Wisconsin Football: 4 Players Who Have Surprised Us in 2014

Coming into the 2014-15 season, Wisconsin football fans had just as many questions as they did answers at some positions.  Who was going to be the starting quarterback?  How would their totally rebuilt front-seven fare?  Who was going to catch the ball?

Through the first four weeks, those questions have been answered, kind of.

Tanner McEvoy has been really sharp at times with his arm, completing 17 passes in a row against Western Illinois—a school record—but has also been woefully inaccurate at times, going 8-of-24 against LSU.  

His legs have really helped the team as his 253 rushing yards on just 26 attempts have kept numerous drives alive, and his 158 yards on 11 carries against Bowling Green set a new school record for rushing yards by a quarterback.

The front-seven for the Badgers has been very good by and large, suffering a pair of critical injuries Week 1 against LSU, which caused them to fall apart as the game wound down.  Last week, against Bowling Green, the Badgers held the Falcons to 93 rushing yards on 29 carries, 95 of which came on two plays.

In terms of receiving options, outside of the backfield, two players have established themselves as go-to targets for McEvoy: wide receiver Alex Erickson and tight end Sam Arneson, who have combined for 23 of the team's 41 receptions.

But which players have surprised fans thus far this year?  Melvin Gordon averaging 9.4 yards per carry is hardly a surprise to those who have watched him, and Arneson was primed for a big season this year after scoring four touchdowns on his 10 career receptions coming into this season.

On the other side of the ball, Michael Caputo was the second leading tackler last season while linebackers Vince Biegel, Joe Schobert and Derek Landisch played quite a bit last season, and if the Badgers were going to give up less than triple digits, that trio of linebackers needed to be at least good if not great.

In this slideshow, let's take a look at four players, two on offense and two on defense, who have surprised me, and by extension, Badgers fans this season.  

Three of the four players listed started their careers as a walk-on or a gray shirt, showing the team's remarkable commitment to the walk-on program and the benefits for both the players and the team.

Without further ado, let's take a look at these four players, starting with the team's leading receiver.

WR Alex Erickson

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Alex Erickson has quickly emerged as Tanner McEvoy's favorite target.

Coming into the season, wide receiver Alex Erickson wasn't on too many people's radars.  Running in second string on the depth chart and not particularly heralded among fans nor the coaching staff, a Week 1 performance that saw him haul in three balls for 33 yards turned a few heads, but those numbers don't pop off the page.

The following week, with the running game stuck in neutral for much of the afternoon, it was Erickson who did all of the heavy lifting.  Against Western Illinois, Erickson caught 10 balls for 122 yards and a touchdown, easily establishing himself as Tanner McEvoy's favorite target and a fan favorite to boot.

Erickson has 15 receptions for 165 yards and a touchdown through three games and has done an ample job picking up the slack for the graduated Jared Abbrederis, for whom Erickson will be endlessly compared to until he graduates.  But Erickson doesn't have quite the same downfield ability Abbrederis had.

While Erickson could develop a downfield component to his game—he should have drawn a pass interference call on a 20-plus-yard throw against Bowling Green—for now, Erickson has surprised fans as a great security blanket for McEvoy as he continues to progress into a FBS quarterback.

FB Austin Ramesh

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While there were concerns as to whom would play fullback but Austin Ramesh has quelled all of those and then some.

Fullback Austin Ramesh was recruited as a running back, but his size—6'1", 247 pounds—made him more of a fullback in the coaching staff's eyes.  

A strong spring game as a running back kept him in the conversation at running back, particularly with injuries to Taiwan Deal and Caleb Kinlaw moving him up to third on the depth chart.

But an injury to Derek Watt moved Ramesh to fullback, and he has thrived at the position.  Ramesh was the lead blocker on most plays as the Badgers rumbled to 644 rushing yards against Bowling Green.  Though he has yet to record a carry, he has caught two passes for nine yards and a touchdown, filling in for Watt nicely.

Watt should be out for a good chunk of time, and while that is a concern for the Badgers, Ramesh has played the part seamlessly and could allow for Watt to return as a hybrid-fullback/tight end and gives the Badgers a fullback for the future, as Ramesh is only a redshirt freshman.

LB Marcus Trotter

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Inside linebacker Marcus Trotter has cemented himself as a cornerstone of the Badgers defense.

Last season, when Chris Borland went down with a hamstring injury, it was Marcus Trotter who picked up the slack.  Coming in relief for Borland midway through the Badgers game at Illinois, Trotter recorded nine tackles and 0.5 tackles-for-loss.  In his first start two weeks later at Iowa, Trotter picked up nine more tackles.

Trotter's ability to pick up right where Borland left off last year was a good sign for the Badgers and gave them a glimpse into L.A.B.—Life After Borland, similar to L.A.A, Life After Abbrederis, something the Badgers are still struggling with—with a pair of sturdy tacklers patrolling the middle in Trotter and Derek Landisch.

Through the team's first three games, both have been as solid as they come, but special commendation goes to Trotter as Landisch played quite a bit last season while Trotter was thrust into playing time only when Borland went down.

Trotter has picked up 20 tackles thus far this season, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and 0.5 sacks in three games.  While not quite the tackling machine Borland was, he and his trademark exuberance after every play he makes—seen above—has made him both a fan and coach favorite.

He and his brother have both received praise from coach Gary Andersen on their energy and enthusiasm, with Coach Andersen telling Tom Pipines of Fox6, "Michael and Marcus have carried themselves with so much energy whenever they play this game."  

Andersen would go on to say, "We want them to play with emotion. It can become contagious. Hopefully for some of the youth too."

NG Arthur Goldberg

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Arthur Goldberg has been a welcome surprise at nose guard while filling in as the starter for Warren Herring.

When Konrad Zagzebski got hurt against LSU, in an effort to keep as much size on the field as possible, Coach Andersen put unheralded nose guard Arthur Goldberg in the game as a part of their defensive line rotation.  When Warren Herring got hurt later that game, Goldberg was forced to stay in the game.

While that game was not his best, as the redshirt sophomore who didn't play a snap last season was still picking up the nuances of the position, the experienced gained in that game helped immeasurably, as he has been pressed into further action due to Herring's injury.

Goldberg has picked up nine tackles as the nose guard, playing considerably more snaps than he ever could have dreamed of coming into this season.  

At 6'3" and 290 pounds, Goldberg has the frame to play nose guard, and the experience picked up this season will help him going forward as both Zagzebski and Herring are gone after this season.

While not the flashiest player on the field, Goldberg's ability to clog up blockers and let Marcus Trotter, Derek Landisch and Michael Caputo make plays just behind him has helped ease the pain of the graduation of Beau Allen and the injury to Herring, who was seen as one of the most indispensable players coming into the year due to poor defensive line depth.