Wisconsin’s defense will be known for impressive talent in the secondary this season, but the inside linebacker position should not go unnoticed. Led by returning senior Jake Chaney, they will have a strong group that could develop into one of the team’s best units.
Last season, Chaney started nine games at linebacker for the Badgers. He recorded 80 total tackles, second only to star safety Hunter Wohler in the team’s all-time high. Chaney’s 675 snaps this season were more than double what he played in 2022.
“Jake Chaney is the leader. What he does and the impact he has is just great, but we have to force packages on him because he can’t be on the field 70 snaps in 12, 13, 14, 15 games a year,” said defensive coordinator Mike Tressel.
Maema Njongmeta is moving on to the NFL and Jordan Turner transferred within the conference to Michigan State, so there will be some new faces alongside Chaney in 2024. Sophomore Christian Alliegro returns after playing in six games last season; former four-star high school prospect Tackett Curtis followed Alex Grinch from USC; Jaheim Thomas transferred from Arkansas after playing for Luke Fickell in Cincinnati; and Sebastian Cheeks is another talented transfer from North Carolina.
“I honestly believe we have five guys right now that can play on Saturday. That gives us the opportunity to bundle some things together and get guys out in certain situations, which forces us as coaches to put them on the field,” Tressel said.
With over 1,000 snaps in his career, Thomas is the most experienced player in a relatively inexperienced group. Fickell recruited him out of high school when he was in Cincinnati, and he played nearly 600 snaps in his first three seasons. He transferred to Arkansas last season when Fickell began his tenure in Madison. He appears to be the favorite to start alongside Chaney for the first defensive snap of the season.
Curtis is the most experienced player of the remaining three and played more than 300 snaps for the Trojans last season. Alliegro and Cheeks have played fewer than 100 snaps in their college careers, but Wisconsin’s staff was pleased with what they saw in the preseason.
“Tackett Curtis is a guy that, if you ask me, quite honestly, even though I wasn’t here at the beginning, I probably belonged here from the beginning,” Tressel said earlier this summer. “He’s a Wisconsin guy. He’s a football junkie who will bang your head against the wall.”
Tressel followed Fickell from Cincinnati to Madison and is now entering his second season as defensive coordinator with the Badgers. The defense went through a transformation in the offseason, bringing in Grinch, who was a long-time defensive coordinator for Lincoln Riley at USC and Oklahoma. He will now share duties as co-DC. Ultimately, the success of the inside linebacker group will have a big impact on how well the Badgers’ defense will line up in 2024.
