Four Defensive Players We're Excited About After Four Spring Practices

Wisconsin football is currently on spring break, but the Badgers have already hit the practice field four times and are nearly a quarter of the way through spring ball.

Badgers On SI has taken in a handful of practices, and there's already plenty to discuss and dissect after four sessions.

Specifically, there's already several standouts on both sides of the ball who are turning heads early. With the intel Badgers on SI has compiled thus far throughout spring practice, here's four defensive players we're excited about:

ILBs Thomas Heiberger, Jon Jon Kamara

Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Thomas Heiberger. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

It's not easy making a name for yourself when you're playing behind arguably the top two players on the defense in inside linebackers Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano. But that's exactly what Thomas Heiberger and Jon Jon Kamara have done early on in spring ball.

By all accounts, both linebackers are flying around and look more than capable of contributing on Saturdays. With both head coach Luke Fickell and defensive coordinator Mike Tressel talking about playing with three inside linebackers on the field at times, it's not hard to envision one or both of them playing a few hundred snaps with a relatively significant role this fall.

“I see Tommy, I see Jon Jon, certainly being in the position to push (Posa, Catalano). Because if you just have two and there’s no one pushing them, how are they gonna get better?" Tressel told reporters.

"I think both those guys can rush the passer, they have length in coverage, and then can run. So I don’t feel like we’re losing a whole bunch in coverage, other than maybe some man things when we’re out there with three backers," he continued.

Tressel does bring up an important point that when Wisconsin does deploy three inside linebackers, offenses could have a personnel advantage in the passing game that could be exploited in man coverage, especially if that third linebacker subs in for a defensive back. The Badgers will have to be situationally sound when deploying Heiberger and Kamara. Still, it's exciting that Wisconsin has players it's high on behind Posa and Catalano in new position coach Tuf Boreland's room.

Safety Carson Van Dinter

The former Iowa State Cyclone Van Dinter didn't get much love when Wisconsin signed the Kaukauna native out of the transfer portal. After all, the Badgers also brought in Marvin Burks Jr., a former two-year starter in the SEC, to bolster their safety room.

Still, Van Dinter is proving to be a force to be reckoned with.

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Based on what Badgers On SI has seen at practice, Burks and returnee Matt Jung have the two starting safety spots locked down. But when Wisconsin wants to get creative in its secondary, Van Dinter's speed, instincts and physicality could get him on the field sooner rather than later.

“(Van Dinter) does like to hit, there’s no doubt about it," Tressel said at his first availability of spring practice.

Cornerback Jai'mier Scott

Scott has looked like the real deal dating back to his first spring practice in Madison last year. The 6-foot-1, 192-pound corner is long and fluid, two traits that stand out immediately at his position.

In his second lap around the track, Scott appears to have taken his game to another level. The cornerback has taken full advantage of Oklahoma State transfer Eric Fletcher's limited participation, and has gotten plenty of run with the first-team defense.

You'd imagine Fletcher, with his superior experience as a starting corner in the Big 12, would have the inside track to the CB2 spot opposite Arizona State transfer Javan Robinson, but Scott could be making things interesting in new cornerback coach Robert Steeples' room.

Tressel put it very succinctly when talking about Scott's growth: “He believes it’s his time now.”