Badger Countdown: Star linebacker wears number 44 with UW

 

Nick Bruesewitz

Thu, Jul 20, 2023, 2:04 PM EDT·1 min read

The college football season is approaching and the Badgers are now 44 days away from their 2023 opener against Buffalo on Sept. 2 at Camp Randall. Luke Fickell and his coaching staff are entering year one at the helm and they’re expected to remain one of the best defenses in the nation.

One of the best linebackers in Wisconsin history, Chris Borland, wore number 44 while in Madison. A member of the Badgers from 2009-2013, Borland became a star in Madison.

He finished his Wisconsin career with 420 total tackles, including 17 sacks, while also recording three interceptions, nine forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. The tackle total is good for sixth highest in program history and it’s the most since the turn of the century. Additionally, he won the 2013 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award.

Borland was selected in the third round (77th overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers and recorded 108 tackles in his one and only NFL season.

Titans LB Ben Niemann 1 of 9 players to not miss a tackle in 2022

 

Shaun Calderon 

July 14, 2023 8:25 am ET

One of the sneakier additions of the offseason for the Tennessee Titans was the addition of veteran linebacker, Ben Niemann.

The former Arizona Cardinals linebacker is coming off a season in which he played in all 17 games for Arizona, starting in nine of them.

The Iowa product wasn’t dominant by any means, but he did provide a steady and relatively reliable presence for the Cardinals whenever his number was called.

In fact, Niemann was one of nine players who didn’t miss a single tackle throughout the entire 2022 campaign (minimum 45 tackles), finishing with the third-most tackles (70) without accounting for a single whiff.

What’s most impressive is Niemann didn’t exactly have a small sample size. According to Pro Football Focus, he played a total of 484 defensive snaps, with 249 coverage snaps and 195 snaps against the run.

In total, Niemann accounted for 70 combined tackles, two tackles for loss, and one quarterback hit en route to finishing the 2022 season with an overall grade of 71.0, per PFF.

Looking ahead to 2023, Niemann is vying for one of the starting spots at linebacker for the Titans. He’ll be competing against guys like Azeez Al-Shaair, Monty Rice, Chance Campbell, Jack Gibbens and UDFA Otis Reese.

Aaron Kampman named to All-Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers Green Bay Packers team

 

The All-Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers Green Bay Packers team

Zach Kruse 

July 7, 2023 9:20 am CT

The book is now officially closed on what can only be labeled as the oustanding eras of Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers as the starting quarterbacks for the Green Bay Packers.

Favre, a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer, was a 16-year starter from 1992 to 2007; Rodgers, a future first-ballot Hall of Famer, was a 15-year starter from 2008 to 2022. Together, the pair threw 1,001 touchdown passes for the Packers during the regular season and playoffs.

If not for Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, the Favre-Rodgers Packers would have been the NFL’s gold standard of the last 30 seasons. They’ll settle for silver.

Between 1992 and 2022, the Packers won 314 regular-season games, the second-most in the NFL trailing only the Patriots (323). The Packers also scored 12,451 points between 1992 and 2022, the most in the NFL, and had the second-highest point differential (plus-2,208). The franchise won Super Bowls XXXI and XLV (losing Super Bowl XXXII) and was second in both playoff games (43) and playoff wins (23), again trailing only the Patriots.

Favre and Rodgers won 15 NFC Central or North titles and made nine NFC title game appearances.

There is no doubting the greatness of either quarterback. But all great quarterbacks must be surrounded by great players to win so many football games and achieve so many milestones.

In an attempt to acknowledge both the quarterbacks and the supporting cast, Packers Wire enlisted over 25 Packers-based media members to organize the definitive All-Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers Packers team spanning the franchise’s incredibly successful run between 1992 and 2022:

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Edge rusher (4)

1. Reggie White (1993-98)
2. Clay Matthews (2009-18)
3. Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (2000-2008)
4. Aaron Kampman (2002-2009)

Just missed: Rashan Gary (2019-present), Julius Peppers (2014-16), Za’Darius Smith (2019-2021)

White and Matthews dominated the voting process. White, one of the greatest free-agent signings in NFL history, needed only 94 games to produce 68.5 sacks. He was a transformational force for the Packers franchise and a Pro Bowler during all six of his seasons in Green Bay. Matthews, a first-round pick in 2009, produced four seasons with 10 or more sacks and made six Pro Bowls. He intercepted six passes, forced 15 fumbles and scored three defensive touchdowns. “KGB” had four 10.0-sack seasons and six with 8.0 or more. He was a Pro Bowler in 2003, had 13.5 sacks in both 2001 and 2004 and finished his Packers career with 74.5 sacks and 17 forced fumbles. Kampman, a two-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro, was dominant during a three-year stretch spanning 2006-08, when he created 37.0 sacks and 84 quarterback hits in 47 games. His 15.5 sacks in 2006 are the third-most in a season in Packers history. Gary, who could emerge as an elite edge rusher for the Jordan Love era, just missed the cut based on vote count.