Wisconsin Football: Areas QB Tanner McEvoy Must Improve on

Through his first two games as a starting FBS quarterback, Wisconsin football fans have seen two drastically different players on the field, despite carrying the same name and number on his jersey.

Tanner McEvoy, seen as the key to success this season, was demonized after a horrific Week 1 performance but bounced back in Week 2 against Western Illinois.

Against LSU, McEvoy went 8-of-24 for 50 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. Against Western Illinois, McEvoy went 23-of-28 for 283 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

Granted, the caliber of defense is drastically different to say the least, but Badgers fans saw two totally different quarterbacks under center.

One thing that has remained constant is McEvoy's ability to use his legs. Against LSU, McEvoy totaled 40 yards on six carries. Against Western Illinois, McEvoy piled up 55 yards on nine carries and added a touchdown to his impressive day that saw him end with more rushing yards than Melvin Gordon.

While many fans will point to his 17 straight completions as a sign that McEvoy has become the dual-threat quarterback Gary Andersen hoped and dreamed of, there are still plenty of things McEvoy must improve on.

Let's take a look at four areas that McEvoy could stand to refine.

Deep Throw Accuracy

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Tanner McEvoy needs to improve on his deep-throw accuracy.

McEvoy's struggles have been well documented against LSU. The signal caller completed 33.3 percent of his passes and threw more interceptions (two) than completions (one) in the fourth quarter, as the Badgers watched their 24-7 lead evaporate.

One thing that stuck out was McEvoy being called upon to make deep downfield throws against a very accomplished and talented secondary in his first career start.

Somewhat predictably, that did not go very well. McEvoy's longest completion of the day was 14 yards.

Against Western Illinois, McEvoy had five completions of 20 yards or more. While many of these completions came on bubble screens or other plays that featured plenty of yards after the catch, he showed a deft touch on numerous intermediate routes.

This was shown particularly on third down, as he converted on 3rd-and-8 or more three times in a single drive.

But when the level of competition steps up, McEvoy will need to be able to complete the deep pass.

He should have had a 67-yard touchdown completion to Reggie Love—who had nothing but space in front of him—but an untimely drop negated that play.

Without Jared Abbrederis hauling in under- or overthrown balls, McEvoy's ability to complete quite as many downfield passes as Joel Stave did last season will be hampered.

However, McEvoy will still need to be able to find those few throws a game, which could make all the difference in going 8-4 and 11-1.

Running the Option

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Melvin Gordon can display his straight-line speed and quickness on option plays.

When McEvoy was installed as the quarterback, one major reason why is because of his ability to use his legs.

Many thought his ability to get outside of the pocket would set up plenty of chances to run the option. But that wasn't a fixture of Wisconsin's playbook even with Russell Wilson under center, and designed runs were kept to a relative minimum.

Unfortunately thus far, the Badgers haven't run a ton of option plays despite McEvoy's obvious ability to use his legs to make plays happen—he has 15 carries for 95 yards on the season.  

This relative predictability in the run game led to Gordon compiling 38 yards on 17 carries against Western Illinois.

The option can be incredibly dangerous, particularly if you don't run it often. It can lead to plenty of chances for botched pitches and leaves your quarterback extremely vulnerable to big hits.  

With that being said, when used sparingly, it can be an effective tool to soften up the stacked boxes the Badgers have seen thus far.

Pocket Presence

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Tanner McEvoy's ability to make plays outside of the pocket shouldn't hold him back from making plays inside of it.

McEvoy's athleticism has been talked about time and again, as that is really what separated him from the pack. After all, he played safety last season!  

With that being said, now that McEvoy is the starting quarterback and not the safety, he needs to learn to keep his legs under him and look for receivers.

There are two big keys to McEvoy's improved pocket presence: experience and pass protection.

Let's start with the first one, and I have bad news for Badgers fans—it won't come overnight.  The only way McEvoy will truly get comfortable playing in the pocket is by throwing pass after pass in the pocket at game speed.

While one doesn't want to negate arguably his biggest asset as a quarterback (his legs), there is something to be said about being able to stay in the pocket, stepping up and making the throw.

As of now, the Badgers don't have the kind of receivers who can break off their routes and make plays happen, though that, too, will come with time.

The second thing is improved pass protection. McEvoy was sacked for the first time in his FBS career last week against Western Illinois, though there were a couple of other situations where McEvoy bailed himself out of trouble.

The Badgers offensive line should be a strength, though last week—as seen in their meager rushing totals—it hasn't really been.

With plenty of experience to go around, guys like Rob Havenstein, Kyle Costigan and Tyler Marz will have to step up their pass protection game. That will give McEvoy more time and make him feel more comfortable between the hash marks.

Finding New Receiver Targets

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Alex Erickson has been excellent thus far, but Tanner McEvoy will need to find other wide receiver targets.

Let's start with the positives.  

Alex Erickson could be the next Jared Abbrederis. No, he probably won't compile more than 800 receiving yards in his final three seasons, and he will never be quite as fast as the former track star Abbrederis was.

But Erickson has quickly become a favorite target of McEvoy's, and that is great news.

Coming into the season, for as many questions as there were about who was going to be throwing the ball, there were just as many about who would be catching them.  

As a refresher, gone from last year's team is Abbrederis (the most clutch receiver in school history), Jeff Duckworth, tight end Jacob Pedersen and running back James White, who caught 39 balls last season.

This year, the receiver position had plenty of cool names (Jazz Peavy and Reggie Love stand out) but was extremely light on experience. 

Coming into the season, it looked like it was Kenzel Doe and Robert Wheelwright who would be manning the outside, with Jordan Fredrick playing a role in the slot.

Two games in, Wheelwright was pulled after breaking off his route, leading to McEvoy's interception against Western Illinois, and Doe hasn't recorded a catch.  

Instead, it has been all Erickson, who has 13 receptions for 155 yards, including 10 catches for 122 yards and a score against Western Illinois.

Fredrick is a candidate to see more touches as well, particularly since his downfield blocking ability will have him on the field quite a bit. We saw his ability to spring Erickson on bubble screen after bubble screen.

Another possibility is freshman George Rushing, who actually got a start in his first game against LSU.

Reggie Love sent plenty of people to their phones and/or computers after breaking off a 45-yard touchdown run against LSU and found quite a bit of separation against Western Illinois. However, he failed to haul in a sure 67-yard touchdown.

While Sam Arneson and the backs will be key targets for McEvoy, someone will have to step up in the receiving corps.  

If I were to guess, I'd go with Rushing, as the coaching staff seemed to like him enough to start him in Week 1. But don't expect huge totals this season.