The Badgers offensive struggles were well documented in 2021. If you ask a Badger fan about main issues, they’ll point directly at Graham Mertz. However, the one thing that everyone is overlooking is the Badgers struggles on special teams. Although Stephan Bracey returned a kickoff for a touchdown, the Badgers return game was a disaster. The Badgers need to fix their return game to help the offense be in more favorable positions.
During the 2021 season, the Badgers ranked 80th in kickoff return yards and 112th in punt return yards. Adding to the frustration is that the Badgers only had a grant total of 92 punt return yards. It’s almost as if the Badgers return men were nonexistent all season. It also didn’t help that original starting return man, Devin Chandler decided to enter the transfer portal. Attempting to fix the problem, special teams coordinator Chris Haering tried using Chimere Dike, Dean Engram, Stephan Bracey, Haakon Anderson, Danny Davis and Jack Dunn to fill the void. Eventually the Badgers settled on using Bracey and Engram for kick and punt returns respectively. While Bracey didn’t comeback from injury until late in the season, the Badgers could have been more productive in this phase of the game.
Whenever a team has a struggling offense, the pressure is often placed on the defense to not let an opponent get too big of a lead. It is then up to the special teams to try and take some of that pressure away from the defense. This unit obviously didn’t do that as they ranked nearly rock bottom in the return game. With how badly the Badgers offense struggled, they needed to have as many short fields as possible. Had the return game been more of a factor, Wisconsin’s offense might have been able to score more points.
Special teams often can make or break a game. More often then not, if a team is winning the field position battle this typically leads to more points. With how uncertain things are for the offense aside from Braelon Allen; this unit needs to be stellar in 2022. The Badgers will once again need to get great field position when the opportunities present themselves. If it doesn’t come through for Wisconsin, then this year could be another trying year for the offense.
Despite their struggles, the Badgers appear to have their return men established for this season. Stephan Bracey appears to be the guy to take the kickoffs. Meanwhile it’s to be determined who handles the punts. After returning from injury, Bracey did have a kickoff return touchdown against Nebraska. He appears to be the man for who’ll handle the kickoffs this season. Engram could very well handle the punts; but that will depend on how the cornerback position battle shakes out.
This unit hasn’t be very reliable since Paul Chyrst became the head coach. While there are no signs that Chris Haering is on a hot seat, he still needs to give this unit some juice. This season if they can build off the energy that Bracey created last season, then the Badgers will be hard to beat. It’s time for this unit to step up and be productive contributors to this team.
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