Wisconsin star among PFF’s top returning safeties in college football

Wisconsin star among PFF’s top returning safeties in college football

Wisconsin star Hunter Wohler was listed at No. 8 in ProFootballFocus’ recent ranking of the top 10 returning college football safeties entering 2024.

The Wisconsin native landed just above Alabama’s Keon Sabb and West Virginia’s Aubrey Burks, who earned No. 9 and No. 10, respectively in PFF’s ranking.

Ohio State’s Caleb Downs, Georgia’s Malaki Starks, Purdue’s Dillon Thieneman, Notre Dame’s Xavier Watts, Penn State’s Kevin Winston Jr., Iowa’s Xavier Nwankpa and Michigan’s Rod Moore rounded out the top 10, ranked ahead of UW’s talented defensive back.

Wohler was named First Team All-Big Ten by the Associated Press a season ago and led all Big Ten defensive backs with 120 total tackles.

The safety’s 74 solo tackles also ranked No. 1 among all qualified defensive backs in NCAA Division I college football. He became the first Big Ten DB to post over 110 tackles, a sack and multiple INTs in the same season since 2010.

The junior captained Wisconsin’s top-25 scoring defense as UW’s most dependable defender throughout the 2023 campaign, and he will look to lead Mike Tressel’s unit once again before he likely declares for the 2025 NFL draft.