Wisconsin Inside Linebacker Room Season Outlook & Player Expectations
A quick look at the Wisconsin football ILB room heading into fall camp and analyzing their individual expectations for the season.
With fall camp just around the corner for new head coach Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin football program -- BadgerNotes continues our rollout of position previews. We've already done QB, RB, WR, TE, OL, DL, and OLBs thus far.
But I want our position previews and season outlook write-ups to be different than a regurgitated version of what every outlet is putting out.
I want to approach this breakdown by establishing individual player expectations heading into the season so we can more effectively evaluate each player at the end of the season—that way, we can avoid being a prisoner of the moment.
So, let's review the breakdown of how we define player expectations:
No expectations (walk-ons, true freshmen, practice bodies).
Low expectations (roster fillers, third team players, next man up situation).
Moderate expectations (key backups & role players *how well are you playing the role asked of you).
High expectations (core players of the team you expect to make a big impact in their role or statistically).
Let's continue our series with the Wisconsin football inside linebackers.
High Expectations
Maema Njongmeta (RS SR)
Jordan Turner (RS JR)
Jake Chaney (JR)
I'm placing Maema Njongmeta, Jordan Turner, and Jake Chaney in the high-expectations group for the Badgers this season. In this grouping, I added Chaney in addition to the starters because I see him as a core contributor and playmaker on defense who should see big-time snaps and offer starter-quality contributions.
At 6 feet and 240 pounds, Njongmeta has the size and athleticism to be a dominant force in the middle of the Wisconsin football defense. He has already shown flashes of his potential, leading UW with a team-high 95 tackles, adding 25 pressures, 12.5 TFLs, 3.5 sacks, and an interception en route to Third-team All-Big Ten honors. I see him being one of the top playmakers on the defense in 2023.
Then there is Turner, the 6-foot-1, 236-pound inside linebacker who registered 65 tackles (2nd on the team), 23 pressures, five tackles for loss, two sacks, and an interception — while also earning defensive MVP honors at the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. He's a high-upside player who should take another big step forward as a force inside if the game can slow down.
Finally, Chaney is a player I might be higher on than most entering the 2023 season. Now in his third season with the program, the 5-foot-11, 230-pound ILB played 269 snaps last season and had 38 tackles, 10 pressures, 4.0 TFLs, one sack, and one interception. He's a talented young linebacker with a knack for getting after the QB -- and I suspect that Mike Tressel will use him in some creative ways to create havoc.
To meet expectations, everyone in this grouping needs to be at least above average to high-quality level play at inside linebacker -- if not higher. I don't see anyone from this tier getting knocked off their spot on the depth chart. This group is full of game-wreckers.
Wisconsin ILBs With Moderate Expectations
Tatum Grass (RS SR)
Bryan Sanborn (RS SO)
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Badgernotes to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.