Wisconsin boasts two of PFF’s highest-graded returning Big Ten linebackers

Wisconsin’s defense will be strong on the second-level this season

The story of Wisconsin’s offseason, aside from the hiring of Luke Fickell, was the facelift on offense with Offensive Coordinator Phil Longo coming to town. It will likely also be the story of the season, whether that story is positive or negative.

Fickell is a defensive head coach and brought Mike Tressel with him from Cincinnati. And it’s Wisconsin. Both the 2023 defense and future units shouldn’t miss a beat from what we know to be the Wisconsin standard.

ProFootballFocus has high expectations for the Badgers’ group, and the linebacking core specifically. The service listed both Maema Njongmeta and Jake Chaney in its highest-graded returning Big Ten linebackers.

Njongmeta, PFF’s highest-graded linebacker on the list, returns to the starting lineup after tallying a team-high 95 tackles last year in addition to 12.5 tackles-for-loss, 3.5 sacks and one interception.

Chaney, on the other hand, was more of a blitz specialist for the 2022 unit. He finished the season with 38 tackles, four tackles-for-loss, one sack and one interception.

These two with Jordan Turner make up one of the conference’s best inside linebacking cores. For what Tressel likes to do schematically, it’s a perfect fit for the first year of the new regime.