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Takeaways from Badgers spring practice No. 8: Defense

The defense were clear winners on Tuesday, with several playmakers shining out.

The Wisconsin Badgers conducted their eighth practice of the spring on Tuesday, marking their second practice inside Camp Randall Stadium.

After a balanced performance between the two sides on Saturday, the defense prevailed in their best practice yet, while the offense looked shaky.

Defense Rotations

Mike Tressel continues to implement unique formations, riding with a three-linebacker set in some packages on Tuesday, as Jake Chaney joined Maema Njongmeta and Jordan Turner with some first-team reps on Tuesday.

With the package, Tressel experimented with its versatility, utilizing Chaney as a blitzer and as a linebacker in coverage on what was another linebacker-blitz-heavy day.

Earlier this spring, Tressel anointed Chaney as a “1”, even though the depth chart doesn't necessarily say so, and it'll be intriguing if the Badgers continue to mix up three-linebacker sets to evaluate their effectiveness.

Travian Blaylock did not practice due to what some are reporting is an illness, leaving Kamo’i Latu with the first-team defense alongside Wohler.

With C.J. Goetz out once again, T.J. Bollers continues to earn first-team reps at the outside linebacker position.

Additionally, Braedyn Moore spent time with the third-team defense at safety, as opposed to nickel, after being seen participating in safety meetings on Saturday.

Standouts

Hunter Wohler had a nice day in coverage, intercepting a bobble from Keontez Lewis and breaking up a pass intended for the speedster later in practice.

Kamo’i Latu was an early standout, forcing incompletions on consecutive plays, showcasing the violence that he played with last season.

Ricardo Hallman had the second interception of the day, while recording a pass-breakup as well in what has been a nice spring camp for the sophomore.

Now, both interceptions were during skelly, which I normally take with a grain of salt, but were impressive plays nonetheless for a playmaking defense.

Marty Strey was another standout on a day where he broke up multiple passes near the line of scrimmage.

1-on-1s

Both the skill position/defensive backs and the offensive line/defensive line units had 1-on-1s Tuesday. Here were the results.

Skill position players

OL/DL