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3 Wisconsin Badgers crack CBS Sports' list of Top 100 NFL players entering 2025 season

The Wisconsin Badgers continue to produce some of the NFL's best players, including a couple of young, up-and-coming stars who should be mainstays for years to come.
Lorin Cox|
Wisconsin linebackers Zack Baun (56) and Noah Burks (41) walk off the field after Oregon's 28-27 win in the 2020 Rose Bowl game Jan. 1, 2020 in Pasadena, Calif.
Wisconsin linebackers Zack Baun (56) and Noah Burks (41) walk off the field after Oregon's 28-27 win in the 2020 Rose Bowl game Jan. 1, 2020 in Pasadena, Calif. | Rick Wood / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via Imagn Content Services, LLC

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With Wisconsin Badgers legends like Joe Thomas and J.J. Watt exiting the NFL in recent seasons, UW has needed its next generation of football stars to step up in the pros.

That development is reflected in national media lists of the top players in the league, as newer Badgers faces carve out their place among the NFL's best.

Pete Prisco of CBS Sports released his list of the Top 100 NFL players entering the 2025 season, and three Wisconsin alumni made the cut.

11. T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers

He had 11.5 sacks, but didn't have one in the final three games or in the postseason loss to the Ravens. Watt played a lot of plays and seemed to wear down some late in the season. He also saw a ton of attention from opposing offenses. At 31, he's still an elite player. (Last season: No. 5)
Pete Prisco, CBS Sports

Of course, Watt is a mainstay on lists like these, even after a less productive 2024 season.

But a couple of younger Badgers also cracked the list, both in the Top 50.

40. Zack Baun, Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles moved Baun from outside linebacker to inside linebacker and he became a star on their defense in his first season with the team. He plays both the run and the pass well and he can rush the passer. (Last season: NR)
Pete Prisco, CBS Sports

It's a meteoric rise for Baun going from unranked to 40th, but he earned it with his breakout 2024 season and Super Bowl championship.

Philadelphia rewarded him with a major contract extension, and he's now well respected as a top linebacker in the league.

Running back Jonathan Taylor also made Prisco's list at No. 50 after he finished fourth in the NFL in rushing last season.

Baun and Taylor are still ascending, early in their pro careers. If they continue on their current trajectory, they'll be considered among the best players at their respective positions for years to come.

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Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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