Wisconsin football left tackle out for the season with torn ACL
Wisconsin football has lost starting LT Kevin Heywood to a season-ending ACL tear, creating major questions up front heading into 2025.
There’s no sugarcoating this one—the Wisconsin football program just suffered a crushing blow at one of the game's most important positions.
Luke Fickell confirmed that Kevin Heywood, the presumed starting left tackle and one of the foundational pieces of the Badgers’ offensive line, is out for the entire 2025 season after tearing his ACL during spring football practice.
It’s a crushing development for both Heywood and a program trying to bounce back from a 5–7 campaign that already left little room for error up front, especially with a daunting schedule looming. The sophomore from Pennsylvania was set to take over for longtime starter Jack Nelson and had all the physical tools you look for—size, pedigree, and potential.
“You’ve seen his offseason with Brady [Collins], and from a strength standpoint—his change of direction has gotten better," Blazek said. "His functional movements are better. Pass pro. He’s redirecting faster. I think that’s the biggest thing. You see his functional movement for the position, and he’s made that a conscious effort all off-season.”
A former blue-chip recruit, Heywood saw just 72 offensive snaps last fall, but the hope was that with a full offseason under his belt, he’d grow into one of the cornerstones of this offensive line. Now, that plan is off the table.
The injury reportedly occurred during team drills on a pass play. While Heywood was seen walking gingerly afterward, the extent of the damage wasn’t known until after a full evaluation. Now it’s official—and now Wisconsin’s offensive line depth will be tested sooner than anyone hoped.
Make no mistake: this was a big-time loss.
Heywood had positioned himself to be “the guy” at left tackle. A highly thought of player by Wisconsin's staff, the 6-foot-8, 325-pound tackle brought the frame and athleticism you want to develop at the position. This spring was supposed to be his coming out party—a chance to prove he could anchor the blind side in Jeff Grimes’ new-look offense.
And that’s part of what makes this hurt even more.
Grimes’ offense is designed to be multiple, physical, and efficient—especially in the run game—and Heywood was one of the building blocks returning to help bring that vision to life. With Jake Renfro, Joe Brunner, and Riley Mahlman all returning, Heywood’s emergence was supposed to give Wisconsin some stability on the line—leaving just one starting spot open.
Instead, they’re now scrambling.
The internal options to replace Heywood are thin, especially with Barrett Nelson sidelined this spring due to injury. Junior Leyton Nelson appears to be the next man up. He transferred in from Vanderbilt last offseason but missed the 2024 season with a leg injury. Still, he’s played both tackle spots and has had a long-standing relationship with offensive line coach AJ Blazek dating back to their time together at Vanderbilt.
“There’s a little bit of a trust factor there with him,” Blazek said. “He’s doing a great job right now at both tackles. Really smart football player.”
The good news? Mahlman gives Wisconsin at least one known quantity at tackle—and perhaps even an option to move over to the left side. And with Brunner holding down the left guard spot, there’s a potential path to solidifying things—if Nelson stays healthy, proves capable of being a net neutral, and the young guys on the interior come along quickly enough.
But there’s no spinning this: Heywood was supposed to be one of the cornerstones. And now, he’s gone before the season even began.
They’re trying to rebuild on the fly after missing a bowl game. They’re trying to install a new offense, reinvigorate the identity of the program, and recapture a level of physicality that used to define Wisconsin football.
And in the middle of all that, they lost their starting left tackle for the year.
The portal is always a possibility—and it may become a necessity depending on how things look post-spring. But this isn’t just a depth issue. This was a player the staff believed in. Heywood was going to be a major piece of the puzzle. Now he’s out, and the Badgers are left trying to figure out Plan B.
Even if a capable tackle were to hit the portal, linemen come at a steep cost in the NIL era. And even if Wisconsin were in a position to enter a bidding war, it’s unlikely they’d have the resources to land a proven difference-maker.
The season hasn’t started yet. But adversity just arrived. And we’re about to find out what kind of answers this staff can come up with.
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