Welcome to the 12th part in our series looking at the rosters of every Big Ten team as we head ever closer to opening day.
The order is organized by my team talent rankings. For more information on how those numbers came about, check out the intro for the Maryland post
. And while you’re there, go ahead and read the whole thing then come back. We’ll wait for you.Past Teams
Tier 5— 18. Maryland Terrapins, 17. Purdue Boilermakers
Tier 4— 16. Iowa Hawkeyes, 15. Minnesota Golden Gophers, 14. Northwestern
Wildcats
Tier 3— 13. UCLA Bruins, 12. Illinois Fighting Ilini, 11. Washington Huskies, 10. Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 9. Indiana Hoosiers, 8. Michigan State Spartans
(Names in bold are projected starters by Phil Steele. Otherwise, names are listed in order of scoring in the talent ranking system)
Average 247 Composite Rating of Phil Steele Starter: 0.8582 (13th)
Average # of Snaps Played by Phil Steele Starter: 902 (6th)
Average Career PFF grade of Phil Steele Starter: 66.7 (7th)
TOTAL OFFENSE- 1,138 (9th)
Quarterback- 168 (8th)
Starter- Danny O’Neil (77)
Reserves- Billy Edwards (70), Carter Smith (51), Hunter Simmons (43)
Wisconsin brought in Tyler Van Dyke from Miami to be the starter at quarterback last season and it backfired when he got hurt early and they didn’t have a backup of substance. This year they tried to mitigate that risk by adding the starters from both Maryland and San Diego State and letting them battle it out for the top spot while having an experienced option in reserve.
The most likely starter is Edwards who started 15 games for the Terps and finished last season with nearly 3,000 yards. He has a career YPA though of just 6.8 with 19 TDs and 10 INTs while playing with surprisingly good WRs at Maryland. The floor is high for Edwards but he has a pretty low ceiling. The other option is O’Neil who started last year for SDSU as a true freshman and put up similar numbers (6.6 YPA, 12 TD, 7 INT) but did it in the G5 with less talent and while 3 years younger. The age difference means O’Neil is probably the higher upside option but it’s also possible that neither winds up being all that good.
Running Back- 119 (12th)
Starter- Darrion Dupree (81)
Reserves- Dilin Jones (50), Cade Yacamelli (50), Gideon Ituka (27)
Gone are the days of Wisconsin just trotting out one All-American running back after the other (at least for now). The good news for the Badgers is that they bring back the only 2 running backs on the roster to average 5.5+ YPC last season. The bad news is those two did it on just a combined 49 carries. Dilin Jones was one of that duo as a four-star true freshman and so Phil Steele has him projected as the starter. He gets dinged in my ratings because his sample size is low enough that it’s tough to project it forward.
My system prefers Darrion Dupree who admittedly played worse as a fellow four-star true freshman last year than Jones but did so on nearly 5x as many carries for a more reliable sample. Also in the mix is Cade Yacamelli who saw his first meaningful action last year as a redshirt sophomore and averaged 8.3 YPC on 33 rushes. Will Wisconsin probably end up with a good running back trio? Yes. But with no one in the room who has more than 175 career college snaps, that’s far from guaranteed.
Wide Receiver- 291 (12th)
Starters- Trech Kekahuna (74), Joseph Griffin Jr. (72), Vinny Anthony (70)
Reserves- Jayden Ballard (54), Dekel Crowdus (51), Tyrell Henry (47), Eugene Hilton Jr. (46), Kyan Berry-Johnson (32), Christopher Brooks (21)
The Badgers aren’t usually known for providing a ton of NFL talent at the receiver position and this is a group that doesn’t look to have any clear standouts. Last year’s leader in receptions, Will Pauling, transferred out to Notre Dame but #2 and #3 on the list are back. Vinny Anthony was the clear deep threat and led the team in receiving yards with 672 plus 4 TDs. Joining him in the starting lineup will be Trech Kekahuna who had a solid 339 yards and 2 TDs as a redshirt freshman this past season.
We’ll see if Wisconsin can get a boost from Joseph Griffin Jr. who transferred in from Boston College last year after making 14 starts there but ended up ineligible for 2024. He’s expected to return this fall. The Badgers also brought in portal reinforcements with Jayden Ballard (Ohio State) and Dekel Crowdus (Hawaii) who are each former four-star prospects that couldn’t break through for meaningful playing time at previous stops. Phil Steele projects Christopher Brooks to start in the slot but he has only 63 career snaps.
Tight End- 96 (11th)
Starter- Lance Mason (57)
Reserves- Jackson Acker (56), Tucker Ashcraft (45), Grant Stec (42), Nizyi Davis (39)
Last year Wisconsin essentially had co-starters at tight end with Riley Nowakowski and Seattle native Tucker Ashcraft each playing between 382 and 410 snaps. Nowakowski is gone and Ashcraft is back which led Steele to project him as the starter. We’ll see since Ashcraft dropped 15% of his targets and finished with just 82 receiving yards. The Badgers brought in reinforcements just in case with Missouri State transfer Lance Mason who had elite receiving grades at the FCS level (590 yards, 6 TDs on just 43 targets). They also return Jackson Acker who is more of an H-back/Fullback.
