College Football

WR Danny Davis a true deep threat for Badgers

Updated Sep. 4, 2022 10:59 p.m. ET

Dave Heller

Last week we hypothesized that A.J. Taylor would be the one to step up with Wisconsin's top wide receiver Quintez Cephus suffering a season-ending injury.

Not to say that Taylor won't fill the void, but we clearly weren't thinking young enough here in the Young Badgers Tracker.

Against Iowa, Davis, a true freshman, had his best day as a collegian, posting highs in receptions (4) and yards (74), both of which led Wisconsin. All four of Davis' catches went for 12 or more yards, which is kind of becoming a thing with him.

Of his 12 receptions this season, all but two have gone for 10 or more yards (meaning 83.3 percent of his catches are of 10+ yards; to compare, Quintez Cephus was at 70 percent). Just one reason he's third on the team in receiving yards despite missing two games with an injury and not recording a catch in two others.

Overall, Davis, a four-star recruit who waited until National Signing Day to reveal he'd be attending Wisconsin, is averaging 20.33 yards per reception. Wisconsin has had only two receivers with over a 20-yard average (minimum 30 catches) ever -- Larry Mialik, 21.3 in 1970, and Lee Evans, 20.6 in 2001. Only one player since 2005 has had even a 17.5-yard average (again, min. 30 catches) -- Brandon Williams at 18.6 in 2005. Davis likely won't reach 30 catches this season, but he stands to have the best average of any Badgers receiver with 10 or more catches since Paul Hubbard (14 receptions, 21.8 average) in 2007.

Since then, only five Badgers have had topped 18 yards per catch:

Quintez Cephus in 2016 (4 rec., 23.5 avg.); Melvin Gordon (2-32.5) and Curt Phillips (1-27.0) in 2012; Manasseh Garner in 2011 (2-22.5) and Lance Kendricks in 2008 (6-23.5).

Davis hasn't just become a big-play receiver for Wisconsin, he's a rare freshmen for the Badgers racking up receiving yards. Presume Wisconsin will play four more games this season, he'd need to average just 42 yards per game to have the fourth-most receiving yards ever by a Badgers freshmen (currently Kyle Jefferson with 412 in 2007). Sprinkle in a few more than that, and he'd pass Michael Jones (421 in 1981) as well.

Here’s the complete rundown of the young Badgers through 10 games:

"TRUE" FRESHMEN
Adam Bay, LS
Utah State: Played, did not record a statistic
Florida Atlantic: Played, did not record a statistic
BYU: Played, did not record a statistic
Northwestern: Played, did not record a statistic
Nebraska: Played, did not record a statistic
Purdue: Played, did not record a statistic
Maryland: Played, did not record a statistic
Illinois: Played, did not record a statistic
Indiana: Played, did not record a statistic
Iowa: Played, did not record a statistic
Season totals: n/a

Jack Coan, QB
Utah State: Played, did not record a statistic
Florida Atlantic: 1 for 1 passing, 6 yards
BYU: Played, did not record a statistic
Northwestern: Did not play
Nebraska: Played, did not record a statistic
Purdue: Did not play
Maryland: Did not play
Illinois: Did not play
Indiana: 2 for 2 passing, 12 yards
Iowa: Did not play
Season totals: 3 for 3 passing, 18 yards

Madison Cone, CB
Utah State: Played, did not record a statistic
Florida Atlantic: Did not play
BYU: Played, did not record a statistic
Northwestern: Played, did not record a statistic
Nebraska: Did not play
Purdue: Did not play
Maryland: Played, did not record a statistic
Illinois: Played, did not record a statistic
Indiana: Played, did not record a statistic
Iowa: Played, did not record a statistic
Season totals: n/a

Danny Davis, WR
Utah State: Played, did not record a statistic
Florida Atlantic: Started, 1 catch, 35 yards; 1 rush, 1 yard
BYU: 2 catches, 67 yards
Northwestern: 3 catches, 50 yards, TD
Nebraska: Played, did not record a statistic
Purdue: 1 catch, 8 yards; 1 rush, 3 yards; 1 kick return, 23 yards
Maryland: Did not play
Illinois: Did not play
Indiana: 1 catch, 10 yards
Iowa: Started, 4 catches, 74 yards
Season totals: 12 catches, 244 yards, TD; 2 rushes, 4 yards; 1 kick return, 23 yards

