Talk and great hope of the Packers trading for JJ Watt now that O’Brian is out as coach in Houston has been lingering this past week. While there likely no chance of that happening, unless Green Bay gives up a first round pick, it doesn’t stop us from coming up with a team that is Wisconsin-based, either growing up in Wisconsin or playing college ball at some point for a college team in Wisconsin. Below is a roster of 51 players and 15 practice squad players, leaving room for the team to either activate players to the active roster or to sign players.
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th |
| QB | Wilson | Kaepernick | Morgan | |||
| RB/FB | Taylor | White | Gordon | Watt | Clement | Ingold |
| WR | Cephus | Erickson | Kumerow | Carrier | Fountain | |
| TE | Kittle | Fumagali | Kendricks | Harris | ||
| T | Ramczyk | Havenstein | Wagner | Edwards | ||
| G | Zeitler | Dieter | Groy | Benzchawel | ||
| C | Biadasz | Trewyn | ||||
| DT | Allen | Sagapolu | ||||
| DE | Watt | Harris | ||||
| OLB | Watt | Van Ginkel | Baun | Biegal | ||
| ILB | Schobert | Edwards | Klein | Connelly | Orr | |
| CB | Murray | Waynes | Shelton | Nelson | ||
| S | Ward | Dixon | Jamerson | Southward | ||
| K | Hintze | |||||
| P | Nortman | |||||
| PS | Erdmann | Johnson | Pfaff | Jacobs | Ogunbowale | |
| Bellore | Scharping | Arnold | Brooks | Witzman | ||
| Hillary | Mcvoy | Dooley | Spieker | HorniBrook | ||
This team, as is expected of any Wisconsin team, is going to be tough, fundamentally sound, and be able to run the ball.
Offense: Wisconsin QB Led
With MVP candidate Russell Wilson at QB, and the stable of running backs, this team will have no trouble running the ball and keeping the clock moving while avoiding turnovers. Add in All-Pro George Kittle and it takes away the need for top tier WR talent. However, Cephus has shown promise so far in his rookie season and could develop into a reliable option for Wilson. Also up front this team may be one of the best in the NFL with quality depth in case of injury.
The interesting players to watch here is at the back up QB spot in Colin Kaepernick and James Morgan.
The best offensive scheme here would be a Matt LaFluer gameplan with the use of all of his RBs in both the running game and passing game, which would make up for some of the talent at the WR position. Look for this team to find away to score points and dominate the time of possession.
Defense: Wisconsin Alumni Dominate
This is a team that would be scary in passing situations as they would boost likely the best pass rush group in the NFL including pairing the Watt bros. The DT and secondary would be the weak spot here but with exotic front seven looks and the guys coming after the QB these back end guys likely wont have to cover long in coverage. The nice thing for this defense is a lot of young guys who have the ability to grow.
Positions and players to watch is DT to see if they can hold up against the run as teams likely will try to run more to avoid 2nd and 3rd and long situations.
Best coach here to scheme for the defense is a coach who likes to be creative and exotic in a 3-4 foundation like Mike Pettine. Except I’m going to go to a up and coming college coach and former home grown talent in his own right and have Jim Leonard be the DC for this team.
Special
This is where things get risky and challenging as there is no punter or kicker currently in the NFL that is home grown. So went went with recent Badger in Zach Hintze who is known for his 62 yard field goal last season. He needs to be more consistent but has a huge leg. Punter is another question, as we go to JK Scott who has a family rental and ties to Wisconsin through his family. We tried to get Brad Nortman, but he decided to retire instead.
Using a combination of Nelson, Erickson, and Taylor in the return game would hopefully be enough to get the offense decent starting field position.
I would have Shawn Mennenga as he has experience and time working with Scott in Green Bay.
Wisconsin Team Out Look
This team has a lot of talent all over the field and while WR, CB, K, and S would be the ideal positions to focus on in the draft and free agency this team is ready to compete now. If they can avoid injury and guys develop nicely this team could go a well as 13-3, however a few injuries and disappointing play in the back seven and WR could see this team be around 8-8. Likely good enough to go 10-6 and having a real chance at hosting a playoff game.
Recap
Wisconsin as a whole has had a lot of talent that have grown up in the state, and even came to the state to compete at the collegiate level. Which is not only a cool reflection for the lower level coaching in the state but a great bright spot to look at the future of the state as a talent pipeline.
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