[media-credit name=’AJ MACLEAN/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]Last season new defensive coordinator Bret Bielema became a fan favorite. With the exception of Wisconsin’s final two Big Ten contests against Michigan State and Iowa, the Badgers’ defense was one of the top squads in the nation. And fans quickly hailed Bielema the Badgers’ answer on the defensive side of the football.

This season, expectations remain high for the second-year coordinator. But this year’s squad is a far cry from the crew that took the field last season. Gone are secondary stalwarts Jim Leonhard and Scott Starks, as well as Robert Brooks and Chuckie Cowans. But unquestionably the greatest loss came along the defensive front, where the Badgers lost starters Erasmus James, Jonathan Welsh, Antajj Hawthorne and Jason Jefferson.

“Obviously everybody is going to worry about the four guys we lost, [but] I really feel great about the guys we have coming in,” Bielema said following Wisconsin’s second day of spring practice.

With the start of spring ball this past Friday Bielema got his first glimpse of the new defense. Though returning starters Brett Bell and Dontez Sanders will not be participating in spring drills, both nursing injuries, Bielema liked what he saw from his squad and is especially confident with his new defensive front.

“I think you are going to see guys like Nick Hayden, Justin Ostrowski and [Mark] Gorman and guys on the edge like [Jamal] Coop[er] and [Joe] Monty and [Mike] Newkirk, those guys are just waiting to happen,” Bielema said. “They’ve been waiting for their opportunity and now they are going to take full advantage of it.”

Head coach Barry Alvarez agreed with Bielema’s sentiment, saying that he feels confident in his players’ ability after the action they saw last year.

“I think they’re very well prepared because they’ve all played,” Alvarez said. “It’s not like we’re just throwing guys in there that we don’t know anything about. These guys have been in big ball games and they played a lot of snaps and they know what it’s about. So we’re not starting anew there.”

A darkhorse candidate to see quality time this season is sophomore defensive end Kurt Ware. Ware has spent the last two years mostly as a reserve tight end, before switching to the defensive side of the ball part way through last season.

But this is not the first time Ware has seen the opposite side of the field, the Spring, Texas, native was brought to Wisconsin as a tight end/defensive end recruit. According to Rivals.com, Ware was considered one of the top 40 strong side defensive ends coming out of high school.

“Kurt’s very athletic,” Bielema said. “He’s got the tight end background so he’s got that [athletic] ability, probably more so than the average player at that position.”

But after spending two seasons on the bench, Ware’s potential and a timely position change finally appears to have him primed to see the field this season. According to the spring football depth chart, Ware, after changing positions less than a year ago, is already the top backup to Monty.

Ware’s biggest asset will be his combination of agility and size. After entering last season weighing 249 pounds, the sophomore has added 25 pounds of bulk to his 6-foot-4 frame, entering spring ball weighing 274 pounds. While Bielema acknowledges Ware’s athletic ability, he also realizes the advantage his size provides.

“He’s got a little bit of lead in his pants which makes him not easy to push around,” Bielema said. “I think he wants to be successful, he’s got a drive in him, a desire to be on the football field, something he hasn’t been able to do yet.”

But Ware is hardly the only Badger looking for some playing time. The secondary holds a bevy of young players all jockeying for position on the depth chart. The injury to Bell has given several youngsters the chance to step up at the cornerback position. Redshirt freshman Allen Langford has seen the bulk of the snaps with the first-team defense thus far in spring ball, but he’ll be seeing heavy pressure from fellow freshmen Jack Ikegwuonu, Antonio Freeman and Jameson Davis.

According to Bielema, the playing time for the freshmen could come down to their ability to prevent the big play and their ability to recover mentally from giving up a long throw.

“In those 48 plays that I watched today there were three big plays that happened, and those are the things that you can’t win with,” Bielema said. “You can’t allow something like that to put points on the board. That’s something young players have got to learn, they’ve got to learn how to go through it and understand how it happened, why it happened and why it can’t happen.”