The 2024 Wisconsin Badgers could be much improved on both sides of the football after a disappointing 2023 season. The team, as a whole, might be strides better than last year’s group that went 7-6 against a light schedule.
But if that is the case, ESPN thinks it will happen without any of college football’s premier players. Specifically, only one Wisconsin Badger made its recent list of the top 100 players in the sport entering 2024: cornerback Ricardo Hallman.
Related: Wisconsin Badgers game-by-game picks entering 2024 from ESPN FPI matchup predictor
Hallman is down at No. 62 in the top 100. He is on the list thanks to a 34-tackle, 3.0 tackle-for-loss, 7-interception, 5-pass-deflection 2023 campaign. His rise to No. 62 overall comes after entering the 2023 season unranked entirely.
Player rank is back. We put together the top 100 CFB players for the 2024 season, considering both past performance and future projection. I'm sure there will be zero complaints. https://t.co/6McRGvBVwE
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) August 15, 2024
Here’s what the ESPN staff wrote about the Wisconsin star cornerback.
Hallman’s journey has been one to watch. After being a redshirt freshman who barely got any snaps during his first two seasons, Hallman made a leap last year. The Miami native secured a starting spot in the Badgers’ secondary and tallied a nation-leading seven interceptions on his way to All-America status. Going into his junior season, Hallman somehow remains one of the more underrated defenders — and players — in college football and should be primed for another big year.
The path that ESPN mentions includes joining the Badgers as a three-star recruit in the class of 2021. He was the program’s third-lowest-rated commit in the class (the lowest rated was Jake Chaney, the Badgers starting inside linebacker entering 2024). The class broke records, led by five-star OT Nolan Rucci, four-star OT Riley Mahlman and four-star S Hunter Wohler. Hallman has emerged as arguably its best player.
That path also includes playing in three games as a true freshman in 2021, nine (eight starts) as a redshirt freshman in 2022, then exploding onto the scene in 2023. Now entering 2024, he’s arguably one of the best cornerbacks in the sport. In ESPN’s eyes, at least, one of the most underrated.
Other Badgers who could have made the list include safety Hunter Wohler (120 tackles in 2023) and wide receiver Will Pauling (837 receiving yards, 6 touchdowns in 2023).
Either way, Wisconsin’s success in 2024 will come from a deep group of productive players, rather than from just one or two known stars.
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