The 2021 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Badgers were led by seventh-year head coach Paul Chryst and competed as members of the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They played their home games at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.
Offseason 2021 NFL draft
5156Isaiahh LoudermilkDEPittsburgh Steelers6213Rachad WildgooseCBBuffalo Bills6214Cole Van LanenOTGreen Bay PackersUndraftedJon DietzenGGreen Bay PackersEric BurrellSNew Orleans SaintsMason StokkeFBCarolina PanthersGarrett GroshekRBLas Vegas Raiders
Transfers Outgoing Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Transfer to Reggie Pearson #2 S 5'10 180 Sophomore Inkster, MI Texas Tech Jack Coan #17 QB 6'3 190 Senior West Sayville, NY Notre Dame Nakia Watson #14 RB 5'11 212 Sophomore Austin, TX Washington State Gabe Lloyd #46 TE 6'5 220 Senior Green Bay, WI North Dakota State Madison Cone #31 S 5'8 165 Senior Kernersville, NC Appalachian State Dante Caputo #38 S 5'11 185 Freshman Wexford, PA Pittsburgh Malik Reed #53 LB 6'2 220 Freshman Chandler, AZ Arizona Taj Mustapha #81 WR 6'2 175 Sophomore West Bloomfield, MI Kent State Loyal Crawford* #22 RB 6'0 190 Freshman Eau Claire, WI Independence CC Antwan Roberts* #28 RB 6'2 195 Freshman Hendersonville, TN Independence CC Jalen Berger* #8 RB 6'0 205 Freshman Ramsey, NJ Michigan State Devin Chandler* #86 WR 6'0 171 Freshman Cornelius, NC Virginia Kayden Lyles* #76 OL 6'3 323 Senior Middleton, WI Florida State Donte Burton* #4 CB 5'10 174 Junior Loganville, GA Tulsa Quan Easterling* #43 FB 6'2 235 Sophomore Akron, OH Duquesne Deron Harrell* #8 CB 6'2 175 Senior Denver, CO Wyoming Izayah Green-May* #50 OLB 6'6 205 Senior Bolingbrook, IL Northern Illinois
*Entered NCAA transfer portal midseason or prior to bowl
Incoming Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Prev. school Isaac Townsend #85 DE 6'6 235 Freshman Arvada, CO Oregon Chez Mellusi #27 RB 5'11 190 Junior Naples, FL Clemson
Preseason
Preseason Big Ten poll Although the Big Ten Conference has not held an official preseason poll since 2010, Cleveland.com has polled sports journalists representing all member schools as a de facto preseason media poll since 2011. For the 2021 poll, Wisconsin was projected to finish first in the West Division.
Schedule
Personnel
Coaching staff +Wisconsin football 2021 coaching staffPaul Chryst Head coachWisconsin–Madison 7thJim Leonhard Defensive coordinator / Safeties Wisconsin–Madison 5thJoe Rudolph Associate head coach / run game coordinator / OL Wisconsin–Madison 7thBobby April Outside Linebackers / defensive run game coordinator Louisiana at Lafayette 4th Bob Bostad Inside Linebackers Wisconsin–Stevens Point 5thGary Brown Running backs Penn State University 1stChris Haering Special Teams West Virginia University 7thRoss Kolodziej Defensive line Wisconsin–Madison 1stHank Poteat Cornerbacks University of Pittsburgh 1stMickey Turner Tight ends Wisconsin–Madison 7thAlvis Whitted Wide receivers North Carolina State University 2ndShaun SneeDirector of Football Strength and Conditioning California University of Pennsylvania 1stKeller Chryst Graduate assistant University of Tennessee 1st
Roster 2021 Wisconsin Badgers football rosterQuarterback 2 Chase Wolf – junior (6'1, 200) 5 Graham Mertz – sophomore (6'3, 227) 10 Deacon Hill – freshman (6'3, 248) 15 Danny Vanden Boom – senior (6'5, 207)
