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 inside linebackers, yet another perceived strength that underperformed this fall.

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

The fact that Christian Alliegro played the third-most snaps in the inside linebacker room and still finished a narrow second on the entire team in total tackles with 66 tells you everything you need to know about the young playmaker.

It was already a sneaking suspicion, but Alliegro proved he was the best linebacker on the roster in the Week 10 blowout loss at Iowa. Though Wisconsin's front seven got mauled, the sophomore did everything he could to counteract that, registering 16 tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss and a sack. An injury to Jaheim Thomas opened the door for Alliegro to play starter-level snaps against the Hawkeyes, a role he never relinquished.

The linebacker simply combines excellent instincts and speed with a nasty physicality. He was the only inside linebacker that could consistently shoot gaps and get into the backfield, as evidenced by his position-leading 5.0 tackles-for-loss and 3.0 sacks.

Alliegro has now positioned himself as one of the faces of this defense moving forward. His toughness fits the supposed culture, and his athletic ability fits Mike Tressel's scheme. He's one of the most important Badgers moving forward into 2025.

Just like their counterparts on the edge, Wisconsin's inside linebackers appeared to have a revamped room that projected as more athletic and dynamic. And just like said outside linebackers, that didn't come to fruition.

Let's start with Arkansas transfer Jaheim Thomas. After finishing top-five in the SEC in tackles in 2023, he won a starting role based off a strong performance in offseason camps and his prior relationship with the coaching staff.

The linebacker was serviceable, and certainly not a complete disaster. But he didn't make much of an impact as a run-stopper, hence Wisconsin's prolonged issues in that department this fall. What's more, after providing 3.5 sacks and 17 pressures in 2023 with the Razorbacks, Thomas was maddeningly a non-factor as a pass-rusher in Madison. And although he played over 100 fewer snaps this fall, his tackle rate dropped significantly as well. Thomas just wasn't the difference make he was made out to be.

Tackett Curtis, who came over from USC, was a different story, as he never manned a starting role. Still, it's the same ending: Curtis underperformed in terms of the potential he flashed at a previous institution.

Though Curtis' raw athletic ability was still on display occasionally, he seemed to let fundamentals go by the wayside sometimes, missing tackles or committing bone-headed penalties. A year to marinate in this defense could do wonders for the linebacker.

Just to be clear, Wisconsin isn't abandoning the transfer portal any time soon. With dozens of scholarship athletes skipping town, it has little choice. But sooner rather than later — and the inside linebacker room is a great microcosm of this — the young talent this staff has convinced to come to Madison must step into the limelight.

The Badgers are currently expected to return Alliegro and Curtis. They've also signed a transfer to bolster the position in Antarron Turner out of Western Carolina. Coming from an FCS school, however, the latter comes with much less fanfare than Thomas or Curtis did last offseason. Thus, Wisconsin has just one starter it can confidently rely upon at this time.

That means the young players in the room need to be ready to compete for rotational if not starting roles. Sophomore Tyler Jansey, who played one snap in 2024, may headline that group. But how about the redshirt freshman Landon Gauthier, who the staff appears high on? How about the true freshman Mason Posa, one of the biggest wins for the Badgers in the 2024 cycle?

Wisconsin can't slap transfers on all its problems. It's time for the young talent this staff has acquired — one of the few things its done well — to realize their potential and return the inside linebacker room to the standard in Madison.

_________________________________________________

*Chat about this article in The Badgers' Den

*Check out our videos, interviews, and Q&As on our YouTube channel

*Subscribe and listen to the BadgerBlitz.com podcast (as seen on Apple, Google, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts)

*Follow us on Twitter: @McNamaraRivals, @TheBadgerNation, @_Perko_, @seamus_rohrer, @DonnieSlusher_

*Like us on Facebook