While much of the attention on Wisconsin Badgers football these days has been focused on the potentially special 2025 class that Luke Fickell and the team will be putting the finishing touches on over the next few weeks, with the season now less than two months away, I wanted to take a closer look at who the team's 10 most important players are.
Just because a player isn't on this list doesn't mean I think they won't have an impact. Not at all. The 2024 Badgers will need more than 10 players to come close to a record high, especially with the tough schedule that Oregon, USC, Penn State and Alabama have coming up. But it's still fun to look at the players who matter most.
Here are numbers 6 through 10. (Numbers 1 through 5 will be released later this week.)
10. LB Jaheim Thomas
The Badgers had a lot of issues with their 2023 defense, but the biggest one was tackling.
Though it was almost comical at times, acquiring a battle-tested bopper with big potential like Thomas was one of Fikell's biggest wins in the portal this cycle.
Wisconsin has spent a lot of transfer capital at the linebacker position, and the most promising of those could be Thomas, a former Cincinnati product who transferred to Arkansas after Fickell took over as head coach at Wisconsin.
Thomas, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs a trim 240 pounds, led the 2023 Razorbacks with 90 tackles against an elite SEC offensive line.
The Badgers need an athletic, hard-hitting linebacker who can lead their defense in 2024, and I think they've found that guy.
9. C Jake Renfro
Though it didn't get much attention, one of the reasons Wisconsin's offense struggled at times in 2023 was because it didn't have a talented, consistent center.
This is not meant as a criticism of Tanor Bortolini, who was drafted in the fourth round by the Indianapolis Colts and is expected to have a long career in the NFL.
But he won't be playing center (at least not anytime soon), and while he did a great job filling in for Renfro, he often struggled with snaps and disrupted the timing of the Air Raid's precision-focused offense, making him a poor fit.
Renfro was a first-team All-AAC selection for Fickell's Bearcats before injury issues marred his 2022 and 2023 seasons, and if he can find that form again this year with the Badgers, it would be a big help for the team's offense and new quarterback Tyler Van Dyke.
Hopefully Renfro can stay healthy.
8. OLB John Pius
The Badgers are leaning heavily on the portal to bolster their struggling 2023 pass rush and could have landed a nice addition in John Pius, an agile and talented four-star All-American who transferred from FCS College of William & Mary, where he recorded nine sacks.
It remains to be seen whether his FCS performance will translate to the Big Ten, but if spring training is any indication, he's the real deal, flashing destructive power and quickness off the snap. He's reportedly 10 pounds heavier in 2023, which will help him greatly when going up against bigger, faster players.
If the Badgers get more sacks, it will take some pressure off the rest of the defense, which will be especially important against do-it-all quarterbacks like Oregon's Dillon Gabriel and Alabama's Jalen Milroe.
7. WR Bryson Green
While there are other wide receivers ranked higher on this list (spoiler: he's next), his work on the perimeter will be crucial to the Badgers' success with Tyler Van Dyke at quarterback in 2024. Van Dyke is a player who will be valued more by his quarterback the further down the field he throws passes.
I'm willing to give Green a relatively subpar season in 2023 because he was never fully healthy and I don't think he looked nearly as good as the footage from his time at Oklahoma State.
Green seems poised to break out if he stays on the field, and if he does, it would certainly help ease the burden on the rest of the offensive line.
6. WR Will Pauling
Talented slot wide receiver Will Poehling, likely the Badgers' MVP in 2023, is the Badgers' top returning pass catcher and his arrow appears to be pointing straight up.
With his quickness, crisp route running and excellent handles, it's a given that he'll once again lead the Badgers in catches, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
Adding Treci Kekahuna to the slot mix can only work in Poehling's favor, giving the team a potentially dynamic, chain-moving slot presence that will extend many drives.
Next are slots 1-5.
