With football season right around the corner, what better time to predict which Badgers will take biggest leap in 2023 in terms of production and quality of play? For this exercise, transfers were excluded — for example, Will Pauling, who's expected to be Wisconsin's starting slot receiver, would've made the list. Instead, we'll focus on players who have already donned the Motion 'W' in a game.

Without further ado, here's the top five players set to improve the most in 2023:

This is an easy one. With everything reporters have seen throughout spring and fall camp, Hunter Wohler looks like a budding star in the Badgers' secondary. The safety can line up nearly anywhere on the field and combines his innate ball skills with a punishing, physical style of play.

Expect defensive coordinator Mike Tressel to deploy Wohler at all three levels of the defense and try to keep offenses guessing as to where he'll be next. He figures to share the field with fellow safeties Travian Blaylock and Kamo'i Latu quite a bit, who are each talented as well. But Wohler is the key cog in Tressel's defensive backfield, and his versatility will open lots of doors for the Badgers' defense this fall.

At this time about a year ago, Ricardo Hallman was lauded as an exciting young corner who played his way into a starting role, filling in for the injured Alexander Smith. Prior to the 2022 season, he earned the trust of the defensive staff and was deemed a capable starter. Flash forward to now, and Hallman's play appears to have reached a completely different level.

Much has been made of the cornerback's litany of interceptions in spring camp, and rightfully so — he was an absolute ballhawk. But interceptions come and go, and they don't tell the whole story about how well a defensive back is playing. What's been more impressive is Hallman's football IQ. In practice, he's almost always in the right spot, and he's learned how to better position his 5-foot-10 frame to break up passes against bigger receivers. He's seeing the field very well, and that kind of development is key for a younger corner who always had the athleticism to play at a high level.

Riley Mahlman was in and out of the lineup early last season, but started the last four games at right tackle and only allowed eight pressures and one sack across that span. He's consistently held down the right tackle spot ever since, and if he can carry over his play from late last year, he'll be one of the better tackles in the conference.

After playing the seventh-most snaps of any Badgers' offensive lineman last season, Mahlman should be regarded as one of Wisconsin's top offensive lineman and another fantastic pass-blocking tackle opposite Jack Nelson.

Darryl Peterson was likely ready to be a starter last season, but he happened to share an outside linebacker room with an NCAA leader in sacks-per-game (Nick Herbig) and a fifth-year senior (C.J. Goetz). Now, in his redshirt sophomore season, Peterson finally appears ready to break out for the Badgers' defense.

Last season, he logged the second-most sacks of any outside linebacker behind Herbig with three. Outside linebackers coach Matt Mitchell has said that the position will be somewhat of a rotation, but Peterson has been very consistent throughout offseason practices and appears ready to handle a diverse workload. What's more, there's a belief amongst the outside linebackers that they'll continue to be the primary playmakers for Wisconsin's defense.

Wisconsin looks very solid with their top three safeties, which is good because in Tressel's defense they'll all log plenty of snaps. But the Badgers' likely fourth option, Austin Brown, is too good to keep off the field and he should get the chance to contribute as well.

Three safeties will see the field in Tressel's Dollar package. Which means backup safeties, a list Brown is expected to top, will also inevitably get reps when one of the top three leaves the game. Furthermore, it's no secret that Wisconsin's safeties have an injury history. Wohler only played in six games last fall, while Blaylock missed the entire season. Especially with how physical these safeties play, Tressel may need to replace a starter at some point and Brown appears to be the top choice.

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