5 days ago
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The Wisconsin Badgers got a commitment from Buffalo defensive lineman Junior Poyser earlier this week, marking their first addition at the position in the transfer portal.
On Thursday morning, Wisconsin got its second commitment, this time from West Virginia Mountaineers transfer defensive lineman Hammond Russell, who was on a visit to Madison earlier this week.
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Russell, a 6’3, 315-pound defensive lineman, was a longtime Mountaineer after initially joining the team as a three-star recruit in the Class of 2021. He redshirted his freshman year, seeing action in two games, and didn’t play as a redshirt freshman. But, he’s been a regular contributor since, playing in 33 games over the past three years, including making his first career starts this season.
In those three seasons, he’s totaled 40 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, and one forced fumble.
Hammond isn’t much of a pass-rusher, recording 17 total pressures over three seasons. He’s also had just 19 run stops in the three years, with a run stop rate of only 4.2 percent in 2025. But, he’s what the Badgers need: an experienced big body that can take some reps at nose tackle with Charles Perkins. Last year, Wisconsin had a constant rotation with Ben Barten, Parker Petersen, Jay’Viar Suggs, and Brandon Lane.
They don’t have the experience that they had last year, with Perkins and Dillan Johnson being the team’s top returners. With Russell in the fold, Wisconsin’s top three defensive linemen project to be Buffalo transfer Junior Poyser, Perkins, and Russell, with Johnson as the top guy off the bench.
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Wisconsin still doesn’t really have much pass-rushing juice with this group, and I’d feel comfortable with one more depth piece at defensive line, getting more experience in the room while allowing some time for the younger guys to continue developing.
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