Wisconsin football: Badgers should have myriad options at wide receiver in 2024

MADISON – Even a truncated conversation with Wisconsin football assistant Kenny Guiton is sufficient for anyone to understand what he will demand of Badgers wide receivers in 2024.

“I tell them all the time,” he said. “It is just being consistent, consistently really good. That’s how greatness comes about. I love that coach Fickell preaches that as well.”

Guiton is in his first season on Luke Fickell’s UW staff. The returning wide receivers are entering Year 2 in offensive coordinator Phil Longo’s offense.

That receivers group includes Will Pauling, Bryson Green, Vinny Anthony III, Trech Kekahuna, Quincy Burroughs and CJ Williams.

UW added two transfers – Tyrell Henry (Michigan State) and Joseph Griffin Jr. (Boston College) – and freshman Kyan Berry-Johnson.

Pauling, who last season led UW in catches (74), receiving yards (837) and touchdown catches (six), put together an outstanding spring.

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Kekahuna, who had four catches for 64 yards in the bowl game, should give UW a second dynamic slot receiver.

Don’t be surprised to see Longo get that duo on the field together.

How many receivers does Guiton hope to use each week?

TBD.

“I hate that I keep doing this,” he said, “but it’s consistency. It really is. Everybody has a little different style, which I love in a wideout room … the most consistent guys that are going out and making a play.”

Will Bryson Green be a factor in the red zone in 2024?

Green last season finished third on the team in receptions (32) despite missing two games because of injury and averaged 15.0 yards per reception. However, he had just two touchdown catches and was infrequently targeted in the red zone.

Green, 6-foot-1 and 208 pounds, has shown the ability to outjump defenders for 50-50 balls and make contested catches.

“When the ball is up in the air,” he said, “I’ve got to go get it. I got a lot of throws like that at Oklahoma State."

The staff needs to find ways to give Green more chances in the red zone.

“I talk to him about it all the time,” Guiton said. “I think that is his game. He is a big, physical guy. I have told him that since Day 1. He does whatever it takes to get open at the top of the route… No matter what, being as physical as he can to create that separation.”

Vinny Anthony III appears ready to emerge into a playmaker

Anthony, who is entering his junior season, played on special teams and got three carries for 14 yards on jet sweeps as a freshman in 2022. He was a slot receiver for most of last season before being moved to the outside.

He finished with 10 catches for 99 yards and showed promise returning punts (9.4-yard average) and kickoffs (19.7).

Near the end of spring ball, Guiton pegged Anthony as the best bet to join Green and Pauling in the starting rotation.

“I wouldn’t say surprised,” Anthony said when told of Guiton’s comments. “It’s definitely a goal. I’ve always wanted to be a starter. It makes me happy, but I want to stay humble. Because it is still early and I still have a lot to prove.

“But that gives me hope that I am (heading) in the right direction. And I really just want to stay consistent because that is what we’ve been talking about is just being consistently good.”

That was before UW added Griffin in May via the transfer portal.

Can Griffin, who had a combined 43 catches for 579 yards and six touchdowns in two seasons at Boston College, pick up the offense and challenge for a starting spot?

Stay tuned.

Luke Fickell expects to see Quincy Burroughs blossom

Burroughs and Pauling came over to UW from Cincinnati.

Pauling emerged as a star last season. Burroughs had a quiet first season at UW with four catches for 30 yards but had a solid spring competing for a spot opposite Green.

“I think confidence with Quincy is the No. 1 thing,” Fickell said. “Sometimes he is so tied to Will Pauling just because they came here together and you expect their trajectories to be the same. In reality, sometimes they’re not. And sometimes that can be hard on him.

“I think the connection with him and coach Guiton is really a good thing. I think that has helped him to grow.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin football: Badgers should have myriad options at wide receiver in 2024