Wisconsin football starting linebacker Christian Alliegro was named to the 2025 Dick Butkus Award preseason watch list on Wednesday.
The rising junior defender was listed as one of 51 players to make the watch list for the award that annually honors the best linebacker in college football. The most noteworthy include Anthony Hill (Texas), Whit Weeks (LSU), C.J. Allen (Georgia), Taurean York (Texas A&M) and Deontae Lawson (Alabama).
Including Alliegro, a total of 11 Big Ten defenders cracked the list, headlined by three Michigan Wolverines, a pair of Oregon Ducks and two Ohio State defenders. Notable recent winners include Georgia’s Jalon Walker, Iowa’s Jack Campbell, Georgia’s Nakobe Dean, Georgia’s Roquon Smith, Alabama’s Reuben Foster, Notre Dame’s Jaylon Smith and Manti Te’o and Boston College’s Luke Kuechly.
Alliegro enters his third year in Madison as one of Mike Tressel’s most valuable individual playmakers. As a sophomore, the Connecticut native registered 66 total tackles (44 solo, 22 assisted), three sacks, and one pass defended across 12 appearances.
On Nov. 2 against Iowa, Alliegro tallied 16 tackles — the most for any Badger in a game all season. A member of Phil Steele’s All-Big Ten fourth team, the defensive lynchpin also finished the 2024 campaign as one of the Big Ten’s most prolific inside linebacker pass-rushers, finishing as its eighth-best ILB in that metric.
Alliegro projects to line up alongside Darryl Peterson, Tackett Curtis and Mason Reiger as a linebacker during the 2025 season. That unit will look to jumpstart a defense tasked with handling some of the most potent offenses in college football this fall.
Specifically, Wisconsin will take on Alabama, Oregon, Ohio State, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota in its third season with head coach Luke Fickell at the helm. Alliegro will…
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Publish date : 2025-07-31 16:01:00
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