Wisconsin Football Coach Reveals Next Man Up in Badgers CB Room

In the 38-17 victory over Buffalo, Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin football coaching staff only had four cornerbacks that saw snaps throughout the game. Those players were Ricardo Hallman (71), Jason Maitre (65), Alexander Smith (28), and Nyzier Fourqurean (33).

For a Badgers football team that intends to play a lot of man coverage, that’s a lot to ask of four players at one of the game’s most challenging positions. But the Badgers felt limited with the NCAA denying its waiver submission for Air Force transfer Mike Mack II to be immediately eligible. 

During his weekly media availability, coach Fickell was asked how close freshman players like Jonas Duclona & Jace Arnold, or anyone else in the cornerback room, might be to filling that next-man-up role. 

Wisconsin Football Freshman CB Jonas Duclona Could See Time Against Washington State. 

Knowing the Mike Mack situation is out of the Wisconsin football program’s hands, the Badgers head coach made it clear that true freshman Jonas Duclona is the next cornerback on the depth chart. 

“Jonas is definitely right now the next guy,” Fickell told reporters. “Wish we would have played him [against Buffalo], and he’s definitely going to play this year. I mean, he’s a guy we gotta get on special teams now cause he’s a guy we’re not trying to save for four games. 

Coach Fickell’s comments speak volumes about what the Badgers coaching staff thinks about the Florida native, to already know redshirting him is off the table. 

“He’s [Duclona] a guy that’s proven it all through camp,” Fickell continued. “In spring ball, he took all the two reps; I think all through fall camp, he took the majority of, if not all the two reps as well…we’ve got confidence in him; I just think that based on the situation, he didn’t get an opportunity to get in last week.”

For Wisconsin football to endure the rigors of a Big Ten schedule, it makes plenty of sense to get some of their inexperienced players opportunities before the gauntlet of Iowa, Illinois, and Ohio State rears its head. 

I’ll definitely be watching the cornerback room snap counts closely in the Washington State game because the Cougars like to play with tempo, and the Badgers will almost assuredly be playing a lot of dime on defense.  

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