Wisconsin's Sebastian Cheeks is at the top of QB pressures and yet it's not enough

The Wisconsin Badgers have one of the top pass rushers in the Power 4 conferences through three weeks of the season. According to PFF, Sebastian Cheeks has 14 quarterback pressures, which puts him in a tie for second place alongside Princewill Umanmielen (LSU), Daeden Hopkins (Mizzou), and Xavier Lewis (UNC). That's pretty good company.

The only player ahead of him in pressures is A.J. Holmes Jr., a defensive tackle at Texas Tech. Which is a story for the Texas Tech site: a player at the top of this list isn't even an edge rusher. Pretty incredible stuff from Holmes. Yet, back to the larger point, Cheeks is on a tear, and the results haven't fully manifested yet. Cheeks and Wisconsin are looking for those pressures to turn into stats.

Cheeks only has two sacks this season, which isn't terrible through three games, but not where he could be with all these pressures. If you consider the others he's tied with, Umanmielen and Lewis lead the nation with six sacks already. Hopkins has three, and Holmes has 2.5. Cheeks out of those players with 14 or 15 quarterback pressures is last in sacks. That's not good enough for him or Wisconsin.

Yet, it's a matter of time. If Cheeks continues this insane heater of putting pressure on the quarterback, the sacks will come, as will the forced turnovers to follow. Cheeks does have an excuse. He's yet to play a quarterback that hangs out in the pocket. Through three weeks, he's watched quarterbacks roll away from his pressure, over and over again. It has to be a bit frustrating.

Sebastian Cheeks is going to start seeing fruit from all his pressures, maybe even against Penn State

Related: Wisconsin vs Penn State Week 4: How to watch, weather, injuries, odds, and more

Wisconsin needs him to continue to wreak havoc in the backfield and cause the quarterback pain. Quarterback pressures go hand-in-hand with turnovers...both interceptions and fumbles. As Cheeks gets to the quarterback, it forces mistakes, and the defensive backs are rewarded.

Cheeks does have two forced fumbles this season. One against Notre Dame and one in the Eastern Michigan game, so he is causing his own chaos when he does get home. Yet, for Cheeks' sake and for the Badgers, we need to see him get home more often.

Big Ten play starts this week, and Rocco Becht, Penn State's quarterback, is one of the premier pocket passers in the conference. This is a great opportunity to disrupt and get Becht off rhythm. The Penn State signal-caller can use his legs when forced to scramble, but he often isn't looking for this lane. Cheeks will need to continue to do what he does, but find a way to bring down Becht, get him to make mistakes, and help Wisconsin to victory.

By the end of the season, it will be interesting to see where Cheeks lands on this, but for now, he's off to a hot start that you would love to see continue, but with more sacks on the box score.

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