Most important Badgers for 2019, No. 8: Tyler Biadasz

To continue our summer of football preview content at Bucky’s 5th Quarter, we are counting down Wisconsin’s Top 10 Most Important Players for the 2019 football season. These aren’t necessarily the “best” players on Wisconsin’s team, although you will find many of those listed, but they have been deemed the most important to Wisconsin’s success this year by our motley crew of writers.

There was much debate via email over who should be on the list and it even resulted in Drew going to Owen’s house and ding dong ditching him. Cooler heads eventually prevailed and now we have our final list to present to you.

Here is No. 8 on that list: center (but also maybe cornerback!) Tyler Biadasz

2018 stats: 13 games started, 1st Team All-Big Ten

2018 year in review: Biadasz started his second season as the starting center last season. Though some in the media viewed Biadasz as potentially the most talented of a very talented group, the youngest starter fit right in for one of the best offensive line units in the country.

Biadasz was arguably the best lineman for the Badgers a year ago, not bad for a unit that produced three NFL players. His games against Purdue and Miami in the bowl game were dominant performances, and showed what was to come. Biadasz, along with 3rd round pick Michael Deiter of the Miami Dolphins and Beau Benzschawel, who signed with the Detriot Lions as a free agent, were probably the best interior trio of offensive linemen in the country last season.

2019 year in preview: Tyler Biadasz will enter the 2019 season as the leader of the most important position in the entire Wisconsin football program. In what will be his third year as the starting center, Biadasz will be the most experienced and most accomplished member of the offensive line, which will be breaking in three* new starters in 2019. (*Cole Van Lanen will technically be a new starter at left tackle, but played more than half of the snaps in 2019 while rotating with Jon Dietzen).

Biadasz told me that he received a “Return to School” grade from the NFL Draft Advisory Committee last season, which is as blasphemous today as it was back in January. Biadasz should, barring injury or some other unforeseen event, continue his dominance as an interior lineman this season and be in consideration to be a Top 50 draft pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.