Checking in on Badgers at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, East-West Shrine Game

For the next couple of weekends, Wisconsin Badgers fans will be able to watch some of the outgoing 2018 seniors one last time.

Though it appears safety D’Cota Dixon is now listed with an injury designation for the 2019 East-West Shrine Game, running back Taiwan Deal and placekicker Rafael Gaglianone are on the roster for the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl on Saturday.

For that matter, three other Badgers—guards Michael Deiter and Beau Benzschawel, along with fullback Alec Ingold—will participate in the Senior Bowl next weekend. B5Q’s Owen Riese will be down in Mobile taking in and breaking down all the practices, and will hopefully receive the opportunity to speak with all three players as well.

NFLPA Collegiate Bowl (4 p.m. CT, FS1)

Playing at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, both Deal and Gaglianone are listed on the American roster.

They highlighted Deal’s journey briefly in the video below:

In another connection to the state, Deal and Gaglianone will team up with UW-Whitewater offensive lineman Nathan Trewyn on the American squad.

D’Cota Dixon and the East-West Shrine Game (2 p.m. CT, NFL Network)

Unfortunately, the former Wisconsin safety is now designated as “injured” on the West roster. For that matter, both linebackers Ryan Connelly and Andrew Van Ginkel apparently accepted invites to the all-star game previously but are not on either East or West roster.

Before that injury listing, however, Dixon seemed to shine in day 1 of practices. NFL.com’s Chase Goodbread noted on Jan. 16 that both Dixon and Colorado linebacker Drew Lewis made an impression on West head coach and Minnesota Vikings linebackers coach Adam Zimmer.

The official roster as of Jan. 18 states Dixon’s measurables as 5’10 and 198 pounds. He also caught quite the interception during a practice as well against Boise State’s Brett Rypien (as you can see from two separate angles).