Key Wisconsin Badgers: No. 16 - Outside linebacker Leon Lowery

Wisconsin's 2024 football season is right around the corner, so BadgerBlitz.com ranked the top 30 players who we think will be the keys to success for Luke Fickell's squad this year.

Playing time, past performance and positional depth all factored into our staff rankings.

Leon Lowery's recruitment to Wisconsin was a long, convoluted process that involved a commitment, a de-commitment, a shady NIL agent and finally, a re-commitment to the Badgers.

To make a long story short, the Syracuse transfer committed to Wisconsin on a Sunday following a visit, only to de-commit on Monday in a shocking move that reeked of foul play. He then directed all inquires to his agent Chris Wash.

Ultimately, after a harrowing four days, Lowery would re-commit. By all accounts, Wisconsin was the place he truly wanted to be from the start. But the linebacker was caught in a crossfire of NIL deals and questionable decisions by people who supposedly had his best interests in mind. No matter; Lowery made it to Madison, and proceeded to be one of the stars of spring practice.

Lowery wasted little time upon his arrival to Madison. While his recruitment in the transfer portal was a nonsensical whirlwind, his play during spring practice was the opposite. Lowery was locked in all camp, and emerged as one of the better players on the Badgers' defense alongside fellow transfer outside linebacker John Pius.

Lowery played all over the field at Syracuse, but Wisconsin has allowed him to focus on playing edge-rusher. That's not to say he won't need to drop into coverage or assist in the run game from time-to-time, but Lowery's primary job in Madison will be to get to the quarterback.

“It makes it a lot easier so I don’t have to worry about a lot of things, like at my old school. I can focus on pass rushing, setting edges and being violent," he said this spring.

Still, Lowery remains a versatile defender. He's one of the stronger outside linebackers in the room, and that lends itself to run support and an ability to set the edge. Overall, Lowery looks like one of the more well-rounded players on the Badgers' front seven, something that has outside linebackers' coach Matt Mitchell openly delighted.

“Leon’s off to a very fast start. It’s exciting, to be transparent," he said. "A guy coming in and infusing that body type and some of that experience is gonna help everybody else too.”

Lowery, alongside the aforementioned Pius, represents the influx of athleticism and play-making ability the Badgers so desperately needed at outside linebacker. Lowery figures to play starter-level snaps, but perhaps equally important is the depth he's helped create.

"We have friendly competition in the outside linebacker room. To be transparent, in 23’, we just didn’t quite have the depth at that position," Mitchell said. "It put a lot of pressure on guys like CJ Goetz. I have as much respect for him as anybody I’ve coached, what he meant to Wisconsin football, but he was probably out there taking too many reps at times. And was ineffective on some third downs, ineffective later on in the season."

Lowery brings an electricity and energy that Wisconsin simply didn't have at pass-rusher a year ago. He's feisty, violent and relentless. If he can carry over his play from the spring into the fall, he'll be a problem for Big Ten tackles everywhere.

Lowery will be one of the more fascinating players to watch this fall for many reasons, including his highly-publicized recruitment and his dominance in spring practice. But it'll also be interesting to see just how his game translates to the Big Ten. Lowery admitted this spring that lining up against Big Ten offensive linemen is a whole different story coming from the ACC.

“I’m playing against Big Ten offensive linemen, and Big Ten offensive linemen are completely different from ACC offensive linemen," he said.

Nonetheless, he's shown in practice that he can effectively get the better of the Badgers' starting tackles. That bodes very well for this season. Lowery will be a critical piece of Wisconsin's pass-rush and defense as a whole.

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