Bye Week Report Card: Wide Receiver/Tight End

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin enters its bye week with a 2-2 overall record, including 0-1 in Big Ten Conference play. How have the Badgers been performing at the wide receiver and tight end positions through the first part of the 2025 season? Badger Blitz takes a closer look with the help of Pro Football Focus…

OVERVIEW/PFF GRADES

Grant Stec – 77.3 (100 snaps)

Lance Mason – 73.5 (177 snaps)

Vinny Anthony – 72.8 (171 snaps)

Jayden Ballard – 69.8 (98 snaps)

Trech Kekahuna – 65.4 (130 snaps)

Chris Brooks Jr. – 64.3 (135 snaps)

Tyrell Henry – 59.4 (63 snaps)

Eugene Hilton Jr. – 56.9 (44 snaps)

Jackson Acker – 56.6 (110 snaps)

Mason has been one of the top additions from the portal for Wisconsin. The senior leads the team with 14 receptions for 177 yards and two touchdowns. Looking to build off a breakout junior campaign, Anthony is second on the Badgers with 12 catches for 161 yards and a touchdown via special teams. Both Ballard (150) and Kekahuna (123) are above 100 yards receiving after four games as well.

The run blocking grades haven’t been particularly special, as expected. Stec leads the group with a 60.6 grade. The highest graded run blocking wide receiver is Hilton (61.0).

One Positive Trend For Wisconsin

Everybody is eating. Seven different wide receivers or tight ends have at least four catches for Wisconsin. Six different receivers have played at least 40 snaps, while four different receivers have at least one carry in the run game.

Without Tucker Ashcraft (leg), the tight ends are a little thin, but Stec has been one of the biggest bright spots for the Badgers thus far. He’s played 100 snaps in reserve duty, while catching four passes for 45 yards. Stec’s 82.9 receiving grade leads Wisconsin as well.

Catching the ball has also been a positive. These two groups haven’t been charged with a single drop between them, although Anthony definitely missed an opportunity to cash in on a big play at Alabama.

One Negative Trend For Wisconsin

It’s a small sample size, and quarterback/offensive line play has a lot to do with it, but the receivers and tight ends haven’t made much happen at the second level. Ballard has a pair of big plays, including a 58-yard touchdown at Alabama, but both were largely irrelevant. Aside from Ballard, only Kekahuna (45) has a reception longer than 40 yards. The Badgers have only five big plays in the pass game all season. Last season, Anthony was consistently able to get behind the defense. UW has not gotten him involved much after he had a chunk play in all but one game last season — a contest where he wasn’t targeted against Western Michigan.

GRADE: B

The tight ends and wide receivers account for the three highest-graded players on the Wisconsin offense. The tight ends, particularly Acker, should have strong run blocking grades, but we knew coming into the season that was going to be an issue for this group. I’ve actually thought Mason has made big gains since fall camp there.

The group is getting open and not dropping passes. I can’t ask for much more. Not having Billy Edwards Jr. and the lack of a complementary run game are likely killing the numbers of these two groups. The guys who needed to step up, Brooks and Stec, have done just that. The wide receivers have also helped supplement the run game as well. Case and point, Kekahuna is currently the team’s third-leading rusher on just five touches and he’s racked up almost half the yards that Dilin Jones has accumulated.