Sure, T.J. Watt is a superstar, but did you know one former Wisconsin linebacker won the Super Bowl the past two years, and another is a top-10 tackler in the league?
By Peter Cameron, BADGER STRIPES
Traditionally known for generating NFL running backs and backup quarterbacks, Badger football has produced a squad of successful professional linebackers in recent years.
As we head into the 2024 season, here’s a list of the most prominent Wisconsin linebackers in the league right now.
https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-4317615640364969 (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});Zack Baun, Philadelphia Eagles
Baun had a successful season as a linebacker in passing-down packages with the New Orleans Saints last year, completing the final year of a 4-year, $4.8-million contract. He signed a 1-year, $1.6 million contract with the Philadelphia Eagles in the off-season.
The 27-year-old from Brown Deer played for Wisconsin from 2015-2019, redshirting his freshman year.
https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-4317615640364969 (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});Leo Chenal, Kansas City Chiefs
From little Grantsburg in Burnett County in northwestern Wisconsin, Chenal is entering his third season for the Kansas City Chiefs, where he won Super Bowl rings in his first two years.
After winning the Butkus Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year award as a junior with the Badgers, he entered the 2022 NFL Draft, where the Chiefs selected him in the 3rd Round.
He is in the third year of a 4-year, $5-million contract.
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Ryan Connelly, 28, from Eden Prairie in the Minneapolis suburbs just completed a 1-year, $370,800 reserve/future contract with New Orleans, according to sportrac. He is now a free agent.
He spent most of the previous season on the Saints’ practice squad.
The New York Giants made him a 5th-round pick in the 2019 draft.
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Photo by Tom Lynn/Wisconsin Athletic Communications
A lifelong Bears fan, T.J. Edwards finished the 2023 season 7th in the NFL in total tackles with 155 in his first season with Chicago. He also finished the 2022 season as a top-10 tackler, again at 7th, with 159, for the Philadelphia Eagles.
His 159 tackles in 2022 was the second most in a single season in Eagles history, trailing only Bryon Evans’ 175 in 1992.
Edwards was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2019 by the Eagles after completing his eligibility at the University of Wisconsin. He played four years in Philadelphia before signing with his hometown Bears before the 2023 season.
His contract was for three years and $19.5 million, including a $4.5 million signing bonus, according to sportrac.
A quarterback in high school, Edwards is from Lake Villa in the Chicago suburbs. He was an All-American linebacker in his senior season at Wisconsin in 2018.
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The native of Kauai, Hawaii played for UW from 2020-2022, and was named first-team All-Big Ten in his junior season. He left school a year early and was selected by the Steelers in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Herbig, 22, is in the second year of a 4-year, $4.5-million rookie contract with Pittsburgh, according to sportrac.
He played in all 17 games last season, recording 27 tackles, three sacks and five tackles for a loss.
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Also from the Chicago suburbs — Lake Zurich High School — Sanborn is playing alongside fellow FIB Edwards with the Bears.
He recorded 65 tackles in 2023, good for fifth on the team.
Sanborn signed as an undrafted free agent out of Wisconsin in 2022, and is starting the third year of a 3-year $2.6-million contract, according to sportrac.
His younger brother Bryan Sanborn was a redshirt freshman at UW last season, playing mostly on special teams.
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Recognized by the long blond hair flowing out the back of his helmet, Andrew Van Ginkel is from Rock Valley, Iowa, near Sioux Falls.
“Slim Thor” (as we call him here at Badger Stripes) started his college career at the University of South Dakota, spent a third year at Iowa Western Community College, then played his final two seasons for the Badgers.
He was drafted in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft by the Miami Dolphins.
Playing in all 17 games last season, he finished sixth on the team in tackles with 69. He also totaled six sacks.
But Van Ginkel suffered a foot injury and missed the entire postseason.
He signed a huge 2-year, $20 million contract with the Minnesota Vikings in the off-season.
https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-4317615640364969 (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers
Former Badger and current Pittsburgh Steeler T.J. Watt led the NFL in sacks last year with 19.
The 29-year-old from Pewaukee is entering the third year of a monster, 4-year, $112-million contract that includes a $35 million signing bonus, according to sportrac.
After an injury-plagued 2022, he played all 17 games in the 2023 regular season. But a knee injury kept him out of the Steelers’ playoff game.
Watt also led the league in sacks in 2021, when he won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2021 and tied Michael Strahan’s NFL single-season sack record with 22.5, although it was the first year the NFL increased its season to 17 games.
He is the brother of former NFL defensive star J.J. Watt and former NFL fullback Derek Watt, both Badgers.
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