Another one bites the dust: Shaughnessy

It was confirmed this afternoon that Matt Shaughnessy, the last remaining healthy defensive lineman on the Wisconsin roster, broke his leg in practice last night. Great. Does Azree Commander have any eligibility left?

To recap, the walking wounded on the D-line include: Shaughnessy, Kirk DeCremer, Jason Chapman, Brandon Hoey, Dan Moore, Dan Cascone, and Mike Newkirk. So at the spring game tomorrow it's Jeff Stehle, O'Brien Schofield, and some guys they picked up at the Nat on the D-line.

At one point, the injuries didn't bother me, because they allowed some younger guys to get more reps in spring practice. But this is ridiculous. Assuming all of these guys are back in time for fall camp - a big assumption that it is probably not appropriate to make - the unit should be at least mediocre. But add that on top of our two best cornerbacks recovering from knee injuries, and the defense becomes even more of a question mark than it was in January.

Then again ... last year's unit came in with a lot of hype and underdelivered. I've got a feeling that we'll be really down on the D coming into this season and they'll play better than expectations. Why?

1. I think Shaughnessy will be back and fully healthy by August and dominate this fall.
2. I think Jonathan Casillas and DeAndre Levy will be All-Big Ten-type guys this season, and Elijah Hodge and his platoon mates will be good enough in the middle.
3. I think Shane Carter will show a more well-rounded game, and our play at cornerback will not be disastrous.
4. Our defense has been really good in even-numbered years under Bielema. That one's a stretch, and I don't think this unit will be as good as those from 2004 and 2006 ... but what were your expectations for the defense in those years?

We may have the offensive horses to win some shootouts this fall, but who can tell with the offense playing against the JV squad. Has there been a less interesting spring game in recent memory? Like most people, I'm most interested in seeing if Allan Evridge or Dustin Sherer outplay one another, and how Johnny Clay looks.