Wisconsin football saw its season end without bowl practices for the first time since 2001. The Badgers hit a new low this century in year two of the Luke Fickell era, and will face a critical get-right year in 2025.

Over the next two weeks, BadgerBlitz.com will examine the 2024 Badgers position by position. Today, we'll continue with the defensive line, a group that, as expected, struggled significantly this fall.

POSITIONAL REVIEWS: Quarterbacks | Running Backs | Wide Receivers | Tight Ends | Offensive Line

Wisconsin was in desperate need of a playmaker, any playmaker, along its defensive line even before the news that James Thompson Jr. would be sidelined for 2024 broke. When that was brought to light, the already tangible fears about the Badgers' shoddy defensive line intensified, and rightfully so. Nonetheless, a relatively unheralded transfer from the FCS ranks by the name of Elijah Hills took the opportunity to seize a starting role, and he made the most out of his one season at the highest level of the sport.

Hills, out of the University of Albany, worked his way into the rotation along the defensive trenches during spring and fall camp, coming on especially towards the end of the spring session. He started the season as more of a rotational player, with 21 snaps in the opener, 30 against South Dakota in Week 2 and so on. But by midseason, he had emerged as a key starter and the best player Wisconsin had to offer on the defensive line.

Though he played the third-most snaps of any Badgers defensive lineman, he had easily the best stat-line, with 26 tackles, 5.5 tackles-for-loss, 3.0 sacks, 1 pass breakup and one fumble recovery. Hills played with best motor and quickness in E.J. Whitlow's room, and will be missed next fall.

Another interesting positive from the defensive line in 2024: Ben Barten swatted five passes this fall. That was tied for second on the team. Barten developed as the season wore on and returns as a key piece for 2025.

Wisconsin's defensive line underperformed in nearly every facet, although the expectations were very low to begin with especially after the Thompson injury broke. But the Badgers' run defense was a recurring problem all season, and while there's a few reasons why including inconsistent tackling and inconsistent inside backer play, the defensive line getting manhandled in the trenches time and time again didn't help.

The worst individual performance was letting Iowa run for 329 yards in a blowout in Iowa City. The Badgers' defensive line got completely out-classed in that affair. But the run defense was permeable all season long: Wisconsin surrendered 165.0 rushing yards per-game, good for 91st in the nation.

Defensive linemen aren't exactly the primary playmakers on any defense. Wisconsin doesn't need superheroes in the trenches. But it does need players who will hold up against powerful Big Ten offensive lines, capable of at least eating up blocks and teeing up their teammates to make plays in the run game by wreaking some havoc.

Wisconsin brought in several defensive line transfers prior to the 2024 season in an effort to shore up what it knew was going to be a weak position group. As mentioned, Hills was a big win and proved to be the unit's only difference-maker. But Brandon Lane, who transferred to Madison in the spring window, did next to nothing (four tackles). And the rest of the incumbents didn't make nearly enough of a difference.

Still relatively early in portal season, Wisconsin has hit the defensive trenches hard. The Badgers have already secured pledges from Parker Peterson (Tulane), Corey Walker (Western Michigan) and Charles Perkins (UT-Martin).

Given the lack of depth in the room, it's hard to blame this staff for playing the numbers game and seeing who pops. Even adding one or two defensive linemen who can play to the level Hills did this fall would make all the difference.

Still, questions remain about all three. Peterson is coming off a 21-tackle, 2.5 sack season for the Green Wave. That isn't exactly stuffing the stat-sheet. Walker is a converted tight end coming over from a MAC school. Perkins is an FCS transfer. And Wisconsin's incompetence in finding productive front seven players under Fickell needs no introduction.

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