As the Badgers prepare for their season opener in less than a month, head coach Luke Fickell is still fine tuning the roster. It appears that a member of the defense has switched things up, and will now be a part of the Wisconsin offense.
Tyler Jansey, the former linebacker, is now listed as a tight end on the roster, and is expected to compete for a fullback role behind Jackson Acker according to Jon McNamara. The 6-foot-1, 234-pound redshirt sophomore, who has largely played on special teams for the Badgers, will now give it a go at playing offense.
It's not the first time Fickell has made a positional change. Interestingly, Jansey's fellow fullback Acker, was also a player who made a position switch, having originally been a tight end on the Badger offense.
Why did Luke Fickell change Jansey's position?
The reason for the switch could be any number of things. The linebacking core is a deep unit, and it could be that Jansey's only potential for seeing the field was a switch to a thinner position. It won't limit his potential for remaining on the special teams unit, and now allows him to maybe get some playing time under new offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes.
The switch could also be about unlocking Jansey's skillset a bit better. With the idea to get back to more of a ground-and-pound style of offense, Jansey's explosiveness and track and field background could be a nice fit to block for the newly developed Badger run game.