Wisconsin spring practice No. 10 recap

MADISON—On a milder Tuesday morning, the Wisconsin Badgers practiced inside Camp Randall Stadium for its tenth of 15 spring sessions.

That included redshirt junior defensive end Garrett Rand, along with a couple other returning Badgers.

Reporters saw Rand work through some position drills early on in the two hour practice for the first time this spring, though it appeared he did not partake in all line drills through practice nor Wisconsin’s team periods. However, it is a solid step forward for the defensive lineman.

Junior cornerback Madison Cone (right leg) participated on Tuesday as well. Looked like he worked with the safeties during an individual positional period. He also picked off a Jack Coan throw during what appeared to be red zone 1-on-1 matchups between the wide receivers and the quarterbacks. I also had in my notes that he worked in some skeleton (think 7-on-7 work) with Deron Harrell and Rachad Wildgoose in a nickel look for the defensive backs.

Wide receiver Danny Davis (right leg) suited up as well for the first time in practices open to the media. I did not catch if he performed some early positional work, but like Rand, he did not see snaps during team drills.

Injuries

Those added as out on Tuesday included:

• CB Faion Hicks (right leg)
• TE Jake Ferguson (right leg)
• TE Coy Wanner (left leg)

Fullback Mason Stokke (right leg) and offensive lineman Logan Bruss (left thumb) also were absent once again. Sophomore John Chenal stepped in at fullback, and former walk-on Josh Seltzner took over the right guard slot for where Bruss was playing prior to the injury. Gabe Lloyd worked with the starters at tight end in place of Ferguson.

On the west sideline at one point during practice, I saw outside linebacker Christian Bell and wide receiver Emmet Perry performing some conditioning exercises.

Observations

• Harrell and Williams looked like the first tandem up at cornerback on Tuesday. Williams made another nice interception on a Coan throw in one of the first team sessions.
• Again, a lot of mixing and matching at cornerback. At times in practice, I saw Alexander Smith and Rachad Wildgoose paired together, then Smith and Donte Burton during a skeleton period. Also saw Wildgoose work in with Harrell and Williams in a nickel package.
• Leo Chenal strikes again, and once again it was against fellow true freshman Graham Mertz. I’m not sure if Mertz even saw the inside ‘backer, but by the looks of everything in that play, Chenal hauled in an easy pick. I’ll transcribe some comments tonight from Jim Leonhard regarding Chenal’s progression and get them up on the site in the coming day or two.
• During wide receiver/defensive back one-on-one periods where the quarterbacks were throwing, it seemed like it was more even this Tuesday compared to last Tuesday’s sessions. Both sides won some battles, and I liked Kendric Pryor’s speed on one of the first reps they performed in getting past Williams for a deep reception.
• Saw that Zack Baun and Noah Burks received a lot of “first-team” reps together on Tuesday, but when the defense went to a nickel look, that is where redshirt sophomore Izayah Green-May stepped in alongside Baun.
• More combinations at outside linebacker included Tyler Johnson and Green-May and Spencer Lytle and Jaylan Franklin.

• On the offensive line, Tyler Beach and David Moorman flipped tackle spots, as Beach worked at left tackle and Moorman saw time at right tackle with the starters. Offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph praised Moorman after practice. We’ll get that up on the site in the next day or so.
• I need to track the other quarterbacks on this observation as well, and will do so for Friday’s practice that’s open to the media, but it looked like Graham Mertz received limited reps with what could be described as the “first-team.” That’s based off the offensive line who was in the snap, and he completed a pass to A.J. Taylor during one team period. However, that seems like it was just a rep or two in one period, but then he worked with the reserves. Again, the coaching staff likely mixing and matching the players. As B5Q has also called out before, Mertz throws a nice out pattern with arm strength and accuracy.
• As we have seen throughout the practices open to us, all of Coan’s reps have come with the first-team.
• Chase Wolf continues to show a strong arm. I felt like he was sacked on one snap, but the coaches let the players play through it and he chucked a ball deep that A.J. Abbott caught with a couple of defensive backs attempting to cover.