BadgerBlitz.com's Wisconsin player draft: Round 15

This summer, the Badgers will be divided.

That is, they'll be separated into three imaginary teams, set against each other by a BadgerBlitz.com.com Wisconsin player draft, a daily selection in which separate groups of 23 are assembled.

Over the next four weeks, BadgerBlitz.com reporters Jon McNamara, John Veldhuis and Jessi Schoville will draft Badgers, picking players one-by-one and placing them on their respective teams, trying to assemble the best 11 on offense and defense, plus one reserve.

Then, in late July, we'll decide — based on BadgerBlitz.com.com staff and member feedback — which team would win.

Who will be selected when? How will the teams develop? What reasoning will be used?

And most importantly, do you agree with the picks? Be sure to discuss in the Badgers' Den.

Ready for Round 15?

Inside linebacker Ryan Connelly started his career at Wisconsin as a walk-on but earned a scholarship from head coach Paul Chryst last August. As a redshirt freshman, Connelly had 15 total tackles in 12 games and was listed behind starter T.J. Edwards on the depth chart for much of the season.

I certainly don't see Connelly moving past No. 4 on the depth chart at inside backer this fall with Edwards, Jack Cichy and Chris Orr ahead of him. But for this draft, I like him as my final piece to my linebacker quarter along with Cichy, T.J. Watt and Zack Baun.

With my next pick I flipped back to the other side of the ball in order to complete my defensive secondary. I decided to go with junior Lubern Figaro, who worked at both corner and safety this spring. Figaro is a guy with game action on his résumé, though the majority of those minutes came during his freshman season. Ironically, his first start at safety was against LSU in 2014, so I’m hoping that's a sign from the football gods that perhaps he will miraculously see the field against them this season in 2016.

In all seriousness, though, Figaro's experience against Les Miles and the Tigers shouldn’t be overlooked. He recorded four tackles in the spring game and could surprise some people this fall.

I flipped back to focusing on defense in this round, and found a younger player to fill one of my inside linebacker spots in Nick Thomas, who is coming off of a redshirt season in his first year on campus.

Thomas has a bit of a leg up on some of the other younger players, though, since he enrolled early in the spring of 2015. He has an extra semester (and quite a few reps for a first year player) under his belt. Pairing Thomas with Chris Orr on the inside means the middle of my defense is rather young, but taking Thomas felt like a better option than waiting a little longer and seeing what was left over when Jon and Jessi had finished rounding out their defenses.

We might see Thomas on the field in some capacity (ie: special teams), but with three experienced players above him battling for two starting jobs this fall, he has a few bodies to climb over on the depth chart to see any real playing time this fall.

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