Why Not the Wildcat
With one regular season game remaining and a hopeful trip to the Valley of the Sun for the Insight Bowl, the football Badgers are ending on a strong note after one of the most disappointing starts to conference play since the dawn of the Alvarez-Bielema era. Holes will remain next season, particularly along the defensive line and also at linebacker, but with PJ Hill returning for his senior season, and John Clay back as a sophomore, there has to be a way to get these two talented performers on the field more often.
The answer: try the Wildcat formation. Given that Dustin Sherrer is nothing more than the quarterback of the present, why not send him to the sidelines periodically and employ the formation Arkansas used so effectively with McFadden and Jones? The Dolphins have even used it in the NFL this season to get Ricky Williams on the field alongside stud Ronnie Brown.
I don't like Hill as a blocker and haven't seen much of Clay in this capacity, but Zach Brown is adequate in this area anyway, so he remains our best bet on third and long. Hill and Clay are great decoys and foils of one another. I would guess that Clay is a good enough athlete to split wide, too, as Alvarez did with Calhoun in his single season as a Badger.
Bottom line: there is some talent at wideout and tight end, but our two best players are stationed at running back, and it is imperative that Clay see more action while also capping off a solid career for Hill with another workmanlike 1,000 yard season. Soon-to-retire Joe Tiller took the league by storm with the spread a decade ago, and it's time for similar innovation on the ground in Madison. Perhaps our nine year drought in Pasadena will end with a thunder and lightning one-two punch in 2009.
posted by Shawn Healy @ 2:10 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Two quick comments:
1. If Dustin S. is the QB next year, the problems at DL and LB will be the least of UW's concern. I love that Dustin has stepped in to a tough situation and performed to the best of his ability, but he is not a D-1 (FCS) QB. His throwing mechanics are poor, his footwork is equally bad and his pocket presence is missing. Phillips has to be the QB next year. If not, UW is in trouble.
2. I would argue that Garrett Graham and Clay are the two best offensive players we have. And I believe that Toon will be up there as well. It has been debated amongst us before, but Hill is a what you see, what you get player. He will get his yards against average defenses and struggle against good defenses with speed on the perimiter. The coaches have understood this point and split the carries between Clay, who is the future, and Hill. Other than for face-saving purposes (Hill will start our next year as the #3 rusher in school history and yet should be backing-up Clay), there is no reason why Clay should not be the starter next year.
I'll disagree, I like Dustin as the QB next year. Phillips will learn a ton and still (hopefully) have 3 productive seasons.
I would also argue that next year is going to be another 7-8 win season for the Badgers, but even so I'd just prefer to see the youngster learn.
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