The 2025 Wisconsin Badgers closed the season with fewer wins than hoped, finishing 4-8 after a brutal six-game skid, before rallying in November with several top-25 victories. A large portion of the struggle came on offense, where Wisconsin ranked among the bottom tier in nearly every major category. Defensively, however, there were notable ebbs and flows across the unit. With the season behind us, here’s a position-by-position evaluation of the Badgers’ defense relative to expectations.
Defensive Line / Outside Linebackers: B
This unit showed the most growth in 2025. Early on, pass rush was a clear weakness, and pressure was scarce, as seen in the season’s first couple of games and especially in the blowout loss to Alabama. The six-game losing streak underscored these struggles. Yet improvement emerged late in October. Darryl Peterson advanced, Mason Reiger played with high energy, interior push got better, and Mike Tressel began to optimize his personnel groupings.
Run defense presented an interesting arc as well. After a strong start that placed the Badgers among the nation’s top run defenses in the first month, they faced tougher ground games and exposed vulnerabilities against elite rushing teams like Michigan and Iowa. By year’s end, the run defense appeared strongest, holding Indiana’s potent ground attack to limited success even in a 31-7 defeat, performing well versus Oregon, and controlling the line against Washington and Illinois in challenging weather.
Given the investment in bodies and the rotation benefitting from fresh players late in the year, this grades out to a B relative to expectations. The early results were not ideal, but the overall growth was tangible, and the room will need another offseason of experience rebuilding a more complete unit.
Inside Linebackers: B
This group also progressed as the year progressed, for different reasons. The initial linebacker duo of Christian Alliegro and Tackett Curtis showed flashes but struggled during the six-game skid, particularly in run-coverage where mistakes spilled over into the run game. The staff pivoted to Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano against Oregon after Alliegro was injured and Curtis was benched. The substitution paid immediate dividends, with Posa and Catalano delivering steady improvement each week and becoming the core of the future at the position. Alliegro remains a talented option, and Wisconsin finished the year using a three-linebacker rotation that leaned on athletic, sideline-to-sideline players. The challenge will be determining a clear role for him in 2026 alongside the rising sophomores.
Cornerbacks: D+
This rating reflects the difficult assignment Wisconsin faced this season. With a pass rush that struggled to generate pressure, the Badgers leaned into off-coverage zone looks to avoid giving up big plays. Consequently, many catches were surrendered, and while most assignments did not directly cost a game, the one-on-one mismatches and explosive plays in the air often proved decisive in losses to Alabama, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio State, and Indiana.
Another issue was a lack of turnovers, which is hard to cultivate when the defensive approach is conservative in the secondary. Ricardo Hallman had an average season and wasn’t utilized to maximize his skill set. D’Yoni Hill and Geimere Latimer were serviceable in coverage but stood out as run supporters. The unit was hamstrung by depth concerns and by the departures of Xavier Lucas (transfer portal) and Nyzier Fourqurean (eligibility issues). If Hallman, Hill, Latimer, and the rest can be complemented with portal additions, the complexion of the secondary could shift significantly.
Safeties: D
Safety play was the most disappointing area for Wisconsin defensively in 2025. A season-ending injury to Preston Zachman removed the team’s top playmaker from the room and forced Matt Jung into a role he wasn’t fully prepared for, leading to rough springs against both the run and pass and too many explosive plays allowed. Brown regressed as well, and the safety group overall contributed to a more conservative defensive approach that failed to prevent critical breakdowns. Given these results, it’s reasonable to expect significant portal activity this offseason to shore up the back end.
