Riley Mahlman Leads Badgers in Athlon Sports Preseason All-Big Ten Honors
MADISON, Wis. — Athlon Sports has released its annual preseason All-Big Ten teams, with a number of Wisconsin players earning recognition. However, only one Badger was named to the first team — senior offensive tackle Riley Mahlman.
Mahlman has started the last 31 games for the Badgers at right tackle and owns 33 games of experience. According to Pro Football Focus, Mahlman is the sixth-highest rated returning offensive tackle in the Big Ten, boasting an overall grade of 76.0. Mahlan surrendered two sacks on 405 pass blocking snaps in 2024.
Four other Badgers were also named to the preseason third-team All-Big Ten squads — junior linebacker Christian Alliegro, senior safety Preston Zachman, senior cornerback Ricardo Hallman, and junior punter Atticus Bertrams.
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Alliegro posted 66.0 tackles and a team-high 3.0 sacks as a reserve in 2024. Against Iowa on Nov. 2. Alliegro racked up a career-high 16.0 stops.
A third-team All-Big Ten pick in 2023, Hallman wasn’t able to duplicate his sophomore campaign, which featured a nation-leading seven interceptions. However, Hallman was only thrown at 33 times as a junior, the fewest for any cornerback in the country with at least 300 snaps. His 20 receptions allowed ranked second among Big Ten cornerbacks. Hallman also finished with four pass breakups.
Coming off a breakout season in 2024, Zachman opted to return for a sixth season with the program. In 12 starts last season, Zachman tallied 58.0 tackles, two interceptions, three tackles for loss, and four pass breakups.
As for Bertrams, his 55 punt attempts averaged 45.3 yards, the second-best clip in the conference and 12th-best mark in the nation. Bertrams also ranked fourth in the Big Ten with 21 punts downed inside the 20-yard line.
Rounding out the preseason All-Big Ten recognition, senior wide receiver Vinny Anthony and senior center Jake Renfro both appeared on the fourth team.
Anthony was one of the biggest bright spots for UW last season. As a junior, Anthony led the Badgers with 532 yards receiving and three touchdowns on 32 receptions. His 17.2 yards per catch was the most by a UW wide receiver since Brandon Williams (18.6) in 2005. Anthony was also selected as a fourth-team kick returner.
Returning from injury, Renfro started all 12 games for the Badgers at center last season.
For the entire Athlon Sports preseason All-Big Ten team, click here.
