Wisconsin's 2023 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 in to our staff rankings.
RECRUITING STORY
Jason Maitre was lightly recruited coming out of high school in Everett, Mass. The local Boston College Eagles, about a 30-minute drive from his hometown, was the only offer the two-star recruit listed. Initially, Maitre was recruited as a wide receiver.
Maitre spent five years at Boston College, where he became a staple of its defense after his freshman season. He entered the transfer portal shortly after the Eagles' 2022 campaign ended, and committed to Liberty at first. He then flipped to Wisconsin shortly after the Badgers offered.
"If I had one word to describe Madison, it's joy. Everybody's happy, and that's what I need to be around. That's the kind of person I am," Maitre told reporters this spring. "I love everything about Madison."
Maitre is rooming with a fellow transfer, wide out Bryson Green.
STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES
Upon signing with Wisconsin, Maitre was expected to play nickel corner. That's exactly what he did throughout the spring, working alongside Alexander Smith and Ricardo Hallman. Those three are expected to hold down the starting cornerback roles in Mike Tressel's defense, which deployed three corners almost exclusively all spring.
As the designated nickel corner, Maitre was constantly matched up with the Badgers' top slot receiver this spring, fellow transfer Will Pauling. The battle between those two was one of the more entertaining and competitive during spring practices.
"Will is a dog. Will's gonna compete every play. He's gonna come at you every play, he'll give you all he got every play. He's a fast, twitchy dude and he's strong," Maitre said of Pauling.
As a sixth-year player, Maitre provides a good veteran presence for what - besides Smith, another sixth-year corner - is a young cornerback room. He's taken on a leadership mentality, and his experience will be crucial for the back end of the Badgers' defense in 2023.
WHY HE'S No. 15
Maitre stepped in as a transfer and immediately worked with the starting defense. With his wealth of experience, he doesn't figure to relinquish that role anytime soon. The corner filled a significant area of need for Wisconsin at the slot corner position following the departure of Cedrick Dort last season.
OVERALL
The Badgers lost a significant amount of experience and production on the back end with the departures of their stopgap transfers from a season ago. Dort, Justin Clark and Jay Shaw accounted for 1,240 snaps. This season, Wisconsin is relying more on its home-grown talent at cornerback, but Maitre still figures to play a massive role as the starting nickel corner for a defense that's almost always in nickel.
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