MADISON, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin hasn’t had a trio of players drafted in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft since 2016. Nose tackle Keeanu Benton, linebacker Nick Herbig, and offensive lineman Joe Tippmann believe they can change that.
Three former Badgers who declared for the NFL Draft following last season have generated a wealth of attention heading into this year’s event, which will be held April 27 through April 29 in Kansas City. The first 31 picks will be announced Thursday with the second and third rounds happening Friday and the final four rounds occurring Saturday.
Wisconsin had five players selected last season, led by linebacker Leo Chenal with the 103rd pick to the Kansas City Chiefs. He started eight games as a rookie and finished with 35 tackles and a sack. That sack and six of his tackles came in Super Bowl 57, a 38-35 Chiefs victory over Philadelphia.
UW hasn’t had a former player selected in the first round since Pittsburgh selected linebacker T.J. Watt and New Orleans picked lineman Ryan Ramzcyk in the 2017 draft. Since then, the Badgers have only had five players selected in the first three rounds and three players picked in the top 100.
In recent big boards, the three players were listed among the top 60 overall prospects by Pro Football Focus and the top 80 overall by The Athletic, while Benton and Tippmann were top 50 prospects by NFL.com. CBS Sports and Pro Football Network see Tippmann as a potential first-round selection (No.25) by the New York Giants.
Tippmann started 22 games at center during his redshirt sophomore and junior seasons, helping the Badgers have the No.2 rushing offense in the Big Ten (210.9 ypg) in 2021 and logged the offensive line’s best run-blocking grade (78.0 per PFF) last season, as well as allowing just one sack and five pressures over 338 pass blocking snaps.
“I’ve always considered myself more of an athletic guy,” Tippmann told NFL.com in March. “Being able to get into space, open up, and really hit those linebackers full speed is what I like to do.”
Benton – rated the No.8 defensive tackle in the draft by Pro Football Focus – started 25 games his last two seasons, earning all-conference honors from the coaches each year. He totaled 36 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks, seven of those TFLs occurring over the last four games of the regular season.
A projected day two selection, Benton was one of the standout players of the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama earlier this year.
“(I’ve shown) my abilities athletically, blocking, showing on film me being a big power guy, kind of eating that space,” said Benton, who trained for the draft outside Philadelphia. “I just kind of want to show everybody that I have the ability to rush the passer, and I can use that.”
Herbig made 31 starts over his three seasons and decided to leave school after a junior season in which he led the Badgers with 11.0 sacks and 15.5 TFLs (tops in the Big Ten) while ranking sixth on the team in total tackles (47). His sack-a-game average led the nation and was the most by a UW player since Tarek Saleh in 1996.
Earning 91.1 and 91.4 pass-rush grades the past two seasons, Herbig is rated the No.4 linebacker in the draft by PFF. He’ll likely be moved to inside linebacker in the pros.
“I'm honestly excited about it,” Herbig told reporters at the Badgers’ pro day, adding that he’s done pre-draft workouts in New Jersey. “I’ve played outside linebacker almost my whole career, so just learning something new, diving into something new, getting a fresh start, it's exciting to me. I get to try something out and attack it with everything I got.”
It’s a long shot whether the Badgers will hear a fourth name called, as offensive lineman Tyler Beach, cornerbacks Justin Clark, Cedrick Dort, and Jay Shaw, punter Andy Vujnovich and safety John Torchio have not appeared in many – if any – seven-round mock drafts leading into the draft.
Players like Beach (30 stars in 58 career games), Dort (32 stars in 56 games between Kentucky and UW), and Shaw (28 starts in 56 games between UCLA and UW) have a lot of experience, Vujnovich leaves the highest punting average of any Badger ever (44.3) while Torchio was a first-team All-Big Ten/FWAA Second-Team All-American after leading the Badgers with five interceptions and finishing fourth with 55 tackles.
Of the 32 former Badgers who were on an NFL roster last season, eight were undrafted free agents.
“It’s kind of surreal to think that I’m in this position, especially as a walk-on,” Torchio said. “You ask me at the beginning of college if I was going to be in this spot, I’d probably say not … Whatever happens, happens.”
_________________________________________________
*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, @RaulV45, @pete_brey12, @seamus_rohrer
*Like us on Facebook
