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Tanner McEvoy Will Have Breakout Game Against Miami (OH)

By Jim Oxley

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Tanner McEvoy remains one of the most interesting football players in recent years to put on the Wisconsin Badgers uniform. The big break we’ve been waiting to see out of the senior will come this weekend against the Miami (OH) Redhawks.

READ ALSO: McEvoy to Play Both Sides of the Ball on Saturday

How many college football players can say they’ve started a game at quarterback, wide receiver and safety? My guess is not many, but Tanner McEvoy is one of them.

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After transferring to UW out of junior college in 2013, McEvoy, a quarterback at the time, was low on the QB depth chart. So the Badgers, knowing how athletic the kid was, tossed him onto the field on defense. He played 11 games, starting three, and totaled 27 tackles, a tackle for a loss, four pass breakups and an interception.

In 2014 he won the starting quarterback job, started five games, then was benched for Joel Stave. He still saw action as a quarterback in all but one game on the season, and was a prolific runner from the QB spot. He set the UW single-season quarterback rushing record with 65 carries for 574 yards, and his 8.8 yards per carry was the top number among all FBS quarterbacks, and second among all FBS runners with at least 50 carries.

In 2015, with one game down, McEvoy started at wide receiver, although his debut at the position wasn’t spectacular as he didn’t record a catch and had only a couple targets. He did draw a pass interference penalty at one point.

We’ve seen what McEvoy can do in the open field.

Now we want to see what he can do when the play doesn’t start with the ball in his hands, and I think we get plenty of that come Saturday.

Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin Badgers /

Wisconsin Badgers

Wisconsin will be looking to bounce back from the week one loss in a big way, and McEvoy should be a huge part of the plan. To start, outside of Wisconsin’s massive tight ends, he’s the biggest receiver on the team. At 6-6, 231 pounds, he’s the tallest wide receiver who will see real time on the field.

That alone makes him a threat all over the field, but he’s fast and shifty as well. The Badgers should be looking to get him the ball in many of the same ways they got the ball to Kenzel Doe in the past: end arounds … bubble screens … hell send him in motion and toss him a shovel pass if you like.

McEvoy has the talent to really open up the Badgers offense, and his presence as a complimentary receiver to Alex Erickson should pay dividends once the Big ten season starts.

Plus, with Michael Caputo‘s availability questionable in the defensive backfield, McEvoy will be out on defense as well, and should help shore up a middle of the defense that was abused by Alabama last week.

The Tanner McEvoy era at quarterback fizzled quickly, but the Tanner McEvoy era at wide receiver and safety is only beginning, and Saturday we will see how effective the talented player can truly be.

Next: McEvoy At Receiver Makes Sense

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