Running back 0 Braelon Allen – freshman (6'2, 238) 6 Chez Mellusi – junior (5'11, 204) 20 Isaac Guerendo – junior (6'0, 219) 29 Brady Schipper – junior (5'11, 205) 32 Julius Davis – sophomore (5'10, 201) 34 Jackson Acker – freshman (6'1, 229) 36 Grover Bortolotti – freshman (5'9, 188)
Fullback 44 John Chenal – senior (6'2, 256)
Wide receiver 3 Kendric Pryor – senior (5'11, 189) 4 Markus Allen – freshman (6'1, 215) 7 Danny Davis III – senior (6'1, 196) 10 Stephan Bracey – sophomore (5'10, 184) 11 Skyler Bell – freshman (6'0, 190) 13 Chimere Dike – sophomore (6'1, 199) 16 Jack Dunn – senior (5'7, 176) 25 Isaac Smith – freshman (6'2, 199) 27 Haakon Anderson – freshman (6'1, 209) 30 Alex Moeller – freshman (5'11, 166) 31 Jordan DiBenedetto – junior (6'1, 193) 39 Mike Gregoire – junior (5'10, 189) 89 A.J. Abbott – junior (6'2, 196)
Tight end 47 Jack Pugh – freshman (6'5, 241) 48 Cole Dakovich – freshman (6'5, 239) 49 Cam Large – freshman (6'3, 245) 81 Jaylan Franklin – junior (6'4, 240) 82 Jack Eschenbach – junior (6'6, 245) 84 Jake Ferguson – senior (6'5, 244) 85 Clay Cundiff – sophomore (6'3, 244) 87 Hayden Rucci – sophomore (6'4, 260) Offensive lineman 50 Logan Brown – sophomore (6'6, 311) 60 Logan Bruss – senior (6'5, 316) 61 Dylan Barrett – freshman (6'5, 303) 62 Cormac Sampson – junior (6'4, 305) 63 Tanor Bortolini – freshman (6'4, 306) 64 Sean Timmis – freshman (6'4, 306) 65 Tyler Beach – senior (6'6, 312) 66 Nolan Rucci – freshman (6'8, 294) 67 JP Benzschawel – freshman (6'6, 302) 68 Ben Barten – freshman (6'5, 303) 70 Josh Seltzner – senior (6'4, 310) 71 Riley Mahlman – freshman (6'8, 300) 73 Kerry Kodanko – freshman (6'2, 301) 74 Michael Furtney – junior (6'5, 312) 75 Joe Tippmann – sophomore (6'6, 320) 77 Blake Smithback – senior (6'2, 304) 78 Trey Wedig – freshman (6'7, 315) 79 Jack Nelson – freshman (6'7, 304)
Defensive lineman 56 Rodas Johnson – DE – sophomore (6'2, 286) 75 Michael Balistreri – DE – senior (6'4, 278) 76 Tommy Brunner – DE – sophomore (6'3, 254) 90 James Thompson Jr. – DE – freshman (6'5, 290) 91 Bryson Williams – DT – senior (6'2, 291) 92 Matt Henningsen – DE – senior (6'3, 291) 93 Isaac Townsend – DE – sophomore (6'5, 275) 94 Gio Paez – DE – sophomore (6'3, 310) 95 Keeanu Benton – DT – junior (6'4, 317) 96 Cade McDonald – DE – freshman (6'6, 278) 97 Mike Jarvis – DE – freshman (6'4, 274) 99 Isaiah Mullens – DE – junior (6'4, 297)
Long snappers 47 Peter Bowden – sophomore (6'2, 230) 64 Duncan McKinley – freshman (6'2, 222) 69 Zach Zei – freshman (6'2, 214)
Kicker 19 Collin Larsh – senior (5'10, 194) 22 Jack Van Dyke – sophomore (6'5, 215) 28 Gavin Meyers – freshman (6'1, 189) 29 Nate Van Zelst – freshman (5'11, 190)
Punter 38 Andy Vujnovich – senior (6'3, 230) 96 Conor Schlichting – senior (6'2, 237) Linebacker 3 T.J. Bollers – OLB – freshman (6'2, 258) 5 Leo Chenal – ILB – junior (6'2, 261) 7 Spencer Lytle – OLB – sophomore (6'2, 230) 17 Darryl Peterson – OLB – freshman (6'1, 247) 19 Nick Herbig – OLB – sophomore (6'2, 227) 25 Jake Ratzlaff – ILB – freshman (6'2, 206) 32 Marty Strey – OLB – junior (6'2, 234) 34 Ross Gengler – ILB – freshman (6'2, 225) 36 Jake Chaney – ILB – freshman (5'11, 222) 37 Riley Nowakowski – OLB – freshman (6'1, 244) 39 Tatum Grass – ILB – sophomore (6'2, 231) 41 Noah Burks – OLB – senior (6'2, 245) 45 Garrison Solliday – ILB – freshman (5'11, 230) 46 Ayo Adebogun – OLB – freshman (6'2, 214) 50 Izayah Green-May – OLB – senior (6'6, 234) 51 Bryan Sanborn – ILB – freshman (6'1, 229) 52 Kaden Johnson – OLB – freshman (6'2, 233) 54 Jordan Turner – ILB – freshman (6'1, 228) 55 Maema Njongmeta – ILB – sophomore (6'0, 227) 57 Jack Sanborn – ILB – senior (6'2, 236) 58 Mike Maskalunas – ILB – junior (6'3, 239) 59 Aaron Witt – OLB – sophomore (6'6, 249) 98 C.J. Goetz – OLB – junior (6'3, 243)
Defensive back 1 Faion Hicks – CB – senior (5'10, 192) 2 Ricardo Hallman – CB – freshman (5'10, 173) 6 Dean Engram – CB – sophomore (5'9, 168) 9 Scott Nelson – S – senior (6'2, 205) 11 Alexander Smith – CB – junior (5'11, 176) 12 Max Lofy – CB – freshman (5'10, 181) 14 Preston Zachman – S – freshman (6'1, 211) 15 John Torchio – S – junior (6'1, 208) 16 Amaun Williams – CB – freshman (5'10, 182) 18 Collin Wilder – S – senior (5'10, 199) 20 Semar Melvin – CB – sophomore (5'11, 170) 21 Caesar Williams – CB – senior (6'0, 188) 24 Hunter Wohler – S – freshman (6'2, 201) 26 Travian Blaylock – S – junior (5'11, 205) 27 Al Ashford – CB – freshman (6'0, 175) 30 Tyler Mais – S – senior (6'1, 201) 48 Owen Arnett – S – freshman (5'11, 215)
Source:
Rankings
Game summaries
No. 19 Penn State
Eastern Michigan
No. 12 Notre Dame
No. 14 Michigan
Illinois
Army
No. 25 Purdue
No. 9 Iowa
Rutgers
Northwestern
Nebraska
Minnesota
Arizona State
Awards and honors Weekly Awards Braelon Allen Big Ten Freshman Player of the Week October 18, 2021 Leo Chenal Walter Camp National FBS Players of the Week October 24, 2021 Leo Chenal Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week October 25, 2021 Collin Larsh Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week October 25, 2021 Braelon Allen Big Ten Freshman Player of the Week November 8, 2021 Braelon Allen Big Ten Co-offensive Player of the Week November 15, 2021
Individual Awards Leo Chenal Butkus/Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year Leo Chenal First Team All-Big Ten Defense (Coaches/Media) Josh Seltzner First Team All-Big Ten Offense (Coaches)/Second Team All-Big Ten Offense (Media) Jack Sanborn First Team All-Big Ten Defense (Coaches)/Second Team All-Big Ten Defense (Media) Jake Ferguson First Team All-Big Ten Offense (Coaches)/Second Team All-Big Ten Offense (Media) Braelon Allen Second Team All-Big Ten Offense (Coaches/Media) Logan Bruss Second Team All-Big Ten Offense (Coaches/Media) Keeanu Benton Second Team All-Big Ten Defense (Coaches)/Honorable Mention Defense (Media) Matt Henningsen Third Team All-Big Ten Defense (Coaches/Media) Tyler Beach Third Team All-Big Ten Offense (Coaches)/Honorable Mention Offense (Media) Caesar Williams Third Team All-Big Ten Defense (Coaches)/Honorable Mention Defense (Media) Noah Burks Honorable Mention Defense (Coaches/Media) Nick Herbig Honorable Mention Defense (Coaches/Media) Faion Hicks Honorable Mention Defense (Coaches/Media) Isiah Mullens Honorable Mention Defense (Coaches/Media) Scott Nelson Honorable Mention Defense (Coaches/Media) Collin Wilder Honorable Mention Defense (Coaches/Media)
Players drafted into the NFL
3103Leo ChenalILBKansas City Chiefs3104Logan BrussOGLos Angeles Rams4129Jake FergusonTEDallas Cowboys6206Matt HenningsenDTDenver Broncos7232Faion HicksCBDenver Broncos
References