Tag: Preston Zachman

Wisconsin senior safety announces return for 2025 football season

Big news for the Wisconsin defense

Wisconsin senior safety Preston Zachman announced his return to the Badgers for the 2025 football season on Tuesday.

He is one of several Badgers veterans to return, joining center Jake Renfro, right tackle Riley Mahlman and outside linebacker Darryl Peterson.

Related: Takeaways from Wisconsin landing QB Billy Edwards Jr., a busy day of transfer commitments

Zachman was previously honored during Wisconsin’s senior day before its closing game against Minnesota. That indicated his intention to move on, as no other player to participate in the festivities is returning for 2025. On Tuesday, Zachman became the first.

The veteran safety originally joined the Badgers as a three-star recruit in the class of 2020. He redshirted during the 2020 season, then missed all of 2021 with an injury. He found a role in 2022 before another injury cost him a chunk of the season.

Zachman was mostly overlooked as a starting option at safety entering the 2023 season with Hunter Wohler and Kamo’i Latu both returning. He wound up supplanting Latu for the second starting spot, and finished the campaign with 13 games (five starts), 49 tackles, one tackle for loss, two interceptions and three pass deflections.

Zachman then helped lead the room in 2024, finishing with 58 tackles, three tackles for loss, two interceptions and four pass deflections.

The veteran safety’s return is significant news for the Wisconsin defense. The Badgers recently landed Richmond transfer safety Matthew Traynor to bolster the position. Traynor broke out as a redshirt freshman in 2024 and gives the Badgers a strong multi-year starting option. There are, however, some questions about how his production will translate from the Football Championship Subdivision level.

Zachman’s return adds dependable production and a valuable leadership presence to the position as Traynor adjusts to the Big Ten game.

We can now cross starting safety off of Wisconsin’s list of pressing list of roster needs. The program may still look to add more depth at the position.

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Badgers senior safety leads defensive effort in win over Rutgers

Badgers safety leads defensive effort against Rutgers

Wisconsin free safety Preston Zachman captained the defensive charge in Wisconsin’s 42-7 win over Rutgers on Saturday.

The redshirt senior finished the game with a team-best 10 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss while accompanying star strong safety Hunter Wohler, cornerback Nyzier Fourqurean and cornerback Ricardo Hallman in the defensive backfield.

Zachman also reeled in his team-leading second interception of the 2024 season after securing a tipped ball in Rutgers’ territory early in the third quarter.

The 6-foot-1 defender’s previous interception arrived in Wisconsin’s fourth game of the year against USC, which held the No. 13 spot in the nation when UW traveled to Los Angeles in Week 5 of the season.

https://twitter.com/BadgerFootball/status/1845167940615929917

On a day where Wisconsin’s offensive stars may overshadowed what occurred in defense, Mike Tressel’s unit absolutely dominated from the first sequence to the final play of the game. The group allowed just one touchdown on Saturday, denied five pass attempts and forced nine Scarlet Knight punts in a the 35-point win.

A season ago, Zachman totaled a career-high 49 tackles and two interceptions for the Badgers in his first season playing 13 games for UW. Barring any injury, he will continue to start alongside Wohler for the remainder of the season.

Safety Preston Zachman wins the Grit Factory Worker of the Week

Safety Preston Zachman wins arguably the most prestigious weekly award any man could win – the Grit Factory Worker of the Week. #Badgers

Earlier this week, redshirt sophomore safety Preston Zachman was the recipient of what many are calling the most prestigious award any man could win – the Grit Factory Worker of the Week.

Here is the official statement from the Grit Factory’s Twitter account:

Preston Zachman, “The Mechanic” is our first Grit Factory Worker of the Week for the 2022 season. We call him that because his brakes are always right and clean on receivers, and dammit, he showed that last night in his debut at safety. For the past year and a half, Preston’s had to battle the adversity of injuries, a new position, and climbing back up the depth chart, and through that time, he’s been the same guy every single day; handling business and being a great teammate. In his first game back he set the tone with 2 tackles and a beautiful INT. His story already inspires the locker room to keep going, no matter how the circumstances stack up. The Grit Factory would like to officially introduce to you, The Mechanic.

I, too, thought Zachman stood out in his 14 snaps on Saturday night. According to PFF, the 6-foot-1, 208-pound S was the Badgers’ highest-graded defender (91.0), recording two tackles and an interception.