Jonathan Taylor, RB
Utah State: 9 rushes, 87 yards, TD
Florida Atlantic: Started, 26 rushes, 223 yards, 3 TDs
BYU: Started, 18 rushes, 128 yards, TD
Northwestern: Started, 19 rushes, 80 yards, 2 TDs
Nebraska: Started, 25 rushes, 249 yards, 2 TDs
Purdue: Started, 30 rushes, 219 yards, TD; 1 catch, 17 yards
Maryland: Started, 22 rushes, 126 yards, TD; 1 catch, 24 yards
Illinois: Started, 12 rushes, 73 yards
Indiana: Started, 29 rushes, 183 yards, TD
Iowa: Started, 29 rushes, 157 yards; 1 catch, 14 yards
Season totals: 219 rushes, 1,525 yards, 12 TDs; 3 catches, 55 yards

Have not played
Michael Balistreri, DE; Tyler Beach, OL; Logan Bruss, OL; Ethan Cesarz, ILB; Jake Collinsworth, ILB; Sam DeLany, WR; Alex Fenton, OL; Jake Ferguson, TE; Izayah Green-May, OLB; Matt Hennigsen, DE; Faion Hicks, CB; Hunter Johnson, RB; Collin Larsh, K; Kayden Lyles, OL; Tyler Mais, S; Scott Nelson, S; Emmet Perry, WR; Josh Seltzner, OL; Blake Smithback, OL; Danny Vanden Boom, QB; Aaron Vopal, OL; Coy Wanner, TE

REDSHIRT FRESHMEN
Christian Bell, OLB
Utah State: 1 tackle (solo)
Florida Atlantic: Did not play
BYU: 1 tackle (solo), 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 FF
Northwestern: Did not play
Nebraska: Did not play
Purdue: Did not play
Maryland: Played, did not record a statistic
Illinois: Played, did not record a statistic
Indiana: Played, did not record a statistic
Iowa: Did not play
Season totals: 2 tackles (2 solo), sack, TFL, FF

Luke Benzschawel, TE
Utah State: Played, did not record a statistic
Florida Atlantic: Played, did not record a statistic
BYU: Played, did not record a statistic
Northwestern: Did not play
Nebraska: Played, did not record a statistic
Purdue: Did not play
Maryland: Did not play
Illinois: Did not play
Indiana: Did not play
Iowa: Did not play
Season totals: n/a

Tyler Biadasz, C
Utah State: Started, did not record a statistic
Florida Atlantic: Started, did not record a statistic
BYU: Started, did not record a statistic
Northwestern: Started, did not record a statistic
Nebraska: Started, did not record a statistic
Purdue: Started, did not record a statistic
Maryland: Started, did not record a statistic
Illinois: Started, did not record a statistic
Indiana: Started, did not record a statistic
Iowa: Started, did not record a statistic
Season totals: n/a

Noah Burks, OLB
Utah State: 1 tackle (solo), 1 QBH
Florida Atlantic: Played, did not record a statistic
BYU: Did not play
Northwestern: Did not play
Nebraska: Did not play
Purdue: Did not play
Maryland: 1 tackle (solo)
Illinois: Played, did not record a statistic
Indiana: Played, did not record a statistic
Iowa: Played, did not record a statistic
Season totals: 2 tackles (2 solo), QBH

Eric Burrell, S
Utah State: 2 tackles (1 solo)
Florida Atlantic: Played, did not record a statistic
BYU: Played, did not record a statistic
Northwestern: Played, did not record a statistic
Nebraska: Played, did not record a statistic
Purdue: Played, did not record a statistic
Maryland: Played, did not record a statistic
Illinois: Played, did not record a statistic
Indiana: 1 tackle (solo)
Iowa: 1 tackle (solo), PBU
Season totals: 4 tackles (3 solo)

Dontye Carriere-Williams, CB
Utah State: 5 tackles (2 solo)
Florida Atlantic: 1 tackle (solo), 1 PBU
BYU: 8 tackles (6 solo), INT
Northwestern: 3 tackles (3 solo)
Nebraska: 1 tackle (solo), 1 PBU
Purdue: Started, 1 tackle, 2 PBU
Maryland: Played, did not record a statistic
Illinois: Started, 3 tackles (2 solo), 2 PBU
Indiana: Started, 1 tackle (solo)
Iowa: Started, 1 tackle (solo)
Season totals: 23 tackles (16 solo), INT, 6 PBU

Seth Currens, S
Utah State: Played, did not record a statistic
Florida Atlantic: 1 tackle
BYU: Played, did not record a statistic
Northwestern: Played, did not record a statistic
Nebraska: Played, did not record a statistic
Purdue: Played, did not record a statistic
Maryland: Played, did not record a statistic
Illinois: Played, did not record a statistic
Indiana: Played, did not record a statistic
Iowa: Played, did not record a statistic
Season totals: 1 tackle

