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During the summer doldrums of sports news, many college football fans are starved for news and information regarding their favorite teams.
With that in mind, we at B5Q have decided to take a more detailed look at each walk-on contributor and scholarship player on the Wisconsin Badgers football roster for 2020 in a running feature, our 2020 returnee profiles.
Each weekday we will breakdown one player on the football roster to look back at their recruiting process, their career as a Badger to this juncture and lastly preview their potential contribution to the team in 2020 and beyond.
Today we focus our attention on speedster Stephan Bracey.
Name: Stephan Bracey
Position: wide receiver
2020 eligibility: redshirt freshman
Recruiting info out of HS: 247 composite 3-star, No. 130 WR, Grand Rapids, Mich.
2019 recruitment: Stephan Bracey was largely recruited by schools within the MAC conference to start out. As a player out of Grand Rapids, Mich., Bracey committed to Western Michigan in October of 2018, but the commitment was short lived as Wisconsin came in with an offer just a week later. Bracey weighed both of the schools until early November when he announced his de-commitment to Western Michigan and commitment to Wisconsin.
Career statistics: redshirted in 2019, no games played
2019 statistics: redshirted in 2019, no games played
Player overview: Bracey redshirted in 2019 and now steps into a wide receiver room as a guy that could really fill a role for the Badgers in the future. At 5-foot-9 and 160 pounds Bracey is a small receiver that looks to be a slot player in the future. Bracey’s biggest talent is his speed and athleticism. In high school Bracey won the Michigan state title in the long jump and 800 meter relay. That shows you right there that Bracey possess some valuable tools that can transfer over to the football field, but bulking up to prepare for contact is a vital step in development.
Best case scenario for 2020: If we are giving a realistic best case scenario it would be that Bracey bulked up his frame and prepares for a bigger role in the 2021 season. His biggest contribution this fall could be in special teams as a kick returner. Given his speed, it’s possible that the Badgers try to find ways to get him the ball, but realistically it appears this season will be a developmental year for the speedster.
Likely role on team in 2020: When looking at Stephan Bracey he reminds you a lot of former Badger Aron Cruickshank. In terms of size they are the same, and speed they are very close. According to Bracey in an interview with the Athletic, he ran a 4.38 at a Northwestern camp back in 2018. That would fill in nicely to the role of Cruickshank. The likely role for Bracey in 2020 is probably in that role as a possible kick returner, and maybe even a punt returner if Jack Dunn does not hold the spot. In terms of a receiver role, I would expect Bracey to see some time, probably in second string duty as the Badgers look to develop a new slot receiver behind Kendric Pryor for 2021.