With Hunter Wohler expected to miss a significant amount of time, the Badgers will get an extended look at the Pennsylvania native, who overcame considerable adversity to position himself for a more prominent role in Jim Leonhard’s defense.

We’re all rooting for you, Preston, and here’s a collective tip of the cap for winning the first Grit Factory Worker of the Week for the 2022 season.

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Badgers PFF grades: Top 5 defensive players from week 1 victory over Illinois State

Here’s a look at the top 5 highest graded defensive players from Wisconsin’s 38-0 victory over Illinois State, according to Pro Football Focus:

The No. 18 Wisconsin Badgers (1-0) kicked off its season opener at Camp Randall on Saturday night with a 38-0 victory over the visiting Illinois State Redbirds.

Jim Leonhard’s defense was able to hang a goose egg to begin the season, but the underlying numbers showed a slightly less dominating performance. Wisconsin gave up 243 total yards, 186 of which came through the air but made several timely plays that changed the course of the game.

UW played without its No. 1 cornerback Alexander Smith, but the secondary appeared to struggle with the Redbirds passing attack, giving up several chunk plays.

Senior safety John Torchio stole the show with his 100-yard pick-six in the first quarter, and outside linebacker Nick Herbig looked like a guy who will be playing on Sundays next season, registering four tackles and two sacks.

Overall, it was a solid showing for a defense replacing eight starters from last season’s top-ranked unit in the country.

Here’s a look at the top 5 highest graded defensive players from Wisconsin’s 38-0 victory over Illinois State, according to Pro Football Focus.

Breaking Down Wisconsin’s 2020 Signing Class

Taking a closer look at how Wisconsin’s 2020 recruiting class breaks down by position and by state.

MADISON, Wis. – After signing 19 scholarship players and two walk-ons during the early signing period in December the Badgers saw their scholarship class officially grow to 20 players while adding four more preferred walk-ons to the program during national signing day on Wednesday. The Badgers class ranks 25th by 247 Sports, 26th by ESPN, and 27th nationally by Rivals.

Here’s an overview of the class. Click the player’s name for a more in-depth breakdowns on that specific player.

Scholarship Commits by State

Arizona (1): Malik Reed

Colorado (1): Max Lofy

Hawaii (1): Nick Herbig

Illinois (1): Dylan Barrett

Massachusetts (1): Cam Large

Michigan (1): Jordan Turner

Minnesota (2): Kaden Johnson, Aaron Witt

New Jersey (1): Jalen Berger

North Carolina (1): Devin Chandler

Ohio (1): James Thompson

Pennsylvania (1): Preston Zachman

Tennessee (1): Isaac Smith

Wisconsin (7): Ben Barten, Tanor Bortolini, Cole Dakovich, Chimere Dike, Cade McDonald, Jack Nelson, Trey Wedig

Commits By Projected Position

QB: None

RB: Jalen Berger

WR: Devin Chandler, Chimere Dike, Isaac Smith

TE: Cole Dakovich, Cam Large

OL: Dylan Barrett, Ben Barten, Tanor Bortolini, Jack Nelson, Trey Wedig

DL: Cade McDonald, James Thompson Jr.

ILB: Malik Reed, Jordan Turner, Preston Zachman

OLB: Nick Herbig, Kaden Johnson, Aaron Witt

DB: Max Lofy

Specialists: None

UW walk-ons: Inside Linebacker Ross Gengler, Offensive Lineman Kerry Kodanko, Long Snapper Duncan McKinley, Outside Linebacker Riley Nowakowski, Offensive Lineman Sean Timmis, Kicker Jack Van Dyke

Wisconsin Football Season Review: Inside Linebackers

How well did Wisconsin’s inside linebackers play during the 2019 season.

Wisconsin finished its fifth season under head coach Paul Chryst as Chryst improved his overall record to 52-16 and has a posted a 34-10 record in conference games. After not winning the Big Ten West Division title in 2018 the Badgers were back in Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship game as the West representative for the fourth time in the last six years since the Big Ten went to its current format.

In this Badgers Wire feature we will examine the play of Wisconsin’s inside linebacker from the 2019 season and take a sneak into what the 2020 season may have in store for the position:

Wisconsin lost two impact players in inside linebackers T.J. Edwards and Ryan Connelly as the two led Wisconsin in tackles with 113 and 89 respectively last season. In addition, Edwards 11.5 tackles for loss and Connelly’s 10 tackles for loss ranked first and second on the team not to mention Edwards had a team leading three interceptions.

