Wisconsin has high hopes for the 2026 campaign, and a lot of the success on the defensive side will depend on coach Matt Mitchell's group, the outside linebackers. Mitchell spoke with the media yesterday and was asked about his group, different strategies for utilizing his talent, and who steps up without Darryl Peterson and Mason Reiger.
Of course, Sebastian Cheeks and Nicholas Clayton got plenty of love. There's also mention of Justus Boone, but one player popped up who has been flying under the radar: Jaylen Williams. He was a big 4-star 2025 recruiting win out of Illinois but redshirted all of last year and has been a bit out of the scene. He gets shadowed a bit by Clayton, but Mitchell says Williams is being coached extremely hard to reach his potential.
His talk of Williams actually came in a longer answer about keeping players from the portal and how to develop young talent. Mitchell says his big strategy is just to be honest with players, not to sugarcoat things, but also to continue to coach them hard, so they reach the potential that gave them a high ranking in high school.
"I'd rather be honest with a guy like, 'You're not there yet.' You know what I mean? Like Jay Williams, Jaylen Williams has a lot of upside, but right now, like, I'm on his head." Mitchell said, "Like, I'm coaching him extremely hard, and hopefully he understands we're in a position to try to get him better, and I look forward to him progressing in camp and maybe potentially earning the role. But I'm not, I'm not sugarcoating stuff."
Former 4-star Jaylen Williams is looking to make a statement in 2026 but first has to win a role
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Williams is a guy who's hoping to take a big jump this year, and as a former 4-star, top recruit, Williams has a high ceiling, but now it's going to be about how he develops, receives the coaching, and takes the jump.
It's hard to see Williams passing players like Boone, Tyreese Fearbry, and Cheeks, but his talent is through the roof. And the fact that Mitchell singles the redshirt freshman out, is a good sign that Mitchell is seeing the potential and how close Williams actually is to it.
Williams signed with the Badgers after flipping from Michigan and was quick to post about how he saw a National Championship in Wisconsin's future. Then, in his redshirt season, the Badgers only won four games. Yet, he remained loyal to Wisconsin and is looking for his opportunity this season, and Mitchell thinks he can get there if he's willing to be coached hard, push himself, and jump the competition in front of him.
It's a good thing that the depth in the OLB room is so deep that it's hard to figure out exactly how it all mixes in, and plenty will get opportunities with Mitchell's strategy of "rolling guys in." Will Williams be one of them? That seems to be up to Williams.
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