#17

Darryl Peterson

Senior linebacker for Wisconsin. 2025: 33 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks.

LB · Wisconsin · Sr. · #17

6′1″ · 260 lb · Akron, OH

CFB Index 79 · #62 of 583 LBsHigh confidenceReturning to Wisconsin for 2026

How he plays

Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

Sacks: 98th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

tackles · 2025

11.5 TFL · 6.5 sacks · 3 PBU

Statement game6 tackles · 3 TFL · 3 sacksvs Illinois (FBS) · W 27-10

Top 1% sacks game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for Wisconsin. 2025: 33 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Wisconsin in 2021.

His career, year by year

Darryl Peterson

LB · Wisconsin · Sr · #17

Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge. Darryl Peterson has been at Wisconsin through three head coaches in five seasons. In 2025 the league put his name on paper for the first time: Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. The receipt: 6 tackles, 3 sacks against Illinois — Week 13, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Wisconsin9-4HC: Paul Chryst · Run-heavy

2022Wisconsin7-6HC: Jim Leonhard · Run-heavy

2023Wisconsin7-6HC: Luke Fickell · Balanced

2024Wisconsin5-7HC: Luke Fickell · Run-leaning

2025Wisconsin4-8HC: Luke Fickell · Run-heavy, slow tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

79All-Conference level #62 of 583?

High confidenceBounce-Back6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (98th percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (98th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#55 / 2975 · 98th pct

6.5

Tackles for loss#62 / 2975 · 98th pct

11.5

QB hurries#457 / 2975 · 82nd pct

Passes defended#517 / 2975 · 78th pct

Solo tackles#959 / 2975 · 67th pct

Tackles#1194 / 2975 · 59th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	2.6	1.0	0.6	0.3
Road4g	3.8	1.1	0.6	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	2.2	1.0	0.2	0.2
Weeks 8+6g	3.7	1.1	0.9	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Luke Fickell

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

our read surprisingly productive for a linebacker with no award recognition yet — top-1% tackles behind the line, top-2% passes broken up.2025 profile

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

79 · #62 of 583 LBs

Former four-star. Now #62 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big Ten

Based on 2025: #11 of 72 Big Ten LBs

How the All-Big Ten estimate is computed

22% estimated, 95% confidence interval 19–25%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

One of 52 players who were elite at two different things in 2025. See the others ›

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Wisconsin	33	21	11.5	6.5	3	--	--
2024	Wisconsin	28	13	1.0	1.0	1	--	--
2023	Wisconsin	47	27	10.0	4.5	2	--	--
2022	Wisconsin	24	13	2.0	2.0	--	--	--
2021	Wisconsin	2	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		134	75	24.5	14.0	6	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 11 · 2025

W 13–10

vs Washington

1 SOLO · 1 TOT

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 at home.

With S. West — 24 yds · 0 TD · 0 INT · QBR 100.0 · A. Bertrams — 37 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 43 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 17-0vs Miami (OH)	2	2	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 2	W 42-10vs Middle Tennessee	2	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 10-27vs Maryland	1	1	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	L 10-24@ Michigan	2	2	1.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 7	L 0-37vs Iowa	4	3	2.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	L 0-34vs Ohio State	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	L 7-21@ Oregon	5	2	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	W 13-10vs Washington	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 7-31@ Indiana	6	4	2.5	2.5	—	0	Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 13	W 27-10vs Illinois	6	5	3.0	3.0	—	2	3 sacks
Wk 14	L 7-17@ Minnesota	2	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Total		33	21	11.5	6.5	—	3

How he plays

Play style

Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

11 games

33Tackles

21Solo

11.5TFL

6.5Sacks

3Pass def.

0INT

33 tackles. 3 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 11.5 TFL.

Week 11 sack
Week 61 PD
Week 122.5 sacks
Week 133 sacks · 2 PD

Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.

2026 Outlook

Wisconsin

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · Wisconsin

Returning around him

Transfer portal: +8 net (33 in / 25 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Wisconsin · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #30 · 2026 recruiting class #78

DNA match

Player DNA

Thumper

Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to PJ Ramsey’s 2023 season.

PJ Ramsey

58%match

Air Force · 2023

All-Mountain West

Daniel Grzesiak

Nevada · 2021

51%

Maurice Westmoreland

UTEP · 2023

All-Conference USA

50%

Jaishawn Barham

Michigan · 2025

NFL Rd 3 · Pk 28

40%

Trey Moore

Texas · 2024

NFL Rd 4

40%

Matches PJ on

Solo tackle rate

Class year

Differs from PJ on

Hurry rate (lower)

Height (lower)

PD rate (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to David Reese's graduate season at California (2024).

David Reese

80%match

California · 2024

Devonte O'Malley

Northern Illinois · 2024

All-MAC

67%

Kaimon Rucker

North Carolina · 2024

All-ACC

61%

Korey Foreman

Fresno State · 2025

59%

Ethan Hurkett

Iowa · 2025

59%

Matches David on

TFL rate

Weight

Tackle volume

Differs from David on

Hurry rate (higher)

Player DNA

Players who play like Darryl Peterson

Wilfredo Aybar

Stanford · 2023

74%

Brandon Buckner

Middle Tennessee · 2024

65%

Jordan Domineck

Colorado · 2023

65%

Tyrin Bradley

West Virginia · 2023

58%

Braylon Ryan

Coastal Carolina · 2024

57%

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology