Wisconsin football 2020 returnee profile: C.J. Goetz

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 discuss outside linebacker C.J. Goetz.

UW Communications

Name: C.J. Goetz

Position: outside linebacker

2020 eligibility: redshirt sophomore

Recruiting info out of HS: 247 Composite 3-star, No. 31 inside linebacker, Muskego

2018 Recruitment: Goetz was the No. 4 player in the state of Wisconsin in 2018 but only had one Power 5 offer during his recruitment. Besides the Badgers, Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, New Mexico and Illinois State all offered him a scholarship, but Goetz couldn’t turn down the chance to play for his home state team.

He committed in February of 2017, didn’t take his official visit until the beginning of December and then signed his national letter of intent two weeks later on Early Signing Day.

Career statistics: appeared in 14 games

2019 statistics: appeared in 14 games

Player overview: This will be Goetz’s third year on campus with the football team and in that time he’s switched positions just about every year. He came to campus having played inside linebacker in high school, but the Badgers were going to start him off as an outside linebacker. Then he switched numbers, and positions to defensive end, and added a little weight during his redshirt freshman year.

Our very own Owen Riese noticed that Goetz had been changed BACK to outside linebacker on this year’s spring roster release and said about the position switching “seems as though he’s in a tough middle-ground at the moment, hope he’s able to stick at one.”

All of Goetz’s reps in 2019 were on the special teams units where he was a valuable contributor.

Best case scenario for 2020: The best case scenario for Goetz is to stay at the same position from 2020 to 2021. It has to be tough on a kid to be jerked around from group to group and hopefully it hasn’t messed with Goetz too much.

He should also continue to play on special teams and since he did so last season he’ll be a valuable member of those blocking and coverage units.

Likely role on team in 2020: Barring a number of injuries to players ahead of him on the depth chart, Goetz will probably continue his role as an ace special teamer.