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Did I miss it or did the Badgers name a new Assistant Coach after the bye week as was reported to be the plan?

VIDEO: https://wisconsin.rivals.com/news/week-2-in-state-blitz-2023-defensive-tackle-jamel-howard

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STRENGTHS

Outside of Juan Harris, whom I don’t think the Badgers were all too high on, Jamel Howard has to be the biggest defensive tackle target/commit for Wisconsin that I’ve seen in person over the last 15-plus years. The UW commit appears to be all of 6-foot-2 and 320 pounds, and he carries that weight pretty well. Big, strong base and he doesn't carry a ton of weight in his midsection.

I posted Howard’s pre-game warmups on Twitter and someone responded “absolute unit.” That’s a pretty accurate way to describe Howard, who looks more like an SEC defensive tackle in comparison to the tackle UW has signed over the last handful of cycles.

As far as what he brings to the field, Howard is a true nose tackle who eats up blocks in order for linebackers to make plays. He has a huge lower body, and Howard’s a force when he gets proper leverage and good pad level. At times, though, he plays too high and is caught standing up at the line of scrimmage. That said, I liked his balance and ability to navigate within the trenches.

Glenbard West, which features fellow UW commit Chris Terek, displayed a balanced offense on Saturday in its matchup with Marist. When they did run, the Hillitoppers worked more on the edges and did not run a ton at Howard up the middle.

There were a few plays on Saturday where Howard was able to disengage from a blocker and track a play to the sideline, something Terek noticed during their battle.

“It was fun to go at him - future teammate over there,” Terek said. “He can freaking move. Usually we leave our interior guys alone, but he was hawkin’ our dudes on jet sweeps. He’s 320 (pounds), 330 - he’s huge. He’s definitely a stud.”

One of the goals for Howard that both he and his coach mentioned coming into the season was conditioning and giving full effort on every rep. From what I saw Saturday, he checked those boxes off on a very hot day where a number of players went down due to cramping.

“I was all right and I did my job,” Howard said. “On the plays that I was in, I didn’t want to come out. I was good for the most part, but all I’m going to say is that I’ll keep working.”

Howard didn’t make a ton of splash plays during a 33-31 loss on Saturday, but when he breaks past the first level and gets into the backfield, he’s extremely disruptive. And when that type of pressure comes from the interior, it’s much more difficult to avoid.

Overall, I like what I saw from Howard in person. Doesn’t have the best burst at the snap of the ball, but Howard is hard to stop when his momentum is moving forward. If he can keep the weight in check and continue to get stronger, he’ll be a contributor sooner rather than later during his career at Wisconsin. There just aren't a ton of guys who can move at that size and he's absolutely someone you can make room for in every recruiting cycle.

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AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT

I mentioned SEC tackles above, but I don’t want to paint the picture that Howard is going to be a future first-round pick. I think he’s an athletic kid for his size, but he’s not elite in that category. I also think Howard has shorter arms, which, at times, can cause him to get caught locked into offensive linemen.

With Jim Leonhard going to a 2-4-5 look roughly 60 percent of the time, I’m curious to see how Howard looks lined up over a guard or even tackle. He can absolutely plug things up in a zero-technique, but is he agile and dynamic enough to make an impact in other spots along the line?

Position coach Ross Kolodziej has targeted players who can play multiple techniques along the defensive line. It might be unfair to pigeonhole Howard as strictly a nose tackle, and I’m sure Kolodziej feels he’s capable of playing in both a base package and nickel when he arrives on campus.

OUTLOOK/RECRUITMENT

Howard committed to Wisconsin in June over offers from Illinois and Iowa State, among others. When he arrives next summer - Howard confirmed that he will not enroll early - he is expected to compete at tackle with Gio Paez, who is currently No. 2 on the depth chart, as well as Curt Neal and potentially Ben Barten. After seeing fellow defensive line commit Roderick Pierce on Saturday, I think he will have the ability to play defensive end, whereas Howard is a true zero-technique in a 3-4 scheme.

WISCONSIN COMPARISON ON THE CURRENT ROSTER

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I don’t think there’s a defensive tackle on the current roster that’s a great comparison right now. Keeanu Benton is longer and more agile, and I think Curt Neal is actually shorter and stockier in comparison to Howard. In terms of his body makeup after seeing him in person, Howard reminded me a lot of former Wisconsin nose guard Olive Sagapolu, who was listed at 6-foot-2 and 324 pounds at UW. I see a lot of similarities between the two, and I think Howard can do a lot of things Sagapolu did for the Badgers during his career in Madison.

Let me know what you think.

Just some random thoughts.
Mertz HAS improved and looks like he could actually have a "historic" year for a Wisconsin QB. He's much more comfortable moving in the pocket and avoiding the rush...much much better this year. He did get lucky yesterday as he could gave had about 3 picks, two on the long passes...since PC left he's looked better.

Bobby Engram I think has had a learning year and has done well in two and a half games since PC left. NW, Purdue were really good....MSU was a bad game plan, and why I said "half" was that the emphasis on the run game yesterday was well thought out, but the passing game was a head scratcher. I didn't understand what the heck he was calling on those long passes into the wind?? That decision will be a very important one for Jimmy after the season...probably the most important one he'll have.

Allen is obviously a VERY talented athlete. He's done a great job with limited RB experience intaking over the lead role. I think he has a very bright future. He does struggle reading the hole and being decisive in his acceleration through holes. This instinct I hope he develops over time, but it's apparent RB isn't his natural position. We have been spoiled with really good instinctive RB's, especially JT. Lastly, there are times he doesn't finish the run and is a bit tentative. That may be because he's dinged up, but with his size he should be should be exploding through anyone who is not a defensive lineman.

Probably the most accurate the depth chart has been all season.

Goodness what a difference. He can articulate his thoughts and actually shares them. It's so fun to listen to them.
That said I'd like to know why there are only two backs being used and why Davis is Still in the dog house. And I'd love someone to ask about if he gets the job (when), what is going to be his recruiting philosophy and what kind of budget would he use to tackle it since we are so normally CHEAP in that regard.

Will be interesting to see how this class shakes out. Think Wisconsin leads for Robison, McAndrew and Janowski. Also in a good spot with Kneuppel and Freitag.

MSU just went ahead of Illinois 16-7 👀

Berger has had a decent day so far, just made a big catch on 4th down.