Wisconsin Badgers are set to return only 1 defensive starter from Week 1 of 2025 season

The Wisconsin Badgers defense is going to look a lot different in 2026 than it did to start the 2025 season. Luke Fickell has a lot of work to do in the transfer portal.

Wisconsin linebacker Sebastian Cheeks (15) forces Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. (2) to take a penalty for intentional grounding during the third quarter of their game Saturday, November 8, 2025 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin beat Washington 13-10. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Wisconsin Badgers defense is going to look a lot different in 2026 than it did to start the 2025 season.

Out of the 11 starters who took the field for Week 1 against Miami (OH), only one of them is set to return for the 2026 season.

Rising senior edge rusher Sebastian Cheeks is will be surrounded by 10 new players who weren't part of the Badgers' first-team defense coming out of fall camp.

Related: Wisconsin Badgers facing most transfer portal departures of any Big Ten team

Seven of them are graduating seniors, several of whom have already declared for the NFL Draft, while three other Week 1 starters have headed for the transfer portal.

That doesn't include rotational players who played significant roles without being true starters to begin the year, like outside linebacker Darryl Peterson and defensive linemen Brandon Lane and Parker Petersen.

The good news for Luke Fickell is that some of the projected starters for 2026 are already on the roster and grew into bigger roles as the season went on.

Nov 15, 2025; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Mason Posa (8) grabs the helmet of Indiana Hoosiers tight end Riley Nowakowski (37) during the second half at Memorial Stadium. | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

That group is headlined by freshmen linebackers Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano, who were already set to replace Christian Alliegro and Tackett Curtis even if they hadn't entered the portal.

Redshirt freshman cornerback Omillio Agard also played in a rotational capacity and looks primed to earn a starting spot next year.

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Wisconsin also has returning defensive linemen who could earn starting roles, including Charles Perkins and Dillan Johnson.

So Fickell won't have to find 10 brand new starters in the transfer portal, but he'll have to rebuild plenty of depth in the secondary and along the defensive line in particular.

He has a lot of work cut out for him, and that's without accounting for the eight offensive starters currently set to leave.

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