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Published Sep 26, 2023
Bye week check-in: Grading Wisconsin's defense
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Jon McNamara  •  BadgerBlitz
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@McNamaraRivals

With the Wisconsin football team on a bye this weekend, it's a great time to do an overall assessment of the Badgers' defense.

Overall, this group has performed below expectations as the unit transitions into a new defensive scheme. Currently, Mike Tressel's defense ranks No. 77 in the country in total defense and No. 43 in scoring defense.

RELATED: Bye week check-in: Grading Wisconsin's offense

Position-wise, BadgerBlitz.com took a deeper dive into Pro Football Focus to learn more about snap counts and overall grades. The UW defense has played 292 total snaps this year. So when you see the snap count for an individual player, compare it with that total.

As far as the grading system, anything above 70 is usually pretty good. In the 60s is pretty close to average and in 50s is below.

DEFENSIVE LINE
PlayerSnapsRun DTacklingPRSHOverall

Rodas Johnson

153

55.6

29.8

57.4

57.3

James Thompson

142

68.4

79.7

72.3

76.0

Gio Paez

140

60.7

44.0

62.9

63.5

Curt Neal

55

59.2

72.4

54.1

59.7

Ben Barten

72

60.2

N/A

72.5

68.8

Darian Varner

38

62.5

70.2

52.5

53.5

Cade McDonald

7

66.5

70.8

57.9

67.5

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