John Torchio’s nickname at Wisconsin was “The Jewelry Thief.” Perhaps “The Gambler” might be a better moniker.

Torchio keeps betting on himself. It paid off with the Badgers and the safety is doubling down with aspirations of a roster spot in the NFL.

He arrived at Wisconsin with little fanfare, just the latest of walk-ons hoping to earn a scholarship. Torchio had an offer of a free ride from nearby Cal – he’s from the Bay Area. As a high school junior, Torchio pronounced he wouldn’t go to school at Cal, where his dad played, an announcement he came to regret. When the Golden Bears presented a scholarship he admitted it was a tough decision not to go there. But Wisconsin just offered more – even without, well, an offer.

Torchio’s sister played soccer at Wisconsin and he’d visit during football gamedays and fell in love with the atmosphere. 

“Just being from the Bay, Cal and Stanford are two good football programs but it’s not a Big Ten game, I’ll say that,” Torchio explained. “When I came and visited here it was kind of eye-opening. Wow, this is big-time football. It would be really cool to be a part of. It kind of stuck with me, I wanted to experience that.”

Wisconsin also had two other things Torchio liked: defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard and a history of walk-ons contributing. 

“There’s countless walk-ons who came here who proved (they) could play,” noted Torchio, who is looking to become the 26th Wisconsin one-time walk-on since 1990 to play in the NFL. “I knew I could do it, I just needed the chance. I was willing to take that risk.”

You’d better believe there was risk, too. There were no promises of a future scholarship. All he was guaranteed was a spot on the fall camp roster. Any chance of a scholarship – and, of course playing time – would have to be earned.

After redshirting in 2018, Torchio was on special teams the following season. Noah Burks, who was on first-team kickoff but also a starter on defense, had been telling Torchio all week leading up to the 2019 season opener against South Florida that he’d play just the first kickoff rep then take himself out and cede to Torchio. On his first special-teams snap (and first snap of any kind as a collegian), Torchio forced a fumble.

Two weeks later against Michigan, two Badgers safeties — Eric Burrell and Reggie Pearson — were ejected due to targeting and another, Tyler Mais, suffered a concussion. With Scott Nelson already out with an injury, that meant the third-team safeties, Torchio and Collin Wilder, played the entire fourth quarter then started the next week against Northwestern.

“In a span of four weeks I went (from) a guy who was just hoping to make the bus to a starting safety on a top-10 team in the country,” Torchio said.

While he returned to a backup role, the Northwestern experience gave Torchio confidence he could play at that high Division 1 level. It would just take a little while longer for him to show it.

Torchio remained a backup the next two years as well, although he did record three interceptions and three tackles for loss in 2021. It’s no surprise then that he was under the radar entering the 2022 season. That changed quickly.

Finally a starter, he’d finish with 56 tackles, most among Badgers safeties, with a team-high five interceptions (the most for a Wisconsin defender since 2016). After not being on any watch lists – further proof how silly those preseason notices are – Torchio was named a semifinalist for both the Burlsworth Award (given to the top former walk-on) and Bednarik Award (defensive player of the year).

Among the other 19 Bednarik semifinalists were the likes of Alabama’s Will Anderson, Arkansas’ Drew Sanders, Illinois’ Devon Witherspoon, Mississippi State’s Emmanuel Forbes, Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr., Pittsburgh’s Calijah Kancey and Texas Tech’s Tyree Wilson – all of whom have been projected to be first-round picks in the upcoming NFL draft.

Torchio knows he won’t be going in the first round – or perhaps even be drafted. He’s been told possibly he’ll go in a late round but a being a priority free agent seems more in the cards. Torchio is fine with whatever happens. He just wants the chance.

“I’d love to be drafted, I think that’d be awesome, I think I deserve it,” he said. “But I just want to find the right spot. If that’s better as a free agent, so be it. I know if I get in the right system and the right spot, I can make some noise.”

Torchio could have stayed another year at Wisconsin to bolster his resume. However, that never really seemed like an option for him. During the season he figured he was already thinking he’d leave – if he wasn’t 100% sure it was pretty close. If Leonhard had remained as head coach – something Torchio outwardly spoke he wanted to happen (side note: He likes Luke Fickell and talked with the new head coach before making his decision) perhaps that would have swung the odds some, but only slightly. “I had my heart on leaving and trying to achieve this goal throughout the whole year,” Torchio admitted.

