Badgers Star Defender Draws NFL Draft Hype After Wisconsin's Defense Suffocates USC

There's little debate to be had at this point as we enter Week 9 of the college football season: Wisconsin has one of the best defenses in the entire country.

Watching the Badgers swarm the Trojans, consistently overwhelming them at the line of scrimmage and harassing quarterback Jayden Maiava, the eye test backs that notion up. But so do the numbers.

USC mustered a comical -17 rushing yards. Seven points was the fewest a Lincoln Riley-coached team had scored...ever. Wisconsin notched a whopping nine tackles-for-loss.

The larger, overarching numbers back that up too. The Badgers allow the fewest yards-per-play in the country at 3.9. They have the No. 13 total defense in the nation, allowing 280.1 yards per game. They're tied for the No. 10 scoring defense in the country, allowing 15.29 points per game.

Wisconsin's defense, coached by coordinator Mike Tressel, is a well-oiled machine. It's been great this fall not necessarily because of the individual talent, but the way that the parts have come together.

"It starts with their ability to have a lot of guys that do a lot of things, and I mean that as a coaching staff. It’s not a one-man show. Coach Tress does call the defense, Coach Tress is the guy that makes the decision. But how he works with Coach Haynes, who works with the back end, how he listens to those guys up front, I mean, we don’t work separately," head coach Luke Fickell said after the win Saturday night. "Those guys are in there grinding together every single day, and that’s what’s special about it.”

Still, there's certainly some been some excellent individual performances powering this standout unit that's easily among the best in the country. Outside linebacker Sebastian Cheeks is one of them, and he's starting to draw some NFL Draft hype.

ESPN's NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper Jr liked what he saw from Cheeks against the Trojans.

Sebastian Cheeks gets love from Mel Kiper

Wisconsin Badgers outside linebacker Sebastian Cheeks (15). | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"I love how Wisconsin edge rusher Sebastian Cheeks varies his path to the quarterback. He can get home on the inside or outside with explosion, and he always has a secondary move ready to go. We saw that against USC, with 2.5 sacks. And at 6-3 and 243 pounds, he plays with more power than you might think -- he can drive offensive tackles back with his bull rush. His motor never stops," he said in his evaluation of the Badgers' top edge rusher, before adding that he believes Cheeks to be a third or fourth-round pick at the moment.

Cheeks is certainly one of the Badgers' top NFL prospects at the moment, if not at the very top of the list. His twitch and speed to fly into the backfield, coupled with some legitimate power and bend he can use as counters to his normal assortment of pass-rush moves, are NFL traits. He's been one of Wisconsin's most consistent players, and this defense wouldn't nearly be the same without him; his 34 pressures are tied for third in the country and are the second-most in the Power Four behind only Virginia's Matthew Fobbs-White.

Wisconsin failed to have a player selected in the 2026 NFL Draft, the first time that's happened since 1978. Cheeks should be part of a draft class that snaps that trend in 2027.

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