Wisconsin Badgers could be playoff bound in 2017

With a little luck from an easy schedule and some improvement on the offensive side of the ball, the Wisconsin Badgers can compete for the 2017 College football playoff.

The 2016 Wisconsin Badgers football team was one of the pleasant surprises of the college football season. They knocked off LSU and eventually took home the Cotton Bowl. Overall, it was a good season, but anything short of a New Years day bowl should be a disappointment in 2017.

Before the pads are even strapped up, it appears that the Badgers have a favorable schedule. Their non-conference portion isn’t very hard, with the only challenging game being at BYU.

If the Badgers can survive BYU, they have a solid chance of taking care of business in conference play. Their toughest road games are at Nebraska and Minnesota. Both should be competitive in Big Ten play, but the Badgers should be favored in both games.

Michigan, Iowa, and Northwestern all make trips to Camp Randall this year, and all three should be good games. The Badgers should be favored in two of the three, and will more than likely be underdogs to Michigan.

The Wisconsin Badgers also play Purdue, Maryland, Indiana, and Illinois. All four of these teams are the bottom dwellers of the Big Ten and shouldn’t give the Badgers too much trouble.

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It’s very easy to see the Badgers coming out 11-1, 10-2 or maybe even 12-0 when we look at the 2017 schedule. 11-1 or 12-0 should put them in the Big Ten championship game, and then possibly the playoff.

Now, if the Badgers want to take the step from the Cotton Bowl to the playoff, they must improve on offense.

Historically, the Wisconsin Badgers are known as a defensive team. Sure, there have been exceptions. The Russel Wilson and Melvin Gordon/James White/Jared Abbrederis teams could march up and down the field with anyone.

As Rick Pitino would say “Russel Wilson isn’t walking through that door.” The Badgers don’t need Russel Wilson; they just need Alex Hornibrook to take another step forward.

Hornibrook was inconsistent last season and split time with Bart Houston. Houston is gone now, so it’s all on Hornibrook’s shoulders.

Look, Hornibrook doesn’t need to be Lamar Jackon or Sam Darnold to get the Badgers to the playoffs. He needs to use the running game to his advantage, and make the most of the Badgers play action sets.

He needs to work on his downfield passing (Michigan Game 5:45 second quarter) and give the offense some big play capability. Jazz Peavy, George Rushing, Quintez Sephus, and Troy Fumagalli are all back and are all solid weapons for the sophomore quarterback.

To make Hornibrook more successful, he needs help from his line and running game. The Badgers shuffled through many lineman combinations last year, but they return all their main rotational pieces besides Ryan Ramczyk.

Jon Dietzen, Michael Dieter, Beau Benzschawel, Cole Van Lanen, David Edwards, Brett Connors, and Micah Kapoi all look to have a shot starting up front.

In 2016 the Wisconsin Badgers were a respectable 39th in the NCAA with 2,843 rushing yards. They also were 41st in the nation with 24 sacks allowed. Those are pretty solid stats for an offensive line.

Overall, those stats should get even better. Outside of Van Lanen, all the other Badger O-lineman have some game experience and have experience playing alongside each other which is huge on the offensive line.

The final, and maybe biggest piece to the Badgers offensive puzzle is their backfield. Corey Clement and Dare Ogunbowale are now NFL backs, which means two new guys will have to step up.

Bradrick Shaw looks to be the frontrunner for RB1 this season. Behind him are juniors Chris James and Taiwan Deal. Shaw averaged 5 yards a carry, and scored 5 TDS in 2016.

He’s only a sophomore, but he should have Wisconsin fans very excited. Him and Deal have the potential to be a potent duo behind the Badgers improving offensive line.

The Badger’s run game has taken a step back in the past couple years. Corey Clement was somewhat of a let down, but honestly he had some huge shoes to fill after Melvin Gordon and James white.

Shaw and Deal are in an ideal situation. They will need to be leaned on with a rather inexperienced quarterback and have a very solid line to run behind. If these two guys can pump out some 200yard games, this Badger offense has the potential to be very scary.

It’s not going to take a complete revamp of the Badgers ground and pound offense to make a playoff run. They need their defense to play as stout as they do every other year.

They also need another step forward from their sophomore quarterback. A consistent quarterback paired with a talented offensive line and runningback combo could push the Badgers right into the playoffs.

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