veteran Madison writer Tom Oates calls it extreme makeover:
Gone in the offensive line are guards Michael Deiter and Beau Benzschawel and tackles David Edwards and Jon Dietzen. Deiter and Benzschawel were four-year starters, Edwards left one year early for the NFL draft and Dietzen opted to give up the sport due to injuries. As a group, that foursome combined for 163 starts at UW.
It is much the same on defense, where the veteran players who lined up down the middle of the field have graduated and, presumably, are headed for the NFL. Multiyear fixtures such as inside linebackers T.J. Edwards and Ryan Connelly, nose tackle Olive Sagapolu and safety D’Cota Dixon combined for 136 starts.
Throw in three-year starting quarterback Alex Hornibrook, who is transferring to Florida State, and four-year kicker Rafael Gaglianone and there is a serious shortage of familiar faces participating in spring ball. This is one instance where you truly can’t tell the players without a scorecard.
When you combine those personnel losses with the departures a year ago of stalwarts such as tight end Troy Fumagalli, defensive linemen Alex James, Chikwe Obasih and Conor Sheehy and defensive backs Derrick Tindal and Natrell Jamerson, you can see that UW’s two-year roster makeover has been extreme.
Here is another way of looking at it: After going for years with a veteran-laden lineup, Chryst has only two projected starters — junior tailback Jonathan Taylor and junior center Tyler Biadasz — who were full-time starters in both 2017 and 2018. Orr, senior guard Jason Erdmann and junior wide receivers Kendric Pryor, A.J. Taylor and Danny Davis are the only projected starters who played major roles in each of the past two seasons
Gone in the offensive line are guards Michael Deiter and Beau Benzschawel and tackles David Edwards and Jon Dietzen. Deiter and Benzschawel were four-year starters, Edwards left one year early for the NFL draft and Dietzen opted to give up the sport due to injuries. As a group, that foursome combined for 163 starts at UW.
It is much the same on defense, where the veteran players who lined up down the middle of the field have graduated and, presumably, are headed for the NFL. Multiyear fixtures such as inside linebackers T.J. Edwards and Ryan Connelly, nose tackle Olive Sagapolu and safety D’Cota Dixon combined for 136 starts.
Throw in three-year starting quarterback Alex Hornibrook, who is transferring to Florida State, and four-year kicker Rafael Gaglianone and there is a serious shortage of familiar faces participating in spring ball. This is one instance where you truly can’t tell the players without a scorecard.
When you combine those personnel losses with the departures a year ago of stalwarts such as tight end Troy Fumagalli, defensive linemen Alex James, Chikwe Obasih and Conor Sheehy and defensive backs Derrick Tindal and Natrell Jamerson, you can see that UW’s two-year roster makeover has been extreme.
Here is another way of looking at it: After going for years with a veteran-laden lineup, Chryst has only two projected starters — junior tailback Jonathan Taylor and junior center Tyler Biadasz — who were full-time starters in both 2017 and 2018. Orr, senior guard Jason Erdmann and junior wide receivers Kendric Pryor, A.J. Taylor and Danny Davis are the only projected starters who played major roles in each of the past two seasons
