In the world of the spread, tight ends and running backs still reign for Wisconsin football

When Graham was a freshman, then-senior Owen Daniels morphed from a former backup quarterback to a strategic part of Wisconsin’s offense, becoming a complete tight end who could catch passes and run upfield as well if not better than he could block.

Then, as Bret Bielema replaced Barry Alvarez as the Wisconsin head coach, the tight end entered more into the Wisconsin offense. Travis Beckum replaced Daniels and was drafted in the third round by the New York Giants in the 2008 NFL Draft.

Graham watched both players grow and played alongside - and eventually replaced Beckum as the main tight end when he got hurt last year - all the while realizing he may have fallen into an emerging position at the run-first school.

Now, as a fifth-year senior, he’s the guy.

“When I came here, there wasn’t much of a legacy at all,” Graham said. “Owen was going into his senior year where he developed a name for himself. Now, I’d say there’s a little bit of added pressure because of the tight end success we’ve had.

“But I think it’s more so that our offense puts us in a position to make those plays and do things like that.”

Don’t be mistaken. Wisconsin isn’t going to turn into Texas Tech or even USC with its offense. As long as Alvarez or Bielema have a say in the Badgers program, it’ll be a team that likes to run.

A lot.

And they can do that this year, much like they have in previous years, this time with John Clay. But Graham offers another option, one to keep defenses from piling too much attention on the running game.

He caught 40 passes last year for 540 yards and five touchdowns, one of two players to catch more than one touchdown for Wisconsin. Meanwhile, four runners had two or more scores on the ground for the Badgers, led by 13 from departed running back P.J. Hill.

But Bielema seems to believe his tight end talent goes beyond Graham. Mickey Turner can be shifted into a tight end and fullback role. Junior Lance Kendricks has the potential to become next in line after Graham. He caught six passes for 141 yards before breaking his left leg against Michigan State. His 23.5 yards-per-reception average was the highest on the team.

“Our tight ends are going to be a very unique package to defend,” Bielema said.

The tight ends offer a secondary option to the primary running plan. As more teams look to incorporating bits and pieces of a spread offense if not a using it exclusively, Wisconsin is just fine staying as they are. Actually, they see it as more of an advantage.

“I consider it a weapon,” Graham said. “I think they know exactly what we’re going to do, especially because we’ve been doing it for so many years now.”

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for annarbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558 or by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com.