Wisconsin’s linebacker room has young talent ready to emerge.
The Wisconsin Badgers said goodbye to both of their starters at inside linebacker this offseason, as they move forward with a younger group headlined by Christian Alliegro and Tackett Curtis.
Wisconsin started Jake Chaney and Jaheim Thomas at the position this past season, while Alliegro and Curtis rotated in, and saw inconsistent play from the group overall.
At outside linebacker, Wisconsin is transitioning a bit, opening up a new “star” position that plays more off-ball, while putting bigger bodies up front. Darryl Peterson remains the leader at outside linebacker, but Aaron Witt has moved to the star position and is moving in space more often now.
With the new-look rooms and positions, let’s break down the projected depth chart after spring ball.
Starters
Inside Linebacker: Christian Alliegro, Tackett Curtis
Outside Linebacker: Darryl Peterson
“Star” position: Aaron Witt
The starters here are pretty self-explanatory. Alliegro and Curtis take the reins for the departing seniors as the next guys up at middle linebacker. This was the plan from last year, as Wisconsin landed Curtis in the transfer portal to be their future starter.
Alliegro is a physical player who has continued to grow and develop into a playmaker. He’s a bigger linebacker, so there is the opportunity to use him as a blitzer to maximize his talents. Curtis, on the other hand, saw key playing time last year when the starters faced injury. He shined in a few games, but had inconsistencies with tackling and angles in others.
Those issues will need to be patched up as a full-time starter, but he had a couple of nice days this spring that he’ll look to build on in the fall.
Peterson is still a key player at outside linebacker, standing at 6’1, 260 pounds, and will be an important part of stopping the run this year. He hasn’t tapped into his full potential as a pass-rusher, but he can be disruptive against the run and play a couple of positions up front.
Witt now transitions to the star role, where he’ll move more in space and use his athleticism. He cut a little weight to move better and stands at 6’6, 245 pounds.
Ultimately, this group will depend on the emergence of the young starters. Will the inconsistencies continue to plague this group? Or can they become more disruptive, which has been a common theme around the program this spring?
Backups
Inside Linebackers: Antarron Turner, Tyler Jansey
Outside Linebackers: Mason Reiger, Sebastian Cheeks
“Star” position: Thomas Heiberger
Wisconsin has quite a few bodies in its linebacker room. On the inside, they landed Western Carolina transfer Antarron Turner, who stands 6’1, 244 pounds and has regularly been with the second-team defense this spring.
Turner’s productivity at past stops stands out (61 tackles in 2024), and he’ll likely get a chance to rotate in for the Badgers this year. Alongside Turner, Tyler Jansey could crack into the two-deep. He’s a Wisconsin kid through-and-through who plays with good physicality at 6’0, 234 pounds. It’s now about consistency.
Other options to look for are true freshmen Cooper Catalano and redshirt freshman Landon Gauthier. Catalano had a couple of nice plays in the spring, and looks the part of a college linebacker with his frame. Same goes for Gauthier, who looked big as a true freshman and now stands at 6’3, 235 pounds.
While I don’t think either will get significant playing time this year, they’re trending towards being players in the future.
On the outside, Wisconsin brought in Mason Reiger from the transfer portal, but he was injured for much of the spring and didn’t participate in team drills. Sebastian Cheeks is also next in line to take another step, and could be a third-down pass-rusher once again. The Badgers also got another player from the portal, Kentucky’s Tyreese Fearbry, who made a quick impact in the spring with the second and third-team defense before dealing with an injury.
Thomas Heiberger moved to the star position this spring, and will be the backup to Aaron Witt. The biggest question for the uber-talented Heiberger is staying healthy. He dealt with another knee issue this spring, costing him time.
Heiberger seems like a future starter at the position, but staying on the field is key for that to come to fruition.
There is a good amount of younger depth in the room here for Wisconsin, but they’ll need quality linebacker play in 2025 if they want to be better against the run.