Wisconsin Badgers Commitment 101: 2021 MLB Jake Chaney

The Wisconsin Badgers added three-star middle linebacker Jake Chaney to their 2021 recruiting class Sunday. Here's what Chaney's commitment means for head coach Paul Chryst moving forward.

At 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds, Jake Chaney isn't a big, bruising middle linebacker in the mold of Leo Chenal (6-foot-2, 250 pounds) or even Jack Sanborn (6-foot-3, 232 pounds). Rather, the three-star prospect more closely resembles someone like Chris Orr (6-foot, 224 pounds), who recently wrapped up a very productive career at UW.

"The coaches told me I'm like Chris Orr but a little bit bigger," Chaney told BadgerBlitz.com. "With him graduating, they want someone to come in and be the type of player he was at Wisconsin. They think I can be like him, which is a big compliment."

On film, Chaney, who had roughly 100 tackles last fall, has good straight-line burst going directly to the quarterback and ball carrier. He also displays precise timing on his blitzes and is physical at the point of contact. Obviously it's coming from Chaney's highlight tape which features only his top plays, but he rarely gets caught up by blockers in the trenches. He also seems to have a natural ability to diagnose plays from his middle linebacker position.

"We run a 3-4 defense in high school like Wisconsin, and the way Jake is able to play with quickness and speed is appealing to them," Lehigh head coach James Chaney told BadgerBlitz.com. "He can also avoid blocks and he's very aggressive. He understands the defense as a whole as our captain and quarterback on that side of the ball. Our coordinator trusts him because Jake knows every position on the field. That translates on film and those guys saw that as a great fit for them at Wisconsin."

We don't see a ton of Chaney dropping into coverage or moving from sideline to sideline, so that's something to keep an eye on at Wisconsin. But the more you watch the film, the more he does resemble Orr. Should he follow the same path, the Badgers are getting a good one in Chaney.