This is the eighth in a series of 11 previews leading up to the Wisconsin football team's Aug. 6 start of practice.
July 27: Quarterbacks
July 28: Running backs
July 29: Wide receivers
July 30: Tight ends
July 31: Offensive linemen
Aug. 1: Defensive linemen
Aug. 2: Linebackers
Aug. 3: Cornerbacks
Aug. 4: Safeties
Aug. 5: Specialists
Aug. 6: Coaches
TODAY'S POSITION: CORNERBACKS
Rating (1-to-10 scale): 8
Projected starters: Marcus Cromartie (redshirt senior), Devin Smith (redshirt senior)
Key backups: Darius Hillary (redshirt freshman), Devin Gaulden (sophomore), Paniel Jean (redshirt sophomore).
The breakdown: The Badgers should consider themselves fortunate to be in a position to start two fifth-year seniors at cornerback. If things had played out as expected last season, Wisconsin would enter 2012 with serious question marks about experience.
Instead, Devin Smith and Marcus Cromartie present one of the more formidable cornerback duos in the Big Ten.
Smith was a senior last year when he suffered a season-ending broken left foot during the second game of the season against Oregon State. As a result, he took a redshirt season to maintain one more year of playing eligibility.
Smith said he considered himself fortunate not to have used a redshirt season during his freshman year, when he saw limited playing time. Based on the advice of his father, Stephen, a former football player at Memphis, he held on to the redshirt in case of a significant injury.
When Smith went down, Cromartie stepped in to fill his position and played in all 14 games, starting the last 13 contests and making 47 tackles.
"Him going down, I was able to get my feet wet," Cromartie said during spring practice. "I was able to get some starts under my belt and get experience. I kind of took last year as me just working my way in there, stepping in there and playing my part. Now I kind of find myself as being a leader."
Rather than losing two starting senior cornerbacks in Smith and Antonio Fenelus — a first-team All-Big Ten selection by the media the last two years — Wisconsin now returns Smith and Cromartie.
Between the two of them, Smith and Cromartie have played in 64 games for the Badgers. Smith has appeared in 39 career games with 16 starts. He has 98 total tackles, 14 pass deflections and three interceptions.
Badgers coach Bret Bielema considers Smith to be a difference-maker in the secondary. Earlier this summer, Bielema told a Madison sports radio station that if "Smith had played the entire year the way he was playing at the time he got hurt, we probably never would have lost."
That's high praise. We'll see this season exactly what kind of difference Smith can make for the Badgers.
Best position battle: Smith and Cromartie should have the starting cornerback positions on lockdown at Wisconsin, but one player who's shown considerable potential is Paniel Jean.
Last season, Jean played in all 14 games and made a career-high five tackles against Michigan State during the Big Ten championship game. Jean recorded 23 total tackles with two pass deflections last season.
Devin Gaulden appeared in six games and made three tackles for the Badgers in 2011.
Best of the Big Ten: 1. Michigan State; 2. Ohio State; 3. Purdue.
Michigan State's combination of Johnny Adams and Darqueze Dennard has to be considered one of the top cornerback duos in the entire country. Adams was a first-team All-Big Ten selection by the league's coaches as a junior last season. He started 13 games and tallied 51 tackles with three interceptions. Dennard was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection last season as a sophomore after recording 42 tackles.
Ohio State returns Bradley Roby and Travis Howard at cornerback. Roby started 13 games with 47 tackles and three interceptions as a sophomore last season. Howard tallied 41 tackles, including a career-high 10 in a game against Michigan State. He added two interceptions in 2011.
Purdue's Ricardo Allen tallied 81 tackles with a team-high three interceptions last season. Though Allen gets knocked for his height (5-foot-9), he has started all 25 games in his Boilermakers career. Josh Johnson returns for his senior season after starting all 13 games a year ago. He registered 64 total tackles and broke up a team-high nine passes.
Devin Smith says: "We're trying to be one of the best secondaries not only in the conference but in the country. We talk about that all the time, how good we can be. We've just got to put the work in. It's not just going to come because we have the experience. We've got to put the work in every single day."
Follow Jesse Temple on Twitter.
