Without access to practice during Wisconsin's abbreviated fall camp, reporters had to rely on other players and coaches to get information on the top performers heading into the 2020 season.
One of the names that consistently came up was true freshman Nick Herbig, who is expected to make his second career start Saturday afternoon against Northwestern.
“Nick is a really mature football player that understands the game well. He plays fast. He's physical.” outside linebackers coach Bobby April said. “All the stuff that you saw from his high school highlights and tapes have come to fruition for us. I love where he is trending.
"He's a guy that's got everything we're looking for. He's smart, tough and dependable, and he checks all three boxes. And he's a great kid off the field, so I can see what people are talking about because the guy’s a playmaker.”
His running mate on the opposite side, redshirt senior Noah Burks, echoed that praise.
“Biggest thing with Nick is he has such a high motor," Burks said. "The guy just never stops.”
Players on the offensive side of the ball talked about the problems Herbig, 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, has created in practice. Left tackle Cole Van Lanen, who will likely be playing on Sundays next year, even had some trouble limiting the former four-star prospect.
“He’s a great football player and it’s awesome that he’s so young. He’s got a lot of learning to do and I’m excited to see what his future holds,” Van Lanen said. “Even in camp going against him, I was like, ‘who’s this guy?’ Came out strong, came out fast and I love his effort level.”
“The kid can play," added tight end Jake Ferguson. "Always a challenge blocking him."
Through two games this fall, Herbig, from Saint Louis School in Hawaii, leads the team in tackles for loss (4), is second on the team in tackles (6) and has one sack and one pass break-up. During his recruitment, he chose Wisconsin over offers from Oklahoma, UCLA, USC, Stanford and Washington, among others.
“I’ve been pleased with the start that he’s had,” Paul Chryst said. “When you talk to Nick and when you’re around Nick, he’s probably the one guy that’s not really pleased with it. He expects a lot out of himself but, yet, he’s realistic and knows that there is a lot to learn. He really just wants to be a contributor. I’ve loved his approach, his work ethic.”
With Izayah Green-May out this past weekend against Michigan, Herbig tied for the team lead in tackles (5) with Scott Nelson. Three of those five went for a loss, which led the team.
“You forget that he’s a true freshman sometimes,” middle linebacker Jack Sanborn said. “Kudos to him, I wasn’t doing that my freshman year. You’ve got to be a heck of a ball player to come in here and start the first game and play as well as he did.”
