The Badgers were hit with brutal news as it pertains to one of their best defensive players. According to BadgerExtra, defensive lineman James Thompson Jr. suffered a significant injury and will be out indefinitely.
The Badgers best defensive lineman apparently has an upper-body injury, and might miss considerable time this season. Thompson Jr. was set to anchor a defensive line that could be considered the weakest part of the defense, and the coaches will now be left scrambling to replace his production. He had 29 tackles and 3 sacks in 2023-2024.
With Thompson Jr. out for potentially multiple games, Curt Neal, Brandon Lane and Ben Barten will most likely be the guys to pick up the slack. Neal was already slotted to start alongside Thompson. Brandon Lane, a transfer from Stephen F. Austin, has looked solid in camp and was pushing to be a contributor. He and Barten will now most likely move into more prominent roles. Cade McDonald and Elijah Hills are two other players who could now see an uptick in minutes as the Badgers work out a new rotation before their opener on August 30th against Western Michigan.
If Thompson Jr. misses several games (or more), it could spell disaster for a defensive line group that was already not especially strong. The Badgers will almost certainly deploy a next man up mentality, but losing Thompson Jr. will be hard to overcome. Hopefully more details emerge and he'll be returning to the lineup sooner rather than later.