Badger football loses two players

One pinprick, one stab wound.

The players in question are LB Jammar Crane and WR recruit Daven Jones. The CapTimes says it all in their headline: Badgers lose linebacker, highly regarded receiver. Crane was a redshirt sophomore who was thought to be best suited as a weakside linebacker, coming in third on the depth chart behind fellow sophomore Jonathon Casillas and the injured Ryan Flasch. It seems that this was not what Crane had in mind when he chose UW and he is now exploring his options elsewhere. Best of luck; he'll get plenty of playing time wherever he goes, no doubt. It's sad that what will probably turn out to be a second-string gig at a Big Ten school isn't good enough for him, but there may be other factors in play. One can't be certain of anything when the head coach has no track record to follow.

The other, more pressing loss comes from the WR corps: recruit Daven Jones won't be showing up this fall. Coach Bielema didn't provide a reason, but that ever-present bugaboo, academics, is rumored to be the reason, as he "previously reported a 2.8 grade-point average and a 14 on his ACT."

Study up! WR is the position at which the Badgers can least afford to sustain a loss, and being without a player who was supposed to make an immediate impact further weakens the Badger offense. If a more-than-serviceable running back doesn't emerge from the Hill/Rowan/Walker triumvirate, this season could get ugly fast for the Badger offense. Until then, though, it looks like the fine folks at Camp Randall won't have to worry about preparing for Daven Jones' locker. (HAR!)