fall regardless; he earned snaps immediately as a true freshman. But can he truly climb up the depth chart and essentially force the coaches to trot him out there with the starters? If not, his days as a Badger may be limited.
Chris Brooks Jr and Jaylon Domingeaux look like his primary competition on the boundary. With all due respect to those two receivers, the competition could be a lot stiffer; neither are proven at the Big Ten level. Hilton isn't either, but he's shown flashes and was clearly a top retention priority for the staff this offseason. He should get his shot this fall.
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2. Grant Stec nabs the TE2 role
Wisconsin tight end Grant Stec. | Christian Borman.
One of Wisconsin's more underrated transfer portal additions, 6-foot-6, 270-pound tight end Jacob Harris
from Bowling Green, looks set to hold down the starting role and for good reason. But Stec, ahead of his third season in Madison, has drawn rave reviews this offseason and I see him leapfrogging the Badgers' other tight end transfer addition, Ryan Schwendeman.
"Going into year three with Grant, I think that's the year where a lot of guys make jumps. Again, they've been in the system, their body starts to change," tight ends coach Nate Letton said this spring. "He's always been a big kid, he was a huge kid coming out of high school. With some of the body fat, the change in the actual body type. You're starting to see him move, come in and out of breaks at the top of his route, become a more viable option for us in the passing game on a wider route tree."
I'm not sure how statistically productive Stec will be in this offense, but he's knocking on the door of a starting role at this point.
3. CB Jai'mier Scott locks down a starting role
Wisconsin cornerback Jai'mier Scott. | Christian Borman.
Scott had a golden opportunity this spring with Oklahoma State transfer Eric Fletcher nursing an injury. He ran with the ones, and wrote headline after headline due to his outstanding play and his teammates and coaches alike raving about him.
"He likes to solve problems with violence," cornerbacks coach Robert Steeples
said. "I think he's got an extremely high ceiling."
Fletcher is blazing fast and has significantly more experience, but Scott's talent appears to be off the charts. As defensive coordinator Mike Tressel put it, "He believes it's his time now."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/wisconsin as Predicting Three Wisconsin Football Depth Chart Shakeups this Summer .
