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 into our staff rankings.

Hunter Wohler, who earned WFCA defensive player of the year honors as a junior and senior in high school, was a Rivals250 prospect from Muskego. The former four-star athlete chose the Badgers over offers from Michigan, Notre Dame, Michigan State, Ohio State and Iowa, among others. Former Wisconsin defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard was the lead contact in his recruitment.

"He's (Leonhard) one of the big reasons for my commitment," Wohler BadgerBlitz.com at the time. "He knows the position in and out and how to coach guys based on their talent and skill. I just want to learn from the best and I think Coach Leonhard is one of the best. I can't wait to get to work with him.

"I was up there last Saturday and I talked to some of the coaches and players," he added. "I got to see the facilities a bit more and I got a better feel for the whole program. I also got to talk to some of the players, which was helpful. It just felt like the right fit for me. It felt like home."

Wohler appeared in 12 games, primarily on special teams, during his true freshman season. He was in line for a starting role in 2022 but suffered an injury three quarters into the season opener against Illinois State.

It wouldn't take the Wisconsin native very long, however, to make an impact upon his return. After being sidelined for two months, Wohler came away with an interception against Maryland. From then on he would form a dynamic trio in the secondary with John Torchio and Kamo'i Latu for the final five games of the year.

Heading into his junior season, Wohler will be a valuable piece for Mike Tressel and the 3-3-5 defense he is implementing. The 6-foot-2 safety lined up all over the field during the spring with snaps coming on the edge, as a linebacker or as a true safety.

The versatility allowed Wohler to make plays from a variety of different spots during camp. In the second practice, he read Tanner Mordecai well and stepped in front of a short throw intended for Braelon Allen, which would have been returned for a touchdown. He had also had a pick from the safety position where he intercepted a pass that was tipped by cornerback Alex Smith. Wohler tacked on a number of acrobatic pass breakups to go with the interceptions and was consistently around the football.

"He's a physical, strong tackler so what we're able to do with him I would call it a hybrid position," Tressel said in the spring. "There's times and calls where he's going to seem a little bit more like a true linebacker and there's times and calls where he's doing more safety things. We're able to mix up some of the blitz, pass from those types of positions that you might not be able to do without an obvious tell when he's coming from a normal safety."

Wohler is right at the top of the list of players who could become a star on Wisconsin's defense this season. His versatility makes him tough to take off the field, and Wohler should be the top "dollar" option in 2023. With Torchio, who saw the most snaps on defense in 2022 with 669, having graduated, Wohler slides in to fill the void and could easily finish with the most snaps on defense in 2023.

If veteran safety Travian Blaylock can stay healthy and sophomore Austin Brown can develop, Wohler will lead what should be a dynamic group in the back end. Along with the group of safeties, the defense returns eight starters from the team's Guaranteed Rate Bowl victory, a unit which was largely inexperienced entering the 2022 season. With Wohler giving every indication in the spring that he's set to be a leader of the group, he is a prime breakout candidate on a defense that should bounce back from an up and down year.

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