Wisconsin Badgers beat writer Jesse Temple will be analyzing the 30 most important players to the Badgers' success in the 2015 season. Check back each weekday to see the latest player on the list.
Note: This is not a list of the team's 30 best players or a series about past success, but rather which of them means the most to how Wisconsin will fare this year. Criteria such as depth at that player's position, general expectations and overall importance of that player having a good season are all highly considered. The list does not include incoming freshmen because their potential impact is unknown at this time.
No. 8 -- Sojourn Shelton, cornerback
Why he's No. 8
Wisconsin's secondary ranks as the team's best position group entering the 2015 season. There's a reason, after all, why you haven't seen any of the starters ranked until this point in the top 30 list. Shelton actually drops three spots from last season after putting together a disappointing 2014 campaign; still, his value to the Badgers remains high.
During spring practice, Shelton was one of the most consistent defensive players and appeared to be regaining the swagger that escaped him for long stretches of last season. Over a period of two practices, he intercepted four passes and was a menace for UW's receivers and quarterbacks. The question is: Can he regain the form that launched him to stardom as a freshman two seasons ago?
Expectations for 2015
Shelton entered last season with extraordinarily high expectations for himself. He intercepted four passes to lead the team as a freshman in 2013 and set his 2014 goal at eight interceptions. Instead, however, he recorded zero. Balls that landed in his hands as a freshman bounded away. And he fell into a deep spiral in which he lost the confidence that made him such a force in 2013.
"I look back at last year and I think of all the low times that I had and I was like, 'Man, I still was around the ball,'" Shelton said in April. "Iowa, I was around the ball. Dropped it. Northwestern, I was around the ball. Dropped it. Now I'm back to just playing confident, believing in myself, just trying to play to the best of my ability."
Shelton did finish with 33 tackles and six passes defended. But when juxtaposed against the 36 tackles, the seven passes defended, the forced fumble and those four picks he recorded as a freshman, it represented a step back for a player who is his own worst critic.
"I'm just trying to get back to the Sojourn that I know I am," Shelton said. "I'm playing a lot more confident. I'm trusting the things I'm seeing. And overall just right now I'm happy. I think last year, I was so dialed in to trying to live up to the hype and live up to everybody else's expectations. But I've got to live up to mine first and do my part."
There should be plenty of reason for optimism as Shelton enters his junior season because he was among the best defensive players of the spring. Badgers defensive coordinator Dave Aranda doesn't throw out praise simply for the sake of doing it, and when he complimented Shelton during the spring, it was an important step in Shelton regaining the trust of the coaching staff.
"He's been the biggest breakout guy so far on defense," Aranda said. "He has to finish it. . . . It's a work in progress, but he has played really well. And so I'm happy for him. There's a confidence and a swagger coming back to him. I'm almost nervous talking about it. I'd like to not even mention it."
What would they do without him?
Wisconsin has decent depth at cornerback and would have pieces in place to replace Shelton in case of injury. Devin Gaulden, a redshirt senior, has played in 24 games and appeared in all 14 games last season. He gave UW a solid option if it wanted to use its nickel defense. Derrick Tindal emerged as one of the surprises of last season and became a key contributor at cornerback. He played in 12 games and recorded 10 tackles with a sack. Other cornerbacks in the mix for time include junior-college transfer T.J. Reynard and Natrell Jamerson, who is trying to grasp the position after switching over from receiver.
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