Much like when he chose Wisconsin, Torchio is betting on himself. He thinks he’s ready despite not having the measurables teams usually look for in a player. Or maybe because of it. 

Torchio’s strengths don’t come from his 40 time, vertical jump or any other drill players are put through at the NFL combine or pro day. Besides, those measurements wouldn’t change much with another year in college. What he’s good at can’t be quantified but it can be seen: He’s smart and savvy.

“There isn’t a metric to measure (smarts),” Torchio said. “But you sit down, watch film, draw up plays – that’s how you really measure it – or you can talk to coach Leonhard, or talk to my teammates (about) how I was and obviously they can tell you, too. I just need a chance. Once I get into a locker room and the meeting rooms, I can show that off. No, there isn’t a metric for it … but when you talk to me in person or put me in front of a whiteboard, I can show that.”

In high school, Torchio got a start on his education of playing safety. When Torchio wasn’t on the field as a defensive back he was a wide receiver or, as a senior, quarterback. It’s here he started to learn what a QB does at the line of scrimmage and how he, as a safety, could take advantage of it.

The graduate level courses began in college under the tutelage of Leonhard. Torchio brought his love of disguising coverage to Wisconsin. Leonhard taught him (and every other Badgers safety) different techniques and methods to mess with quarterbacks. Leonhard also showed his defensive backs every interception which occurred in the NFL the previous week and then explained how the Badgers played the same coverages or were being put in similar positions to make plays.

Torchio was more than a willing pupil. He was a Grade A student, as attested by his playmaking ability despite not having track-athlete speed. 

As an example, Torchio brought up an interception he had this past season against Purdue’s Aidan O’Connell – he actually had two but didn’t specify which.

“I flashed my hips to the right before I go to the left. (Someone might ask) ‘What’s he doing?’ But if you knew, Aidan O’Connell loved looking at the boundary safety first,” he explained. “So, show Cover 2 and then he looked away because he thought I was in Cover 2 and then I wasn’t. I was in Cover 3 and had a pick.”

While others tell Torchio his playing style reminds them of Leonhard (“That’s like the biggest compliment anyone can make because that guy was a beast. I’m not even close to him.”), Pittsburgh’s Minkah Fitzpatrick is the safety Torchio tries to emulate – although he is quick to pull out the disclaimer that he’s not nearly as good as the three-time NFL first-team All-Pro. 

“The guy’s a freak and one of the best safeties to play the game. But one of the reasons I said I want to play like him, be like him is because if you turn on the tape, he does the things I want to do in terms of screwing with the quarterback’s eyes and showing one thing and doing another,” Torchio said. “He looks like he’s just playing around out there and ends up in the right spot and makes all these plays. … In terms of what I was at Wisconsin, that’s what I was trying to be. Someone who knew where I needed to end up and I might not look super pretty or might not get the best break, but I’m going to be right there when I need to be. … He’s just so free-flowing, so confident, he makes plays. As a safety, I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to be him with the production he has.”

While defense will of course be important to Torchio’s chances of making an NFL roster, he knows where the true test will come. The same place he was told when he arrived at Wisconsin: Special teams. 

He’s certainly not adverse to making his bones on that unit. In high school, despite starting on both offense and defense, Torchio volunteered to play special teams, returning punts, serving on the kickoff unit as well as being the team’s punter as a junior and senior. At Wisconsin, he played plenty on special teams, including as a fifth-year senior starter. 

“I’m fully aware I’m going to have to come in and earn my spot on special teams,” Torchio said, “and I’m excited to do so. At Wisconsin we play a lot of special teams, a lot of the starters do, so I have a good background in that.

“Obviously I’m not going to have crazy testing numbers, or I’m always going to have doubts because of my athleticism but I think I can come in and prove myself day in and day out like I did here. I think that’s a good track record to lean on.”

Torchio is wagering his special teams prowess along with his football smarts, knowledge of NFL schemes, the overall tutelage from Leonhard and his willing to do anything – we didn’t even touch on his time being in the choir in high school or becoming an Eagle scout – is enough for him to be attractive to an NFL team.

The only question which remains is, will there be a team willing to cash that bet?