[lawrence-newsletter]
In today’s edition of “where are they now” we shift focus to T.J. Edwards’ running mate at middle linebacker during his time as a Badger: Ryan Connelly.
Connelly came to Madison, Wisconsin as a walk-on out of Eden Prairie, Minn. in 2014 and redshirted his first year. Head Coach Paul Chryst awarded him a scholarship before the 2015 season and it took no time for Connelly to find a way onto the field for Jim Leonhard’s defense, a unit that ranked No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense and No. 2 in yards-allowed-per-game.
Connelly’s rise from walk-on, to rotation player, to starter was a fast one, and it took little time for Connelly to become as productive as they come at the middle linebacker position.
The Minnesota product finished his Badger career with 26 starts at middle linebacker, 251 tackles, 29 tackles-for-loss, six sacks, two interceptions and two forced fumbles.
His junior and senior seasons accounted for 18 of those starts, 177 tackles, 21 tackles-for-loss, all six sacks, one interception and two forced fumbles.
It became thanks to his impressive performance during his upperclassman years that Connelly received an invite to the NFL Combine and positioned himself to be selected in the 2019 NFL Draft.
From walk-on at Wisconsin to the NFL Draft, Ryan Connelly is a special talent and sat down with us at PFF to talk about it. ⬇️📈https://t.co/HyXB5ku0CO pic.twitter.com/a30FTfBZq7
— PFF Draft (@PFF_College) March 28, 2019
Despite being graded by NFL analysts as a backup or special teamer, Connelly was selected in the fifth round of the draft by the New York Giants.
Then, much to the surprise of the teams that passed on the former Badger linebacker and to the surprise of analysts who did not peg him as a day-one starter, Connelly cracked the starting lineup in week two after injuries to linebackers Alec Ogletree and Tae Davis.
Heading into week four the former Badger was showing that he belonged as a starter in the NFL by putting up impressive numbers for a fifth-round draft pick.
It was during this week four contest that Connelly recorded his second interception in as many weeks. But, unfortunately, it was also during this contest that Connelly went down with a knee injury which was later diagnosed as a torn ACL.
Before suffering the season-ending injury Connelly started three out of four games for New York and recorded 20 tackles, two tackles-for-loss, one sack and two interceptions.
Now, heading into 2020, Connelly is slated to compete for the starting job at inside linebacker after the Giants’ acquisition of Blake Martinez this offseason.
Whether he will be able to come back and be effective after his knee injury is yet to be seen, though if he’s healthy to start the season he has a great chance to yet again crack the starting lineup for New York and continue to prove his worth in the NFL.