Despite losing two high impact players the expectation was that the Badgers were going to simply reload with Chris Orr and Jack Sanborn officially taking over at inside linebacker.

Those expectations were correct.

As the previous season, the top two tacklers by the end of the year were Wisconsin’s middle linebackers as Sanborn finished with 80 tackles and Orr registered 78 tackles.

Orr outside of outside linebacker Zack Baun was one of the clear leaders of not only Wisconsin’s defense but also the team. Orr was able to find a way of consistently making impact plays for Wisconsin’s defense.

Orr who appeared in 50 career games started all 14 games for the Badgers this past season as he posted career highs in both tackles for loss (14) and sacks (11.5).

Orr’s ability to generate pressure up the middle complemented Baun well on the outside and made it difficult for opposing offenses to move the football down the field consistently against Wisconsin’s defense.

Sanborn who played as a true freshman made a nice jump from his freshman to sophomore season. Sanborn with Orr made it difficult to rush the football up the middle. Sanborn did a good job of diagnosing plays and then hitting the rushing lanes for him to execute at a high level.

Fellow inside linebackers Mike Maskalunas and true freshman Leo Chenal were able to make positive contributions on the inside too.

Maskalunas appeared in 14 games finishing the season with 16 tackles and registered 2 pass breakups and recovered one fumble. Chenal missed three games because of a head injury but still finished the season with 20 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, two quarterback hurries and recovered a fumble too.

2020 Wisconsin Inside Linebackers

Losing Orr will hurt as he was a great leader for Wisconsin as he had the respect of all of his teammates. But at the same time with Sanborn returning and the expectation that Chenal will slide in at the other inside linebacker position the Badgers once again should be set at the position like they have been the last few years. Maskalunas will return for his senior season as he’s a reliable player that the coaches can count on as he has a comfort in Wisconsin’s 3-4 defense. The Badgers will need to have a reliable fourth inside linebacker as that responsibility could fall to redshirt freshman Maema Njongmeta or Malik Reed, Jordan Turner, or Preston Zachman as the three will be true freshman. Turner and Zachman both enrolled early at Wisconsin, which will give themselves a good chance of seeing the field early if they can gain a comfort in Wisconsin’s defense.

Breaking Down Wisconsin’s 2020 Signing Class

Taking a closer look at how the 2020 recruiting class came together and where each player projects to play.

MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin football officially announced 19 scholarship players and two preferred walk-ons in its 2020 signing class during the early signing period on Wednesday. The Badgers class ranks 26th nationally by both ESPN and 247 Sports and 32nd by Rivals.

Here’s an overview of the class. Click the player’s name for a more in-depth breakdowns on that specific player.

Scholarship Commits by State

Arizona (1): Malik Reed

Colorado (1): Max Lofy

Hawaii (1): Nick Herbig

Illinois (1): Dylan Barrett

Massachusetts (1): Cam Large

Michigan (1): Jordan Turner

Minnesota (2): Kaden Johnson, Aaron Witt

North Carolina (1): Devin Chandler

Ohio (1): James Thompson Jr.

Pennsylvania (1): Preston Zachman

Tennessee (1): Isaac Smith

Wisconsin (7): Ben Barten, Tanor Bortolini, Cole Dakovich, Chimere Dike, Cade McDonald, Jack Nelson, Trey Wedig

Commits By Projected Position

QB: None

RB: None

WR: Devin Chandler, Chimere Dike, Isaac Smith

TE: Cole Dakovich, Cam Large

OL: Dylan Barrett, Ben Barten, Tanor Bortolini, Jack Nelson, Trey Wedig

DL: Cade McDonald, James Thompson Jr.

ILB: Malik Reed, Jordan Turner, Preston Zachman

OLB: Nick Herbig, Kaden Johnson, Aaron Witt

DB: Max Lofy

Specialists: None

UW walk-ons: Long Snapper Duncan McKinley, Offensive Lineman Sean Timmis

Wisconsin Signing Class Preview – Kaden Johnson

Wisconsin received Kaden Johnson’s national letter of intent as part of the early signing period on Wednesday.

With the early signing period for high school football players beginning on December 18, Badgers Insider takes a closer look at the recruits that signed with the Wisconsin football program.

In this edition, we examine Minnehaha Academy (MN) outside linebacker Kaden Johnson.

