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Wisconsin Football: Individual Players to Watch vs. Northwestern

By Noah Seligman

EVANSTON, IL - NOVEMBER 05: The offense for the Wisconsin Badgers prepares to take on the defense of the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on November 5, 2016 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
EVANSTON, IL - NOVEMBER 05: The offense for the Wisconsin Badgers prepares to take on the defense of the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on November 5, 2016 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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EVANSTON, IL- SEPTEMBER 16: Josh Cleveland
EVANSTON, IL- SEPTEMBER 16: Josh Cleveland /

Kyle Queiro, S Northwestern

Kyle Queiro is a versatile safety for the Northwestern secondary.  He is a 6-foot-3-inch 220 pounds redshirt junior from Verona, New Jersey.

This season, Queiro is 18th in the conference with 20 total tackles.  He is also 9th in the Big Ten with 3.5 tackles-for-loss.  Queiro has three passes defended, an interception, and a forced fumble this season as well.

His tackle numbers are good for third on the Wildcats.  As a big safety, it’s likely that Northwestern will be using him to play in the box against the Badgers in run support.  Queiro is probably big enough that he could play some linebacker too if the Wildcats prefer.

As noted previously, Wisconsin QB Alex Hornibrook is the conference leader in pass efficiency.  The Badgers may have found something in recent weeks with its diverse receiving corps.

Northwestern can’t just focus on slowing the Big Ten’s leading rusher Jonathan Taylor.  They’ll need to devote resources that way of course. But Wisconsin showed signs this season against Utah State and BYU that they aren’t one-dimensional.

Therefore, a guy like Queiro is going to be important for Northwestern.  They’ll need his ability in run support.  In addition, he may be tapped to guard someone like star TE Troy Fumagalli in the passing game.