Jack Dunn, WR
Utah State: Played, did not record a statistic
Florida Atlantic: Played, did not record a statistic
BYU: Played, did not record a statistic
Northwestern: Did not play
Nebraska: Did not play
Purdue: Did not play
Maryland: Played, did not record a statistic
Illinois: Did not play
Indiana: Played, did not record a statistic
Iowa: Played, did not record a statistic
Season totals: n/a

Garrett Groshek, RB
Utah State: 2 rushes, 29 yards, TD; 1 tackle (solo)
Florida Atlantic: 5 rushes, 10 yards; 1 catch, 6 yards; 1 tackle
BYU: 9 carries, 43 yards; 1 tackle
Northwestern: Played, did not record a statistic
Nebraska: 1 rush, 7 yards
Purdue: 2 rushes, 32 yards
Maryland: 5 rushes, 47 yards
Illinois: 12 rushes, 51 yards, TD
Indiana: 9 rushes, 23 yards; 1 catch, 7 yards
Iowa: 2 rushes, 8 yards
Season totals: 47 rushes, 250 yards, 2 TDs; 2 catches, 13 yards; 3 tackles (1 solo)

Patrick Kasl, OL
Utah State: Played, did not record a statistic
Florida Atlantic: Played, did not record a statistic
BYU: Played, did not record a statistic
Northwestern: Played, did not record a statistic
Nebraska: Played, did not record a statistic
Purdue: Played, did not record a statistic
Maryland: Played, did not record a statistic
Illinois: Played, did not record a statistic
Indiana: Played, did not record a statistic
Iowa: Played, did not record a statistic
Season totals: n/a

Adam Krumholz, WR
Utah State: Did not play
Florida Atlantic: Did not play
BYU: Did not play
Northwestern: Did not play
Nebraska: Did not play
Purdue: Did not play
Maryland: Did not play
Illinois: Played, did not record a statistic
Indiana: Played, did not record a statistic
Iowa: Played, did not record a statistic
Season totals: n/a

Isaiahh Loudermilk, DE
Utah State: 3 tackles (2 solo), 1 sack, 1 TFL
Florida Atlantic: Played, did not record a statistic
BYU: 2 tackles (1 solo)
Northwestern: 1 tackle, .5 sacks, .5 TFL
Nebraska: Played, did not record a statistic
Purdue: Played, did not record a statistic
Maryland: Did not play
Illinois: Did not play
Indiana: Did not play
Iowa: 2 tackles (1 solo)
Season totals: 8 tackles (4 solo), 1.5 sacks, 1.5 TFL

Mike Maskalunas, ILB
Utah State: 1 tackle, 1 FR
Florida Atlantic: 1 tackle (solo)
BYU: 2 tackles (1 solo), 1 TFL
Northwestern: Played, did not record a statistic
Nebraska: 1 tackle (solo)
Purdue: Played, did not record a statistic
Maryland: Played, did not record a statistic
Illinois: Did not play
Indiana: 2 tackles (2 solo)
Iowa: Played, did not record a statistic
Season totals: 7 tackles (5 solo), TFL

Keldrick Preston, DE
Utah State: 1 tackle (solo), 1 QBH
Florida Atlantic: Did not play
BYU: Did not play
Northwestern: Did not play
Nebraska: Did not play
Purdue: Did not play
Maryland: Did not play
Illinois: Did not play
Indiana: Did not play
Iowa: Did not play
Season stats: 1 tackle (solo), QBH

Kendric Pryor, WR
Utah State: Did not play
Florida Atlantic: Did not play
BYU: Played, did not record a statistic
Northwestern: Did not play
Nebraska: Did not play
Purdue: 1 catch, 20 yards
Maryland: 2 catches, 9 yards
Illinois: 2 catches, 37 yards
Indiana: 1 catch, 14 yards
Iowa: 1 catch, 12 yards, TD; 1 rush, 25 yards, TD
Season totals: 7 catches, 92 yards, TD; 1 rush, 25 yards, TD

Cole Van Lanen, OL
Utah State: Played, did not record a statistic
Florida Atlantic: Played, did not record a statistic
BYU: Played, did not record a statistic
Northwestern: Played, did not record a statistic
Nebraska: Played, did not record a statistic
Purdue: Played, did not record a statistic
Maryland: Played, did not record a statistic
Illinois: Played, did not record a statistic
Indiana: Played, did not record a statistic
Iowa: Played, did not record a statistic
Season totals: n/a

Caesar Williams, CB
Utah State: 1 tackle (solo)
Florida Atlantic: Did not play
BYU: Played, did not record a statistic
Northwestern: Did not play
Nebraska: Did not play
Purdue: Did not play
Maryland: Played, did not record a statistic
Illinois: Did not play
Indiana: Did not play
Iowa: Did not play
Season totals: 1 tackle (solo)

