Badgers by position: Jim Leonhard embarks on another rebuilding job in the secondary

Jeff Potrykus | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Third in a series of nine position previews leading to the opening of Wisconsin's preseason camp Aug. 2.

MADISON – Jim Leonhard has a history – albeit a brief one – of helping rebuild Wisconsin’s secondary.

Consider that when Leonhard joined the staff in 2016 as the secondary coach, UW had to replace three starters in the secondary – safeties Michael Caputo and Tanner McEvoy and cornerback Darius Hillary.

D’Cota Dixon and Leo Musso stepped in at the safety positions, Derrick Tindal replaced Hillary and UW finished third in the Big Ten in pass-defense efficiency.

Then last season in his new role as defensive coordinator, Leonhard had to replace one starting cornerback (Sojourn Shelton) and one starting safety (Musso).

Nick Nelson took over for Shelton, Natrell Jamerson moved from cornerback to safety and UW didn’t falter. UW went on to lead the conference in pass-defense efficiency.

As Leonhard prepares for his second season as defensive coordinator he must replace three starters in the back end – Nelson, Tindal and Jamerson.

UW BY POSITION: DL | LB

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Many of the players set to battle for a spot in the two-deep are untested as UW prepares to open camp next week.

Dixon missed all of spring while recovering from right-shoulder surgery but is set to start at one of the safety spots. With 23 starts and 42 games played, Dixon will have to lead during meetings, on the practice field and on game day.

“He does an amazing job being a vocal leader and sharing his experience,” Leonhard said.

Scott Nelson, Patrick Johnson and Eric Burrell are the next three safeties. Nelson, a 6-foot-2, 202-pound redshirt freshman, is constantly putting in extra work with Dixon and the communication between the two is outstanding.

“Scott is very mature for his age,” Dixon said. “Much more mature than I was as a freshman.

“He epitomizes what it means to be a leader.”

Johnson entered last season in fantastic shape after dropping more than 20 pounds, to 202 from 225. However, he played only four games before suffering a season-ending arm injury. Johnson, who is down to 193 pounds, received a medical waiver and is officially a redshirt sophomore.

Burrell played mostly on special teams last season after redshirting in 2016.

Leonhard used the spring to evaluate just about every cornerback on the roster.

Redshirt sophomore Dontye Carriere-Williams missed most of the spring while recovering from abdominal surgery. He started five games last season, however, and his solid play as the third cornerback should give him an edge in the battle to start this season.

The second starter should come from the trio of sophomore Madison Cone, who played in nine games last season; redshirt freshman Faion Hicks; and redshirt sophomore Caesar Williams, who played in only two games last season but made significant progress in the winter and spring.

“I love their approach,” Leonhard said. “Pretty much that whole group of DBs is hungry to get better. They ask questions. They want to learn. And any time you have that mentality, you have a chance."

Cone played mostly on special teams as a freshman and Leonhard acknowledged he wanted to get him more time on defense in ’17.

“A big goal for me last year was to get him to understand what game speed is,” Leonhard said. “Because I thought he would be another guy that could challenge to have a big role this season. It is hard to learn that redshirting."

Hicks enrolled at UW in January 2017 but suffered a shoulder injury during spring ball. He wasn't fully recovered until later in the ’17 season.

“But he was able to come back and practice a little more than half of the year,” Leonhard said. “He has got a good feel for what we do. He has been around it.

“I’m excited for what he is going to be in this program. He’s got a lot of talent and he has a great mentality. He is a worker and he is going to get after it and compete.”

Williams, the tallest of the cornerbacks at 6-0, impressed Leonhard with his work after the Orange Bowl, which led to a better player in the spring.

“Caesar is definitely a guy that has flashed this spring,” Leonhard said. “He can do things right now that physically he couldn’t when we were down in Miami, which is a credit to him and the amount he put in this off-season.

“He has taken a big jump from a year ago and he is going to be in a lot of conversations going into fall camp.”

SECONDARY

CORNERBACKS

Projected starters: Dontye Carriere-Williams, 5-foot-10, 189 pounds, sophomore; Madison Cone, 5-9, 176, sophomore.

Key reserves: Faion Hicks, 5-10, 184, freshman; Caesar Williams, 6-0, 185, sophomore.

Others to watch: Donte Burton, 5-10, 181, freshman.

SAFETIES

Projected starters: D’Cota Dixon, 5-10, 198, senior; Scott Nelson, 6-2, 202, freshman.

Key reserves: Patrick Johnson, 5-11, 193, junior; Eric Burrell, 6-0, 191, sophomore.

INSIDE THE HUDDLE

Burton, from Loganville, Ga., was among the early enrollees who participated in spring practice. The staff believes he will be a contributor at some point. He looked like a raw freshman during the spring, however. Leonhard likes to get the younger defensive backs experience, even if their playing time comes mostly on special teams. With the new rule allowing freshmen to play four games and still retain a redshirt year, it will be interesting to see how Leonhard uses Burton.

UW had the luxury of using two experienced cornerbacks (Tindal and Nick Nelson) every week in 2017. That won’t be the case in 2018, but it appears Leonhard has at least four corners he trusts. It won’t be surprising if he tweaks the lineup during the season if needed.