Offensive Line- 465 (6th)
Starters- RT Riley Mahlman (91), LG Joe Brunner (81), Kevin Heywood (66), C Jake Renfro (57), LT Davis Heinzen (51)
Reserves- Hardy Watts (49), Emerson Mandell (49), Logan Powell (48), Michael Roeske (45), Cam Clark (44), JP Benzschawel (43)
(A note that my listed starters here are the 5 highest scorers even if some of them play the same position. If the backup right tackle has a higher rating than the starting left guard, the LG gets bumped to reserves above.)
When you think Wisconsin, you think running back but you also think elite offensive line and the Badgers are getting back to that. Three starters are back for Wisconsin led by RT Riley Mahlman who is a former four-star with 31 career starts. Phil Steele projects him as 4th team all-conference. LG Joe Brunner is a former elite recruit who finally took over that job last year as a redshirt sophomore and is now entrenched. Center Jake Renfro followed Coach Fickell from Cincinnati and has nearly 2,000 career snaps.
It appears Wisconsin is going in opposite approaches to fill the other two spots. At left tackle they’re bringing up an extremely experienced option. Davis Heinzen transfers in from Central Michigan where he has 2,336 career snaps but a below average PFF grade. We’ll see how he makes the transition to the Big Ten but a four-star redshirt freshman is waiting in the wings if he struggles. The other spot at RG is projected to go to former four-star JP Benzschawel who has played just 86 snaps in 4 years of college ball to this point. There’s enough experience combined with recent success in recruiting to think this is one of the better lines in the conference.
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Jeff Hanisch-Imagn ImagesTOTAL DEFENSE- 1,101 (8th)
Defensive Line- 201 (10th)
Starters- Charles Perkins (67), Dillan Johnson (59)
Reserves- Ben Barten (54), Jaylen Williams (52), Brandon Lane (46), Torin Pettaway (42), Drayden Pavey (42), Jay’Viar Suggs (41)
The Badgers only return one major piece from last year’s DL rotation as starter Ben Barten is back for his 6th year of college but he had never started before this past season which is why he ranks fairly low. Their #4 DT is also back as Dillan Johnson played 139 snaps as a four-star true freshman but struggled when he was on the field. We’ll see if he makes a leap in year two.
Transfers should be a big part of the rotation. My system prefers Charles Perkins who comes in from FCS Tennessee-Martin where he put up elite run defense numbers as a jumbo defensive end. Phil Steele sees Jay’Viar Suggs as the starter who last year transferred to LSU from Grand Valley State and was effective in limited playing time before moving on again. He would rank higher if I had the data for his playing time at the D2 level so he’s likely being underrated by my system similar to Zach Durfee at Washington.
Edge Rushers- 243 (5th)
Starters- Darryl Peterson (84), Sebastian Cheeks (70)
Reserves- Corey Walker (65), Tyreese Fearbry (58), Nicolas Clayton (53), Mason Reiger (52)
Wisconsin is in very good shape here through a mix of returners, talented freshmen, and transfers. Darryl Peterson was #2 on the team in QB pressures last year even though he didn’t have any sacks. Phil Steele has him listed as preseason 4th team all-conference. They also bring back former four-star Sebastian Cheeks who had 3 sacks in just 58 pass rush attempts and seems like a clear breakout candidate as a pass rush specialist.
Four of the next five on the depth chart are new transfers coming in from Western Michigan, Kentucky, Louisville, and Grambling State. Corey Walker (WMU) is the most experienced of the bunch while former walk-on Mason Reiger (Louisville) has 2 power conference starts under his belt. Throw in four-star true freshman Nicolas Clayton as a wild card and it’s tough to imagine Wisconsin not having a really productive rotation on the edge.
Linebackers- 171 (12th)
Starters- Tackett Curtis (66), Christian Alliegro (53)
Reserves- Mason Posa (53), Antarron Turner (49), Cooper Catalano (39), Thomas Heiberger (33)
This is a situation where my system and the real world don’t seem to mesh very well. Tackett Curtis is a former high four-star who started out at USC and then transferred to Wisconsin. He has been quite bad at both stops (24.1% missed tackle rate) and maybe he does wind up starting but to this point it seems more likely to be a swing and a miss by the recruiting analysts. His listed co-starter Christian Alliegro was a mid three-star in the same class but finished as Wisconsin’s #2 tackler last year and is a preseason 4th team all-conference pick by Phil Steele*.
