2023 Wisconsin Badgers Positional Review: Inside Linebackers

Wisconsin dropped a hard-fought bowl game against No. 13 LSU to close out its 2023 campaign and the debut season of head coach Luke Fickell. Soon, winter conditioning will get underway, shortly followed by spring practice.

Over the next two weeks, BadgerBlitz.com will examine the 2023 Badgers position by position. Today, we'll continue with the inside linebackers, a unit that the Badgers have significantly revamped since the season concluded.

Wisconsin's inside linebacker room was rather convoluted in defensive coordinator Mike Tressel's first season in Madison. There was clearly a gap between the scheme and the play-style of the incumbent members of the room. The true freshman Christian Alliegro, however, appeared to fit into what Tressel wants to do perfectly.

Badger fans were introduced to Alliegro during Wisconsin's thrilling comeback win over Illinois on the road. In the waning seconds of the game, with the Badgers needing just one more defensive stop to escape Champaign with a win, Alliegro was inserted at inside linebacker to spy mobile Illini quarterback Luke Altmyer. He would bat a pass at the line of scrimmage during the final drive, and in doing so clearly gained an immense amount of trust from the coaching staff — Alliegro would play in four of the next five games.

His fellow linebackers raved about his "freaky" athleticism and speed during the season, and those two traits in particular appear to have Alliegro set up for success in Tressel's defense. The coordinator needs inside backers with sideline-to-sideline speed who can cover a lot of ground laterally. That's exactly what Alliegro brings to the table. Wisconsin has brought plenty of help at inside linebacker via the transfer portal this offseason, most notably former USC Trojan Tackett Curtis and former Arkansas Razorback Jaheim Thomas. Still, Alliegro has the athleticism — and now the experience — to be in play for serious snaps next season.

Watching Wisconsin's inside linebackers play in Tressel's scheme this season was reminiscent of trying to force oneself into an ill-fitting piece of clothing. Despite all of the talk from the coaching staff, both before and during the season, about how the Badgers had "three starters" at inside linebacker in Jake Chaney, Maema Njongmeta and Jordan Turner, Wisconsin's inside backers were simply in a different mold than what Tressel's system calls for.

As mentioned, Tressel needs linebackers that can cover a lot of ground east to west. That's why Chaney had the most productive season of the bunch despite being the number three option a year ago — he has the best sideline-to-sideline speed of the three. Njongmeta and Turner, while both impressive players in their own right, are more old school. They're thumpers, north-and-south backers who thrive when primarily in the box. That's exactly what Jim Leonhard and the past regime sought, but it's a new era of defense in Madison.

The clash of styles from the coaching staff and the incumbent players led to some notable developments throughout the season, namely the usage of Alliegro and the benching of Njongmeta for situational matchup reasons. Now, the Badgers' inside linebackers weren't abysmal by any stretch in 2023, but it was clear that stylistically, Tressel didn't quite have the athletes he wanted at that position.

The Badgers' inside linebacker room will look different in 2024. A lot different. Out are Njongmeta (graduation) and Turner (transfer to Michigan State). In are four transfers and counting: Sebastian Cheeks, Jahsiah Galvin, Thomas and Curtis. Those four coupled with the returning Chaney and Alliegro should be a massive upgrade over what Wisconsin deployed at inside backer in 2023.

The early prediction is that Thomas and Curtis will be the top two men in the middle. But there's at least two other mouths to feed from the portal as well as the aforementioned returning backers. Thus, Tressel should have all the skillsets he needs at his disposal.

Again, Thomas and Curtis are the early favorites to lead the group in the spring. But don't count out the incumbent Chaney, who proved he could still thrive in Tressel's scheme. Alliegro is a potential breakout candidate who could be one of the best pure athletes on the Badgers' defense. Cheeks has recruiting pedigree and experience at UNC. If Galvin can make the jump to a higher level and perform comparably to, say, Nyzier Fourqurean, who made a similar jump last offseason, Wisconsin could be absolutely loaded in the middle.

Whoever runs with the starters at inside linebacker in spring ball will be one of the biggest storylines surrounding the team, but if there's one thing we learned from Tressel's first season it's that he's not afraid to rotate players based on the situation. Whoever becomes the starters this season may find themselves supplanted in a particular game or situation based on the requisite skillset needed at the time.

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