Following the conclusion of fall camp, BadgerBlitz.com will take a look at each position group and where they stand with the final phase of the offseason wrapping up.

We'll continue our defensive overviews with the inside linebackers.

RELATED: QUARTERBACKS | RUNNING BACKS | WIDE RECEIVERS | DEFENSIVE LINEMEN | OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS

Tyler Jansey.

Following a few major transfer portal additions early in the offseason, the inside linebacker hierarchy felt fairly established.

Ex-Cincinnati stalwart Jaheim Thomas was brought in to start alongside Jake Chaney, while Tackett Curtis came from USC and seemed like a perfect 1B next to Christian Alliegro. Everybody else in the room was seen as more of a reserve.

But when Curtis went down early in the spring, that left second team reps on the table, and nobody took advantage like Tyler Jansey. The redshirt freshman slowly emerged throughout the spring, going from the third team to second and even earned some occasional first team reps.

At the start of fall camp, it felt like Alliegro and Curtis were still slightly ahead of him. Yet Jansey, day in and day out, played with a veteran-level combination of aggression and composure, becoming one of the more consistent defensive players of fall camp.

“Tyler goes as hard as anybody we have on our team. He goes hard all the time, which is fantastic. But that made him a little bit out of control at times. He knows that,” defensive coordinator Mike Tressel said near the end of fall camp.

“He’s really reigned that in. It hasn’t slowed him down. But his mind has slowed down, which is exciting, which has put him in that group of guys at linebacker that you feel like, ‘Okay, he can get out there on the field on Saturdays.’”

Whoever has to divide the reps.

It’s not coach hyperbole when Tressel claims they have “five guys right now that can play on Saturdays”.

There are five players in the room who would probably start at many Big Ten schools — Chaney, Thomas, Alliegro, Curtis and Jansey. That’s a great problem to have, but it means that a few guys won’t get as many reps as they feel they deserve.

The top two, Chaney and Thomas, are set.

Chaney is the only returning player from the room who earned significant snaps last season, and has now occupied a greater leadership role. Outside linebacker Darryl Peterson referred to him as “the quarterback of the defense," while other players and coaches have echoed this sentiment. He’s pretty much guaranteed to play as much as or more than anyone else at his position.

His only rival will be Thomas, whose familiarity with the system and versatility on the field could make him one of the two or three most valuable players on the entire defense.

The next tier of linebackers is when it gets more difficult, with three second year players who would’ve all been top members of the room last season.

Returning are Alliegro and Jansey, who have made noticeable strides in their physical and mental development over the course of the offseason. Curtis transferred from USC and will bring a modern, dynamic flair to the room that fans may not be accustomed to, similarly to Thomas. None of the three have exceptionally stood out, positively or negatively. We may not know how the hierarchy shakes out until the snap counts are in front of us.

How many bodies will they need?

It feels silly to question whether or not one of the deepest rooms on the team is deep enough, but it’s been on my mind given how the inside linebackers were used during the final few weeks of practice.

The coaches were constantly blitzing different inside linebackers, often reaching much deeper into their bench for substitutions compared to last season.

Only five players total registered snaps at inside linebacker last season, according to PFF, and the vast majority went to three players — Chaney, Maema Njongmeta and Jordan Turner. Because they had so few capable linebackers, they couldn’t use them as aggressively as they likely wanted to.

The top five inside linebackers are probably better than the top five in any room on the team, but we haven’t seen much from the players behind them. Garrison Solliday has yet to see game action in his three years in Madison. The other inside linebackers on the roster — Landon Gauthier, Evan Van Dyn Hoven and Drew Braam — are all either first or second years.

The Badgers have two inside linebackers committed in the class of 2025 — Cooper Catalano and Mason Posa. An in-state prospect, Posa is more of an old school, strong side linebacker who still has the athleticism to hang in a Fickell/Tressel defense, similar to Chaney or Jansey. Posa, a four-star prospect, is cut from the same cloth as Thomas and Alliegro.

However, the future of the position is likely already on the roster. Curtis, Alliegro and Jansey are only in their second year and could start for a couple of years in the future. Gauthier and Braam are true freshmen who may earn some reps as soon as this season.

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