The backup spots are taken up mostly by freshmen who haven’t played a snap yet. Five of the next six on the depth chart are either true or redshirt freshmen who haven’t played on defense yet led by four-star true freshman Mason Posa. The only one to have seen any game action is FCS Western Carolina transfer Antarron Turner who projects as just a depth piece.
*Although Steele bizarrely includes 4 LB on each of his teams so it’s almost more difficult to not have a LB make one of his preseason all-conference teams.
Cornerbacks- 282 (12th)
Starters- Ricardo Hallman (80), Dyoni Hill (64), Geimere Latimer (64)
Reserves- Nyzier Fourqurean (56), Jaimier Scott (48), Jahmare Washington (43)
One of Wisconsin’s big problems last year was the inability to force turnovers as Nyzier Fourqurean was one of only two corners on the roster last year to get any and he only ended up with one (1) total. He’s back for a 6th year of college football having made 17 starts for Wisconsin after transferring in from D2 Grand Valley State. The Badgers thought Xavier Lucas was going to be the future at this spot (the other corner with an INT) but he transferred to Miami and his new school is being sued by Wisconsin for tampering.
Wisconsin also returns Ricardo Hallman who has 33 career starts and a former 3rd team all-conference pick but had a down year last season with just 0 INTs and 2 PBUs plus 7 missed tackles. Two transfers will fortify the rotation with Dyoni Hill coming from Miami in an unofficial swap for Lucas plus Geimere Latimer from Jacksonville State.
Safeties- 205 (8th)
Starters- Austin Brown (80), Preston Zachman (71)
Reserves- Matthew Traynor (64), Grant Dean (44), Luke Emmerich (43), Remington Moss (40)
Both starters are back here for Wisconsin which forms a really nice foundation. Zachman was their highest graded defender last year by PFF after being the only player on the team with multiple interceptions. He’s 4th team all-conference for Phil Steele in his 6th year of college football. His counterpart Austin Brown is less effective in coverage but a very sure tackler and was a fringe 3/4-star recruit coming out of high school.
Wisconsin brought in FCS Richmond transfer Matthew Traynor as a strong depth piece after he had 65 tackles and 2 INTs as a redshirt freshman in his first college action. He should be a quality #3 safety and be able to fill in if Brown or Zachman miss time. Beyond that though...yikes. Wisconsin brought in three true freshman and none of the other six safeties on the roster have played a snap in college yet. So if there are any injury issues at this spot then the Badgers are in trouble.
OVERALL TEAM- 2,239 (7th)
My talent rankings were only off by 6+ spots for two teams last year. Illinois exceeded expectations while Wisconsin failed to meet them dropping from 6th to 13th. Clearly, my computer hasn’t learned its lesson.
There’s a distinct lack of star power for Wisconsin compared to the teams around it at this point in the rankings. Only four players made a Phil Steele preseason all-conference team and all of them only made the 4th team. There’s only one player in the top 60 overall in my rankings and it’s a right tackle. That doesn’t scream a top half of the conference crew. But while Wisconsin may have less star power than the teams above it, they also generally have better depth than the teams below in the rankings.
The problem with last year’s squad was their offense. Their starting quarterback got hurt in the 3rd game of the season and neither he nor the backup were very good (although the backup was clearly worse). They had brought in an OC in Phil Longo who loves to play up-tempo and is pass first which went against the ethos of the program and also didn’t fit the personnel. With Longo now gone and a pair of hopeful upgrades at quarterback present we should see them be able to rebound to something better than the 100th ranked offense per SP+.
The defense was very good last season and I don’t expect that to change. Six of their top eight starters on that side of the ball are back and if they get better turnover luck then this has a chance to be a premier unit.
If you go strictly based on record though then it’s hard to see how Wisconsin ends up improving much if at all. The schedule is brutal once again with road games at Alabama, Michigan, Oregon, and Indiana. The home slate includes Iowa, Ohio State, Washington, and Illinois. It’s not crazy to imagine a world in which we look back and discover that Wisconsin ultimately played 8 teams ranked in the top-30 of the final SP+ rankings.
Even if Wisconsin is truly the 7th best team in the Big Ten, they could still easily fail to make a bowl game against this schedule. Wisconsin’s best hope is that the “I” schools (Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois) all fall back to earth after peaking last season and present three games that are more winnable than they appear looking forward right this second.
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Top-10 Players (with position rank and overall conference rank)
- OT Riley Mahlman, 91 (1st, 21st)
- ED Darryl Peterson, 84 (10th, 62nd)
- OG Joe Brunner, 81 (12th, 85th)
- RB Darrion Dupree, 81 (7th, 86th)
- CB Ricardo Hallman, 80 (14th, 95th)
- S Austin Brown, 80 (14th, 96th)
- QB Danny O’Neil, 77* (10th, 111th)
- WR Trech Kekahuna, 74 (26th, 146th)
- WR Joseph Griffin Jr., 72 (31st, 165th)
- S Preston Zachman, 71 (23rd, 192nd)
*Incoming transfer
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