Takeaways from Wisconsin football practice No. 7
My thoughts and opinions on what I saw from the Badgers in their seventh practice of fall camp.
I took a trip to Platteville on Wednesday to take in Wisconsin football’s seventh practice of fall camp. It was the first time this season I had the opportunity to watch the 2025 Badgers’ practice, and I left with plenty of thoughts and takeaways about the team.
Here’s everything I saw and thought.
A pair of defensive starters kept out of team drills
To start, on the defensive side of the ball, both Ricardo Hallman and Christian Alliegro, both of whom are expected to be a big part of the defense this season, only took part in individual drills. Neither played in live 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 periods, but there are no worries about them, according to the team.
The safety position might be my favorite on the team
Losing Hunter Wohler was never going to be easy for this team. But the Badgers went out and did a nice job of rebuilding the room that was relatively empty after last season.
Preston Zachman and Austin Brown were the starting pair with the first team on defense, but they rotated in a few guys like Owen Arnett as well.
Matthew Jung (Bethel) and Matthew Traynor (Richmond) joined this offseason via the transfer portal. My first impression of both of these guys is that they can lay the wood. I saw multiple plays where they flew out of nowhere and would lay some nice hits on the ball carrier. There was more than one occasion where I found myself asking where Jung even came from; he was just always around the ball.
True freshmen Grant Dean and Luke Emmerich were also very active in defense and showed some physicality. I'm excited to see that duo develop over the next couple of years.
Brown and Zachman headline the position, but I think there are plenty of players in this room who could see snaps this year without a huge dropoff.
The starting offensive line appears set
Heading into spring practice, four of the five spots along the offensive line were all but set in stone. The right guard position, after the departure of Joe Huber, was the lone spot that would be up for grabs.
That is, until Kevin Heywood, the sophomore tackle with huge expectations, who was expected to take over the left tackle spot, suffered a season-ending knee injury during spring practices. The loss of Heywood was a big hit, as there was no obvious replacement for him.
The Badgers went to the portal and got former Central Michigan tackle Davis Heinzen. The redshirt senior has one year of eligibility remaining and has received almost all of the reps with the first team since camp broke last week.
It was more of the same yesterday. Heinzen remained at left tackle all practice.
At right guard, redshirt freshman Emerson Mandell has seemingly earned that spot over JP Benzschawel and Kerry Kodanko.
So, barring injury, the starting offensive line come Week 1 against Miami (OH) looks to be Heinzen - Brunner - Renfro - Mandell - Mahlman from left to right.
Overall, I think the line will be pretty solid, but having Heinzen at left tackle worries me a bit. After coming into the program late, can he adapt to the speed of the Big Ten after spending four years in the MAC? If there’s a weak link on the offensive line, it might be at left tackle.
The Badgers have a solid running back room
I think the running back group might be the best group on the offense, if not the team. Darrion Dupree and Dilin Jones both looked the part in team drills today. Every back runs the ball with a lot of physicality and looks to dole out punishment rather than take it.
Jones broke a few nice runs in the early going in practice. Reports out of spring practices indicated that he was poised for a breakout season, and even though I have only seen one practice so far, I get the hype.
Darrion Dupree, who has the most returning carries of any running back on the roster, looks like a much more confident runner than a year ago. He was actively seeking contact with defenders. When he got the ball, pads were definitely popping, and even when he was brought to the ground, he was falling forward. Exactly what you want to see out of your running back.
Cade Yacamelli also got plenty of run with the first team. While I think he will get some carries this year, I think he’s solidly at RB3.
The revamped defensive line room is encouraging
The d-line looked good, especially going against the offense’s second team. I can't remember how many plays got blown up immediately because the defensive line blew right through and stopped the play before it could develop.
Defensive line coach EJ Whittlow and a few defensive linemen were available after practice, and they all said the same thing: after late last season, stopping the run is an emphasis. They even had a whole team period early on in practice, specifically to stop the run.
You can tell the Badgers are hell-bent on not repeating their woes trying to stop the run last season, investing heavily in the position in the portal, and making it an emphasis during practice.
Other random thoughts and takeaways
Billy Edwards Jr. is undoubtedly QB1 (duh). But there seems to be a competition for QB2 between Danny O’Neil and Hunter Simmons, while true freshman Carter Smith rotated in with the third team.
Eugene Hilton Jr. is going to be hard to keep off the field. The true freshman made a ton of plays in the spring, and that has continued into the fall. I know he’s a true freshman and likely still has plenty to learn, but there’s so much talent there that you almost have to give him some reps this year.
Like Hilton, Nicolas Clayton could be hard to keep off the field, even with the revamped EDGE position. Not sure how the Badgers got him out of Florida, but he looks like the real deal.
You didn’t think I’d get through this without mentioning Tackett Curtis, did you? Seeing him play in person last year compared to this year is night and day. You can tell his injury last year truly affected him. He looks completely different this year, flying around the field at speeds that don’t seem normal for an inside linebacker. I genuinely believe we are going to see a huge season from Tackett if he can stay healthy. He and Christian Alliegro could be one of the top linebacker duos in the Big Ten this season.
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