Wisconsin's 2022 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 Paul Chryst's squad this year.
Playing time, past performance and positional depth all factored into our staff rankings.
STRENGTHS
Assistant coach Bobby April and Nick Herbig had high praise for the group of outside linebackers this spring when they both called the room the deepest during their time in the program. Headlining the position group - and the defense - is Herbig, a former four-star prospect. The Hawaii native jumped onto the scene during a freshman season in which he started all seven games. He followed that up with a nine-sack campaign, good for third best in the Big Ten this past season. Herbig also tacked on 14.5 tackles for loss, which was seventh-best in the conference. The year earned him a 91.4 pass rushing grade from Pro Football Focus, the best single-season mark by a Wisconsin edge rusher.
"He (Herbig) plays like a Badger. He's smart, tough, dependable, he takes ownership to his role. He puts others accountable, not in a cocky way," April said. "He's just a great kid that wants to be good, and when you want to be good, you can kind of fight off the demon that wants you to be bad. He's done a really good job of translating his work ethic into others, but at the same time pushing himself."
Missing the start of spring practices while nursing an arm injury, Herbig was seen chirping at the offense after big plays from the defense. The junior leader was often first on the field to talk through a play or to let his teammates know what he saw during spring practice.
“I just look as it as a positive,” Herbig said of the time he missed during the spring. “I can be there for the guys more if they need something, if they have questions I’m right there. I know exactly what happened, I know what play happened and I can kind of be like that second coach to them.”
WEAKNESSES
The 6-foot-2, 227-pound edge defender has already become the foundation of Wisconsin’s defense. The next step for Herbig will be to make the jump into a star at the position. Can he become a double-digit sack guy who completely wrecks a game, similar to a T.J. Watt, Zack Baun or Andrew Van Ginkel?
While there is optimism with the group of outside linebackers, the room hasn’t done it in games. Behind Herbig, the two-deep is projected to be split between Darryl Peterson, C.J. Goetz, T.J, Bollers and Kaden Johnson. Between the four, there is a combined three career sacks, all of which can be credited to Goetz. Each had their moments during spring practices and showed promise for what the group of highly-touted recruits can be. After Noah Burks and Herbig took the majority of the snaps the past two seasons, who emerges to produces opposite Herbig?
WHY HE'S No. 3
The front seven for UW should once again be the strength of the defense, and Herbig is a main reason why. If Wisconsin can once again maintain its standard of a top five defense in the country, Herbig will be front and center leading the way. For a unit that lost eight of 11 starters, his vocal leadership should prove vital as well.
OVERALL
Continuing Wisconsin’s strong tradition at outside linebacker, Herbig can work his way into NFL discussions with a strong junior season. If the disruptive playmaker can somehow take another leap in his game, he’ll be right there as one of the best defenders at Wisconsin in the past decade.
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