The 2003-04 Badgers’ defensive line will feature many familiar faces. Three of last year’s four starters return, as well as several key contributors. In all, over 70 percent of last year’s sack total is back in the cardinal and white.
One key contributor noticeably absent is Jake Sprague, who led the team last season with 6 sacks. With Sprague’s graduation, the Badgers lose not only his pass rushing, but also the leadership he provided as a senior. Part of the leadership responsibilities will now undoubtedly fall on Erasmus James.
“I’m a senior now, so what I learned from him, I have to pass it down to all the other players,” James said. “We just want to step it up and show the younger guys how the older guys do it — how it’s supposed to be done.”
But leadership, just like production, will also be a group effort.
“Every person on the defensive line is trying to lead in one way or another,” Anttaj Hawthorne said. “Everybody is trying to fill [Sprague’s] shoes.”
For Wisconsin, it all starts in the middle, where Hawthorne and fellow 300-pound defensive tackle Jason Jefferson form the base of a talented line.
“They did a heck of a job last year,” defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove said. “We expect them to control the inside, get penetration and get off of blocks — just plug that middle up. Those are two, three hundred pounders and they’re hard to move.”
Hawthorne is looking to build upon a year in which he led all Badger defensive linemen in tackles. This year the duo plans on throwing their weight around on opposing quarterbacks and running backs.
“Another thing that we’re going to be pretty good at and that we’ve been working on is our pass rushing,” Cosgrove said.
Jason Jefferson has been perhaps the most improved lineman in camp, impressing the coaches on a daily basis.
“Jefferson has been as consistent and as good as he’s ever been,” Cosgrove said. “He’s making a lot of improvement.”
Jefferson has also impressed his line mates this spring.
“He’s been around for a while and he’s really in the zone right now and he’s really starting to do what he’s been put on scholarship to do,” James said.
Hawthorne and Jefferson both agree upon the benefits they have received from playing next to one another for a full season.
“We’re both pretty much on the same page, we really inspire each other and pretty much feed off each other’s energy.” Hawthorne said. “You work pretty good when you know the guy next to you is going to take care of his job,”
That familiarity extends to the entire front four. Joining Hawthorne, Jefferson and James up front will be junior Jonathan Welsh. A reserve last season, Welsh still saw action in every game. There is plenty of experience behind the starters as well, with veterans Nick Cochart and Darius Jones leading the way. Jones’ five sacks were the second most on the team last season, and are the most among returning Badgers.
“We’ve got a lot of depth,” James said. “If one person gets tired, you can depend on another person in back of him to step up and do the same job.”
To take advantage of the number of quality players, the Badgers will be using a large rotation.
“We have a lot of guys with a lot of experience,” Cosgrove said. ” Naturally when you have good players up front it makes it easy to call a game. But, with added depth, we’ll be even more flexible,”
Linebacker Alex Lewis will join the front four on passing downs, as the coaching staff looks to take full advantage of his athleticism.
“He has tremendous speed and tremendous explosion off the edge and he’ll be involved in our nickel pass rush,” Cosgrove said.
With a rare mix of quantity and quality, all that is remaining is to translate talent into on field success.
“I think we can be an unbelievable defensive line,” James said. “We just want to go out there and have fun, knowing that there is someone behind us that can do the same or even a better job than us.”