Who has taken the biggest strides in the offseason on defense so far?
· Yahoo Sports
The Wisconsin Badgers have kicked off spring ball, with this week being off due to spring break. Reporters have gotten to see a couple of practices with the new-look team that has 45 new players and a number of projected starters.
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With pads coming on soon, it’s still far too early to say how several position battles will play out, but there is a ton of competition at a lot of key positions. Running back, wide receiver, tight end, defensive line, cornerback, and safety all saw overhauls this offseason, with transfers being projected starters at every position.
The defensive line group is especially new, as Wisconsin had to replace all of its top production with players in the transfer portal. They do have some players coming back, such as Charles Perkins and Nolan Vils, who will look to have bigger roles in 2026, but it is a group that will have a lot of competition throughout the offseason.
Who has taken the biggest strides so far this offseason?
“Well, first of all, I got to say this, Perk (Charles Perkins) has, knock on wood, keep rolling, but he’s shown great strides,” Tressel. “That’s really exciting to see. Also say (Nolan) Vils has taken great strides. So before you even get to the new guys, but when you get to the new guys, Junior (Poyser) is like the old man of the group. Like, he’s going to give you everything the exact same every single time, and sort of keeps anybody in the group from having these types of things. And there’s been times where we’ve had some ups and downs in terms of just the mentality and the strain. And he’s one that keeps it. And he’s a big physical dude. So that’s really exciting and great leadership for us.
“DeNigel Cooper, he’s a little bit undersized. We’re putting the weight on right now, but he is a twitchy dude and doesn’t take blank from anybody, which is really fun to see. Jake Anderson, I know, is going to be a dude that’s absolutely Mr. Reliable in there. And every day you can see him get better. He got banged up in the last game of the year, and he’s just feeling more and more and more comfortable. And quite honestly, all of them, like, we’re going against a Big Ten line every day. So there’s a little adjustment, but I think we have depth like we had last year. I think we do. We still have time to work. I can give you a better answer to that after the spring, but I like the direction.”
The Badgers will need to have some pass rush in that group, and they’re hoping for a lot of that crew to take the next step playing up a level. But they should have the depth needed in the Big Ten, and the bigger bodies should help against the run.
Still, it’s a good sign that the returners are catching the eye of the coaching staff, with Nolan Vils being a player who has consistently flashed and risen up the depth chart.