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Wisconsin Badgers breakout star earns All-American honors for his emergence in 2025

The Wisconsin Badgers have their first Freshman All-American since Braelon Allen in 2021.
Lorin Cox|
Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Mason Posa (8) was named a freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America.
Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Mason Posa (8) was named a freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It's hard to overstate how impressive the 2025 season was for Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Mason Posa.

The true freshman barely saw the field through the first half of the year, but once he entered the starting lineup, he changed the long-term trajectory of Luke Fickell's defense.

Posa's stellar performances earned him Freshman All-American honors from the Football Writers Association of America

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Posa was one of 10 Big Ten freshman to make the team, and the first Wisconsin player to earn the honors since Braelon Allen in 2021.

The most recent Badgers defensive player to win the award was also a linebacker, T.J. Edwards in 2015.

Posa led team in tackles with 61 and added four sacks and two forced fumbles. All of that came in only five true starts this season and significant playing time in seven total games.

He finished as the third highest-graded linebacker in the Big Ten by PFF and the highest-graded freshman on defense in the conference.

Related: Wisconsin linebacker Mason Posa sees Badgers as College Football Playoff team in 2026

His breakout reshaped the future of the Wisconsin defense.

Christian Alliegro and Tackett Curtis were supposed to be the leaders from the middle of the unit as veterans at the position that still had eligibility left.

Both lost their spot in the rotation, in part due to injuries, and they entered the transfer portal this winter as a result.

Posa and fellow freshman Cooper Catalano are the future and the present now. It's a much easier transition when one of them is already an All-American.

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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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