We won't know a ton until a new roster comes out and/or spring practices start, but I wanted to take a stab at how we look in Bobby April's 3-4 defense (confirmed by Taylor recently in press conference). Wisconsin ran the same scheme under Jim Leonhard, and it was an open secret that had they promoted Leonhard to HC it would've been Bobby April at DC.
Here are player comps from Wisconsin's last defense to our likely starters in 2023:
A very simple takeaway: the LBs are fine, but every single player on our DL needs to gain 15+ pounds...and I'm sure Kolodziej knows it. That is priority #1, 2, 3, and 4. A 3-4 defense works best with a rotation of big-ass dudes on the line. We don't have them (which is why we switched to a 4-3 about 4 years too late).
I predict we'll see higher volume of DL recruited starting now (look at 2024 already), but with that may come a larger proportion of not-as-highly ranked guys. This is what Wisconsin has been doing for years and years.
Here are player comps from Wisconsin's last defense to our likely starters in 2023:
| Position | Wisconsin 2022 | Stanford 2023 ('22 weights) |
|---|---|---|
| DE | Rodas Johnson - 6'2" 293 | Anthony Franklin - 6'3" 267 |
| NT | Keeanu Benton - 6'4" 315 | Tobin Phillips - 6'4" 295 |
| DE | Isaiah Mullens - 6'4" 303 | Jaxson Moi - 6'2" 282 |
| OLB | Nick Herbig - 6'2" 228 | David Bailey - 6'3" 238 |
| ILB | Maema Njongmeta - 6'0" 229 | Gaethan Bernadel - 6'1" 225 |
| ILB | Jordan Turner - 6'1" 225 | Tristan Sinclair - 6'1" 221 |
| OLB | CJ Goetz/Darryl Peterson - 6'3" 243/6'1" 244 | Ernest Cooper/Lance Keneley - 6'4" 245/6'4" 252 |
| "Tweener" who doesn't fit the system | TJ Bollers (remember TJ Bollers??) - 6'2" 251 | Aaron Armitage - 6'5" 260 |
A very simple takeaway: the LBs are fine, but every single player on our DL needs to gain 15+ pounds...and I'm sure Kolodziej knows it. That is priority #1, 2, 3, and 4. A 3-4 defense works best with a rotation of big-ass dudes on the line. We don't have them (which is why we switched to a 4-3 about 4 years too late).
I predict we'll see higher volume of DL recruited starting now (look at 2024 already), but with that may come a larger proportion of not-as-highly ranked guys. This is what Wisconsin has been doing for years and years.
