Badgers Snap Counts, Grades On Defense: The Rotations Are Starting To Settle Out

The Wisconsin Badgers had a tale of two halves on Sunday, as they lost 41-13 in a rough game to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

It was especially a double-sided game for the defense, as Wisconsin was quite stout against the run (and overall) in the first half before really letting things get out of hand in the second with poor tackling, a questionable coverage plan, and mixed results against the run.

Here are the snap counts and PFF grades for every player on defense for the Badgers against Notre Dame.

Defensive Line

Hammond Russell IV – Snap Count: [38], Grade: 57.4

Michael Garner – Snap Count: [33], Grade: 60.9

Charles Perkins – Snap Count: [26], Grade: 41.7

Junior Poyser – Snap Count: [20], Grade: 64.1

Nolan Vils – Snap Count: [15], Grade: 45.2

DeNigel Cooper – Snap Count: [13], Grade: 76.2

Dillan Johnson – Snap Count: [11], Grade: 31.7

Hammond Russell looked like Wisconsin’s best interior defensive lineman in the first half, making a few plays in the run game. It wasn’t a surprise that he got the most snaps in a group that rotated a lot.

On the bottom side, I thought DeNigel Cooper had a solid few snaps as well in his short time on the field. He had a run stop as well.

Garner had been a player who was out for much of the offseason with an injury. It’s clear the Badgers do like him in that role and he’s going to play a solid amount.

The main negative here was Dillan Johnson, who was quite unimpressive and really an issue in his 11 snaps. It didn’t surprise me at all that he had the lowest grade of any defender. He was moved at ease and cleared the lane for a couple of those second-half runs.

On the pressure side, Wisconsin didn’t have much outside of Sebastian Cheeks. Junior Poyser was the only other defensive lineman with one.

Outside Linebackers

Sebastian Cheeks – Snap Count: [43], Grade: 85.5

Tyreese Fearbry – Snap Count: [25], Grade: 45.0

Justus Boone – Snap Count: [21], Grade: 65.0

Nicolas Clayton – Snap Count: [11], Grade: 58.3

Aaron Witt – Snap Count: [1], Grade: 60.0

Cheeks was the highest-graded defender for the Badgers, and he had a great game with three pressures and two near-strip sacks. He was on the field a ton and also made two stops, while not missing any tackles and forcing a fumble.

Wisconsin wants to rotate in at outside linebacker, but Cheeks got about two-thirds of the defensive snaps.

Tyreese Fearbry earned the start, and he saw 25 snaps. He had a middling day, recording no pressures in 13 pass rush snaps, one tackle, one missed tackle, a stop, and a penalty.

Justus Boone saw a similar number of snaps and was more involved in the run game with three tackles and two stops, while also having two pressures on a 28.6 percent pass rush win rate. He could start to see his snaps rise after also dealing with an injury this offseason.

Nicolas Clayton didn’t see much time on the playing field and had no pressures on seven pass-rushing snaps, while recording one stop against the run.

Overall, these seem to be the top five (along with Micheal Garner) in this room. We’ll track how snaps continue to shift around with this group as the season goes on.

Linebackers

Cooper Catalano – Snap Count: [64], Grade: 64.2

Mason Posa – Snap Count: [60], Grade: 70.0

Jon Jon Kamara – Snap Count: [18], Grade: 53.7

Thomas Heiberger – Snap Count: [4], Grade: 44.5

Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano got nearly all of the snaps, but Wisconsin managed to get Jon Jon Kamara on the field for 18 snaps in some extra-linebacker packages as well.

Posa was the busiest player on the field with 15 tackles, run stops, and a pressure off the edge on a blitz. He did miss one tackle and was charged with a reception in zone coverage. To me, I thought he and Catalano had a great first half, but weren’t as reactive in the run game in the second half as Notre Dame started to open things up.

Catalano played the full game, making nine tackles and three stops, while missing two tackles. He also had a pressure on a blitz.

Kamara did not record a tackle, missing one in his 18 snaps. Thomas Heiberger didn’t see the field much as Posa’s primary backup. He had just four snaps overall.

Cornerbacks

Javan Robinson – Snap Count: [62], Grade: 73.7

Jai’mier Scott – Snap Count: [48], Grade: 57.7

Bryce West – Snap Count: [46], Grade: 51.4

Eric Fletcher Jr. – Snap Count: [16], Grade: 57.9

Cai Bates – Snap Count: [2], Grade: 33.8

Javan Robinson played nearly the entire game on his side of the field, and he had some nice plays. Robinson made six tackles, including a stop, and had a physical pass breakup as well. He was charged with three receptions for only 19 yards and had allowed only an average passer rating of 84.4.

I’ve given a lot of thoughts on the corner play and the defensive gameplan, but I didn’t think the cornerbacks played poorly for the most part. It was a schematic issue in the second half, with Notre Dame taking all the underneath and intermediate in-breaking stuff as Wisconsin sat back in coverage, placing their corners in bad spots.

When asked to be physical, though, we saw this corner group do that.

Jai’mier Scott had two tackles, missing two as well on passing plays, as he took a majority of the snaps at the field corner position. Eric Fletcher, who had been battling him in fall camp, had just 16 of the 64 defensive snaps.

Wisconsin had Bryce West on for 46 snaps as the nickel corner, and he also played physically with a nice pass breakup to go with three tackles.

We’ll see what changes this group makes in Week 2.

Safeties

Matthew Jung – Snap Count: [64], Grade: 58.1

Marvin Burks Jr. – Snap Count: [53], Grade: 64.8

Cairo Skanes – Snap Count: [10], Grade: 66.4

Matt Jung played all of the defensive snaps, while Marvin Burks was spelled by Cairo Skanes for 10 snaps.

Jung had nine tackles and a pass breakup, and I honestly thought he played quite well in the first half. He was triggering down in the run game, being in the right spots, and making plays. He had two stops, as well as a missed tackle.

Burks is someone who I’ve got to watch again. He didn’t find himself around the ball a lot, making only one tackle, while also missing a tackle. I thought he was a player who’d add to the physicality of this team, so we’ll see how he fared on the rewatch.

Skanes, who moved to safety this offseason, made one tackle as well.