Over the next two weeks, BadgerBlitz.com will be bringing you snapshots for each recruited position, covering the targets who are legitimate prospects on Wisconsin's board in the 2024 class. We will discuss the candidates who are most interested in the Badgers, as well as those who are considered long shots to commit to UW.
As always, this is just a snapshot in time and things remain fluid. Additional offered targets will appear over the next few months and some recruits will inevitably choose other colleges.
Today, we continue with a look at the outside linebackers.
QUICK BREAKDOWN
This spring, first-year assistant coach Matt Mitchell took over a position group with good talent from top to bottom. But Wisconsin does have to replace Nick Herbig, a three-year starter who was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in Round 4 of the NFL Draft.
"You can definitely tell by watching the tape that Nick was very disruptive, and we're going to miss that," Mitchell said. "I think Darryl Peterson's done a good job and I give him a lot of credit. He's taken a lot of reps through six practices and he hasn't missed any time with injuries. I think he's done a really good job affecting quarterbacks - some with speed rushes and some with power rushes, and we've seen flashes of him being able to do that."
Peterson is currently atop the depth chart, and Mitchell should be able to also play C.J. Goetz, T.J. Bollers, Jeff Pietrowski and Kaden Johnson this fall. All five were asked to learn multiple roles in Wisconsin's defensive packages this spring.
"There's a lot of pressure and opportunities at the outside linebacker position," Mitchell said. "I tell our guys that they have to be five-tool players. They have to set edges in the run game and they have to be able to pressure off the edge, whether that's cold pressure or something where they transition off the pass rush or pressure them inside. They have to play zone coverage and then man coverage on tight ends and tailbacks. So you need versatile athletes."
On the recruiting front, Wisconsin received an early commitment from three-star Thomas Heiberger in April. The Badgers are looking for one or two more prospect to add to the position group in the 2024 class.
COMMITTED PROSPECTS
After three visits to Wisconsin during his recruitment, Thomas Heiberger announced his commitment to the Badgers in early April. The three-star prospect from South Dakota chose UW over offers from Texas Tech, Nebraska, Washington, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Kansas and Kansas State.
"I've talked to Coach Mitchell quite a bit and I know they love his length from that outside linebacker spot," Jefferson head coach Vince Benedetto told BadgerBlitz.com. "He's got a lot of strength and speed for a high school kid, and the coaches at Wisconsin just think he fits in really well for them.
"We play him everywhere from safety to inside linebacker to defensive end. He can really do everything for us and it got to the point last year where he didn't come out of the game unless he was absolutely gassed. We plan on using him on offense quite a bit next year, and he's actually a really good quarterback. He has a really good arm with his baseball background, and he could also play tight end or receiver for us, so we'll see. You just can't take a kid like that off the field and he's just so much fun to coach."