Note: All notes and stats provided by uwbadgers.com

Johnson chose Wisconsin over other offers from: California, Iowa, Iowa State, LSU, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oregon State, Purdue, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Virginia

Johnson’s High School Accolades: Four–star recruit by 247 Sports, ESPN and Rivals…No. 1–ranked recruit in Minnesota…First–team All–Metro by Minneapolis Star Tribune…Helped Minnehaha to consecutive Class 2A state titles in basketball

Johnson’s Impact as a Badger: Wisconsin has been on Johnson for a while as the relationship they developed with him early on paid off on Wednesday as he announced he was signing his national letter of intent with Wisconsin.

With the addition of Johnson at linebacker, it continues to add what is already an impressive haul for the Badgers during the 2020 recruiting cycle.

Johnson a consensus four-star prospect joins a linebacker class that already includes projected outside linebackers in consensus four-star Nick Herbig and three-star Aaron Witt and a trio of inside linebackers in Jordan Turner, Malik Reed, and Preston Zachman as all three are rated as consensus three-star prospects.

Like many of the other commits in the 2020 recruiting class, Johnson is a multi-sport athlete as he also is a member of the Minnehaha Academy basketball team. Due to Johnson playing both sports he has demonstrated good footwork in addition to having good foot speed.

Johnson’s quickness allows him to be able to generate pressure in the backfield. Johnson is well put together as he’s listed at 6’4″ and 200 pounds allowing him to bull rush his way in order to create pressure in the backfield.

Johnson does well with his hand placement, which allows him to create the pressure. Although Johnson has done well in creating pressure in the backfield in high school he simply won’t be able to consistently bull rush people at times in order to have success from the outside linebacker position.

Making it important that outside linebackers coach Bobby April is able to provide him with additional tools to help support his pass rushing skills. Considering the more tools Johnson has at his disposal will only make him more dangerous.

Johnson like Herbig is capable of playing as a true freshman. The Badgers lose Zack Baun due to graduation but the success of the Badgers defense relies on creating pressure on the outside by the linebackers. As great as Baun has been this year the Badgers are going to need someone to replace his production in creating pressure in the backfield.

With that being said Johnson will be given his chance of showing he’s capable of creating pressure in the backfield. If he’s able to consistently string together strong practices he’ll give himself a chance of carving out a role for himself.

Wisconsin Signing Class Preview – Preston Zachman

Wisconsin received Preston Zachman’s national letter of intent as part of the early signing period on Wednesday.

With the early signing period for high school football players beginning on December 18, Badgers Insider takes a closer look at the recruits that signed with the Wisconsin football program.

In this edition, we examine Southern Columbia (PA) High School inside linebacker Preston Zachman.

Note: All notes and stats provided by uwbadgers.com

Zachman chose Wisconsin over other offers from: Air Force, Army, Kent State, and Temple

Zachman’s High School Accolades: Three–star recruit by 247 Sports, ESPN and Rivals…Led Southern Columbia to 16–0 record and 888–82 scoring margin as a senior in 2019…Part of three state championship teams at Southern Columbia, finishing with record of 63–1

Zachman’s Impact as a Badger: Zachman came on Wisconsin’s radar during one of the Badgers summer football camps this past June as his performance gave the Badgers coaching staff something to think about.

Although Zachman didn’t immediately receive an offer from Wisconsin following his summer camp performance the Badgers officially extended an offer to him this past September as it took him a day to commit to the Badgers.

The question is where does Zachman end up playing for the Badgers? Zachman was announced as an inside linebacker by Wisconsin but he also could end up lining at safety or on the offensive side of the football at fullback.

The coaching staff should have a plan for Zachman once he arrives on campus as it will be up to them to figure out his best position and where he can have the most success.

Although Zachman’s position versatility is an asset it seems likely he’ll wind up at linebacker. Zachman lined up at quarterback for his high school football team and given Wisconsin’s track record of taking high school quarterbacks and turning them into successful linebackers has been impressive with the latest example being redshirt senior Zack Baun.

Regardless of the position that Zachman lines up at for Wisconsin he’ll need a year to redshirt. As that redshirt year will allow him the chance to focus solely on one position to learn and to gain comfort in it. A task he should have success in considering his work ethic and IQ as he held offers from Air Force and Army.

Zachman is a type of player Wisconsin has had success with in the past as he’ll find a way to contribute for Wisconsin. Whether that’s on offense, defense, or on special teams it may not be right away but he will earn himself a role and whatever role he does earn he’ll have success.