Wisconsin’s defense is going to lean hard on Mason Posa in 2026, and that’s exactly why Badger247 slotted the second-year linebacker at No. 2 on its list of the 30 biggest keys to the Badgers’ season.
Posa arrived in Madison with plenty of hype. The four-star linebacker from La Cueva High School in New Mexico picked Wisconsin over offers from Texas Tech, Oregon, Alabama and Arizona State, among others, and he was the highest-rated signee in the Badgers’ 2025 class. He also earned a spot in the 2025 NBC All-American Bowl.
“I just love it there,” Posa told Badger247.“ The mindset they have -- they're not a transactional team.
They're not always looking for transfer portal players. They want to build the program from inside.
Just the mindset of every person there is tough.
"That's why I really like Wisconsin. I just fit there. All you have to do there is work.”
He backed up that belief immediately. Posa didn’t enroll early, staying home in New Mexico to chase a fourth state wrestling title, but he still played in 11 games and made five starts as a true freshman in 2025.
By the end of the year, he had piled up a team-high 61 tackles, along with four sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. That production earned him FWAA Freshman All-American honors.
Now the question is what Year 2 looks like with a full offseason behind him. Posa and Cooper Catalano are both projected starters, and both are being asked to grow into leadership roles on a defense that will look young in spots but believes its next wave is ready.
“They are two young players with extreme upside,” first-year position coach Tuf Borland said. “They both have their unique ways of doing things.
I think a lot of what we saw last year was them playing off feel and instincts. So it's really cool to see what they're doing and how far they've come from just understanding football and formational tendencies and what offenses are giving you pre-snap.
They've done a good job at this point this spring.”
Luke Fickell has also pointed to that growth. At Big Ten Media Days on Tuesday, he said Wisconsin’s leadership has changed over the last nine months in a way that has helped reshape the program.
“What we are much different in is our leadership. About nine months ago midway through a season, there were some things that started to happen," Fickell said at Big Ten Media Days on Tuesday.
"We could have gone one direction or the other, and we were in a really tough situation, but there were some youth within our program that really started to grow and took over in a way that was really, really healthy for us. We had a group of veteran leaders that kind of understood what was happening and saw it and embraced that as well.
"It's really over the last nine months, put us in a position that is far, far different than we ever have been since I've been here. I can honestly tell you that.”
Posa’s ranking at No. 2 comes with a simple catch: he may be Wisconsin’s best defensive player, but he’s also part of what could be the deepest and most talented position group on the roster. That means the Badgers may not need to run him into the ground with 700-plus snaps, which should matter over the course of the Big Ten schedule.
Mike Tressel said the competition around Posa is a big part of the appeal.
“What I like is that there's a competition amongst a bunch of guys. I'm sure you guys are all talking - Catalano, Posa - of course, they've proven they're really good players.
But I see Tommy (Heiberger), I see Jon Jon (Kamara) certainly being in the position to push them," coordinator Mike Tressel said. "Because if you just have two and there's no one pushing them, how are we going to get better?
"We all already know you've got to get your best players on the field and do what they do best. I think both of those guys can rush the passer.
They have length in coverage and they can run. So I don't feel like we're losing a whole bunch in coverage, other than maybe some man things when we're out there with three backers.”
Borland said Posa and Catalano have already set the tone for what Wisconsin wants its players to look like.
“There's no doubt that those two have modeled everything we want to be from a program standpoint,” Borland said. “From effort, energy, the way that they play the game is the way everyone should play the game. They model that and those are the standards we hold them to.”
Badger247’s list also included Eugene Hilton Jr. at No. 23, Jai'mier Scott at No.
22, Nicolas Clayton at No. 21, Bryce West at No.
20, Matthew Jung at No. 13, Marvin Burks Jr. at No.
11, PJ Wilkins at No. 10, Javan Robinson at No.
6, Kevin Heywood at No. 5 and Abu Sama at No. 3.
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