Key Wisconsin Badgers: No. 17 - Linebacker Jake Chaney

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.

Jake Chaney originally joined the Badgers as part of a substantial 2021 class that also featured the likes of Hunter Wohler, Darryl Peterson and Ricardo Hallman.

The three-star linebacker from Lehigh Acres, Florida, chose Wisconsin despite other offers from Minnesota, Vanderbilt and Pittsburgh, among others.

"I was looking pretty hard at Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa State, Louisville and Vanderbilt," Chaney said. "But I just felt Wisconsin was the right fit. The schools in Florida didn't really recruit me too hard, so I'm fine going out of state."

Chaney doesn’t have the biggest frame, but is the right athlete to fit in the middle of Fickell and coordinator Mike Tressel’s defense.

Last season, Maema Njongmeta and Jordan Turner were both superseded in the depth chart by Chaney, mostly due to his superior athleticism.

Because Fickell’s defensive system uses more defensive backs and less inside linebackers, the linebackers are forced to cover more space. Players like Njongmeta and Turner didn’t have the physical makeup to maintain their old roles.

But ultimately, Chaney won’t have the same luxury of being the only inside linebacker who can move. He’ll have to maintain that role surrounded by a group of inside linebackers that’s improved rapidly over the offseason, adding athletic freaks like Jaheim Thomas, Tackett Curtis, Christian Alliegro and Sebastian Cheeks.

Off the field, Chaney is expected to be one of Wisconsin's leaders in 2024. He will represent at the Badgers at Big Ten Media Days, and it wouldn't be surprising to see Chaney carry the title of captain this fall.

After entering the season as the third inside linebacker in the depth chart, Chaney finished 2023 with the fourth most defensive snaps on the whole team. He’s now the leader of a room that’s changed around him in the blink of an eye.

Every other inside linebacker who’s likely to earn playing time is either young (Alliegro, Curtis), or they just showed up (Thomas). Chaney has the rare combination of athleticism, skill and experience.

He’s one of the few players who’s managed to successfully bridge the gap between the two eras of coaches and emerge as one of the leaders of the team, similar to what Ricardo Hallman has done in the cornerback room or Hunter Wohler with the safeties.

On a team that’s changed rapidly over the past two years, Chaney feels like one of the very few sure things.

The best player outside of him seems to be Thomas, who’s bigger, more athletic and capable of rushing the passer, but has never played a snap for the Badgers. Alliegro has an intriguing combination of size and lateral quickness, but is a sophomore. Curtis is an incredible athlete, but he’s a fellow sophomore who also just showed up in Madison.

Chaney is a true inside linebacker, one who’s already proven he can be depended on for an entire season. Despite the talent around him, the room belongs to Chaney until someone else overtakes him.

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