Wisconsin Badgers
Receiver Lee Evans is between a rock and a hard place after tearing a
knee ligament in March. After a last
minute decision to bypass the NFL Draft last April, Evans must now decide whether or not he wants to rush back
to play in the ’02 campaign or redshirt and put off for another year his
professional career. Coming into last September
Evans was ranked as our fourth best wide out as we dubbed him the "next great
receiver to come from Madison", and the Badgers have had their fair share
of top players at his position.
A natural pass catcher with a great feel for his position and the
game, Evans
stretches the defense deep making both the easy or difficult reception with
regularity. The wherewithal displayed on the field by Evans is almost
clairvoyant as he constantly gets open and though the "go to
guy" one the offense, rarely to opposing defenses stop him. In a sentence; it is a joy to
watch him play football. That said he’s on the small side, losses out in
battles with bigger defensive backs and though fast, lacks the second gear or
top end speed. That is one reason why we hope he takes the year off as should he
rush back and play before his knee is fully healed it could mean disaster. As is
tradition the Badgers have a ton of line prospects. Ben Johnson mans the blind side
and his name’s been mentioned
on more than one occasion as someone that would file for early entry to the
draft. Johnson is a big, powerful tackle that anchors
in pass protection or destroys opponents blocking for the run, removing 
them off
the line. For the most part he blocks with solid fundamentals, using all his
faculties to keep opponents away but he is neither agile nor does he display
great blocking range and as a result may be better off on the strong side.
Regardless; he is definitely day one talent. His cousin, Al Johnson,
is the pivot man of the line and though not nearly as dominant a run blocker as
Ben, Al is still solid combining quickness and brains as well as a good
amount of strength. He does not have his cousin’s size but shares his
inability to play in space and will be a late round selection. Jason Jowers
is a developing right tackle that does a solid job on the college level and has some
possibilities in the pro’s. The Badgers have several solid underclassmen up
front and linemen that could grow into solid prospects down the road including
guards John Clinkscale and Kalvin Barrett and a name familiar to
many, Donovan Raiola whose brother Dominic was a star with Nebraska.
The past two seasons stripped the Badger defense of their top players.
They go into the
2002 with a lot of question marks and may not have a single defender
drafted next April. If there were one player that has a slight chance of hearing
his name called it would be defensive end Jack Sprague, and athletic pass
rusher with adequate size. After that the top prospect would be cornerback Scott
Starks, a true sophomore.
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