Greg McElroy identifies Wisconsin's biggest needs in transfer portal

Wisconsin has one key spot on the roster that Greg McElroy thinks they need to fill. That leaves them looking for their perfect fit from what’s left during the spring cycle of the NCAA Transfer Portal.

McElroy addressed the transfer needs of several teams, including the Badgers, during a recent episode of ‘Always College Football’. Theirs came on the offensive line, specifically at left tackle following the ACL tear last month during spring practice for Kevin Heywood. That could mean re-working the line’s alignment or, to him, finding a new tackle in the portal.

“Their biggest transfer needs come along the offensive line, for sure. Everybody can use depth at offensive line. Everybody can get bigger, stronger, more athletic, more physical. Everybody wants depth along the offensive and defensive lines. But, I don’t know if there’s a team in the country that needs an offensive lineman more than the Wisconsin Badgers,” said McElroy. “They need a left tackle. If we’re going to boil things down, they got to have that left tackle. They lose their starting left tackle, Kevin Heywood, to a season-ending ACL injury, which had a trickle down effect amongst the rest of the offensive line group. Now, this is a massive part of what this team could be along the offensive line. If you look at where Haywood was, he was a star at the position or a guy that was on his way to becoming a star.”

“There’s a bunch of different avenues that Wisconsin can pursue to try to fill that left tackle void. You can potentially elevate the backup. That’s always possible. You can take the left guard, Joe Brunner, and kick him out to tackle. You can move the right tackle, Riley Mahlman, over to the other side. All those situations can be done but, I think the best avenue right now is to go out and get the best available offensive tackle in the portal,” McElroy said. “Expect Wisconsin to move quickly on their biggest position need and that comes as the blindside tackle for whoever their quarterback ends up being.”

To this point, Wisconsin has only added a trio of transfers during the spring. Missouri State TE Lance Mason and Purdue LS Nick Levy have joined since the end of April along with Central Michigan IOL Davis Heinzen, an in-state native from Manitowoc just two hours northeast of campus, who could be the answer here after playing at both positions on the left side last season, with the majority of his career snaps coming at that left tackle spot, for the Chippewas. On3’s Pete Nakos has also reported on other possibilities for the Badgers as recently as Friday last week.

Wisconsin has already done some work in the portal to solidify that left side of the offensive line. It’s about fully re-working it to best fit the protection they’ll need for whichever one of their transfer quarterback they’ll be playing between Billy Edwards Jr. or Danny O’Neil.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. 

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.