Have not played
Josh Bernhagen, LS; Cade Green, WR; Deron Harrell, WR; Gabe Lloyd, TE; Kare Lyles, QB; Hegeman Tiedt, OLB; Cristian Volpentesta, CB

Injured, out for season
Sam Brodner, RB; Mason Stokke, ILB

"TRUE" SOPHOMORES
Quintez Cephus, WR
Utah State: Started; 3 catches, 31 yards, TD
Florida Atlantic: 2 catches, 47 yards
BYU: Started, 5 catches, 54 yards, 2 TDs
Northwestern: 4 catches, 99 yards; 1 rush, -3 yards
Nebraska: Started, 4 catches, 68 yards, TD
Purdue: 5 catches, 100 yards, TD
Illinois: 2 catches, 31 yards
Indiana: 2 catches, 24 yards, TD
Injured, out for the season
Season totals: 27 catches, 456 yards, 6 TDs; 1 rush, -3 yards

David Edwards, RT
Utah State: Started, did not record a statistic
Florida Atlantic: Started, did not record a statistic
BYU: Started, did not record a statistic
Northwestern: Started, did not record a statistic
Nebraska: Started, did not record a statistic
Purdue: Started, did not record a statistic
Illinois: Started, did not record a statistic
Indiana: Started, did not record a statistic
Iowa: Started, did not record a statistic
Season totals: n/a

Patrick Johnson, S
Utah State: Played, did not record a statistic
Florida Atlantic: Played, did not record a statistic
BYU: Did not play
Northwestern: Played, did not record a statistic
Nebraska: Played, did not record a statistic
Purdue: Did not play
Injured, out for the season
Season totals: n/a

Anthony Lotti, P
Utah State: 3 punts, 129 yards (43.0 average)
Florida Atlantic: 5 punts, 191 yards (38.2 average)
BYU: 2 punts, 93 yards (46.5 average)
Northwestern: 6 punts, 245 yards (40.8 average)
Nebraska: 4 punts, 169 yards (42.2 average)
Purdue: 1 punt, 44 yards (44.0 average)
Maryland: 1 punt, 26 yards (26.0 average)
Illinois: 5 punts, 183 yards (36.6 average)
Indiana: 1 punt, 37 yards (37.0 average)
Iowa: 5 punts, 218 yards (43.6 average)
Season totals: 33 punts, 1,335 yards (40.5 average)

Garrett Rand, DE
Utah State: 1 QBH
Florida Atlantic: Played, did not record a statistic
BYU: 1 PBU
Northwestern: 1 tackle
Nebraska: 1 QBH
Purdue: Played, did not record a statistic
Maryland: 1 tackle
Illinois: Played, did not record a statistic
Indiana: 1 tackle (solo)
Iowa: 1 tackle (solo)
Season totals: 4 tackles (1 solo), 2 QBH, PBU

Bradrick Shaw, RB
Utah State: Started; 18 rushes, 84 yards, 1 TD; 1 catch, 10 yards
Florida Atlantic: Did not play
BYU: 4 carries, 19 yards
Northwestern: 9 rushes, 34 yards
Nebraska: 12 rushes, 43 yards, TD
Purdue: 12 rushes, 41 yards; 2 catches, 11 yards
Maryland: 7 rushes, 18 yards
Illinois: 12 rushes, 40 yards
Indiana: 5 rushes, 21 yards, TD
Iowa: 10 rushes, 47 yards, TD
Season totals: 89 rushes, 347 yards, 4 TDs; 3 catches, 21 yards

A.J. Taylor, WR
Utah State: 3 catches, 38 yards; 2 kick returns, 46 yards
Florida Atlantic: 1 kick return, 21 yards
BYU: 3 catches, 34 yards, TD; 2 kick returns, 65 yards
Northwestern: 1 catch, 33 yards; 1 kick return, 18 yards
Nebraska: 1 catch, 5 yards; 1 kick return, 25 yards
Purdue: 1 catch, 17 yards; 2 rushes, 5 yards
Maryland: 2 catches, 41 yards, TD; 4 kick returns, 83 yards
Illinois: 1 rush, 4 yards; 1 kick return, 29 yards
Indiana: 3 catches, 63 yards; 1 rush, 10 yards
Iowa: 1 catch, 5 yards, TD
Season totals: 15 catches, 236 yards, 3 TDs; 4 rushes, 19 yards; 12 kick returns, 287 yards (23.9 average)

Have not played
Griffin Grady, ILB

Dave Heller is the author of Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow, Facing Ted Williams - Players From the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns