Wisconsin athletics are known on the national level for many different things. The Wisconsin men's hockey team has been dubbed Goalie U"" after the squad's ability to pump out quality goaltender after goaltender. The Wisconsin men's track and field team is considered the best in the Big Ten year-in and year-out, and definitely one of the best in the country.
And the Wisconsin football team is known for its stellar running game, hard-nosed defense and its quality production of ... tight ends?
Yes that's right. The smash mouth, never-going-to-adapt-the-spread offense that Wisconsin runs is mainly known for pumping out running backs like NCAA career rushing leader and Heisman trophy winner Ron Dayne, but this season it may be the tight end position that is the most talented on the depth chart.
""We got a lot of guys who can do a good job,"" junior tight end Garrett Graham said. ""Mickey, Lance, Travis obviously, and it's good to have that many guys so you know you can depend on anybody and especially if somebody goes down during a game. It's been working out well for us.""
With senior Travis Beckum seemingly set to be a first round draft pick come April, the notion that the tight ends are the most talented isn't too far fetched. Throw in Graham and fellow junior Mickey Turner and sophomore Lance Kendricks, and the Badgers are suddenly stacked at the hybrid position.
For those new to Wisconsin, this is not how it used to be.
When now-Athletic Director Barry Alvarez turned around the Wisconsin football team in the early 1990's as head coach, the team was known for basically what it is now: running the ball. And with such runners as Terrell Fletcher and Brent Moss, Michael Bennett and Dayne, it is not too hard to see why.
Running the ball at such a high rate meant recruiting tight ends that blocked first, and caught second ... if they ever did.
Such tight ends as Mark Anelli, John Sigmund, Eric Gram and Drague Retzlaff were basically a third tackle, and were used sparingly in the already sparse Badger passing game.
Fast forward to the present, and the tight end position has completely evolved from a tool in the running game to the main threat in Wisconsin's aerial attack.
Owen Daniels, who is currently in his third season with the Houston Texans of the NFL, can be considered the first of this new batch of tight ends to have donned the Cardinal and White. After coming to UW as a quarterback, Daniels moved to tight end, where he caught 62 passes for 852 yards and 10 touchdowns in his three seasons.
""We've found a way to get the playmakers on the field [at the tight end position],"" said UW tight end coach Joe Rudolph, who played at Wisconsin in the early '90s at guard. ""I encourage them to keep making plays.""
Graham and sophomore Lance Kendricks have led the charge so far in '08. Graham leads the team in receptions with 11 and has all three receiving touchdowns. He currently has a streak of three straight games catching a touchdown pass, and obviously has become one of fifth-year senior quarterback Allan Evridge's favorite targets, amassing 154 yards up to this point.
""I guess it's just the plays have been called and I've been open,"" Graham said. ""We got a lot of guys who can go out and make plays and guys who have. [Evridge has] been doing a good job of spreading the ball around as well.""
Against Marshall, Kendricks was the catalyst starting a streak of 51 consecutive unanswered points for UW, hauling in three passes for 94 yards. Kendricks came to Wisconsin as a wide receiver, and redshirted his first season at UW, but is now flourishing at his new position.
""I'm pretty well adjusted to it now, but it definitely wasn't easy,"" Kendricks said. ""I think it was pretty much one of the hardest things that I have ever done. But I think to get where I am now, it was definitely worth it.""
While Daniels started the pass-catching tight end trend at UW, and Graham and Kendricks are currently carrying the torch, it is Beckum who has taken the tight end position to the next level. In '07 alone, Beckum caught 75 passes for 982 yards and six touchdowns. During the preseason, he was named to the watchlists for the Walter Camp award, which goes to the player of the year, the John Mackey award, which goes to the nation's best tight end, and the Maxwell Award, which goes to the nation's best player, as judged by sportscasters, sports writers and NCAA head coaches.
But to Rudolph, the tight end group as a whole is better than any individual, which means a lot considering Beckum's stellar career.
""Each one of them brings a different aspect and a different thing to the puzzle. There are certain things that one guy does great and another guy struggles at,"" Rudolph said. ""If they keep taking advantage of learning from each other and focus on those things and try to get better they could be a good group.""
A ""good group"" may be a bit of an understatement. If Daniels, Beckum and the rest of the current tight ends are any indication of what is to come, the Wisconsin football team may soon adopt ""Tight End U"" as one of its more mainstream nicknames.
