MADISON, Wis. -- Early enrollee Leo Chenal’s reputation bulldozed its way through the gates of Camp Randall long before he did.

Back in March, the 6-foot-2, 239-pound inside linebacker from Grantsburg, Wisconsin tweeted out a video of himself absolutely punishing the bench press--maxing out at 32 reps at 225 pounds. For reference, the very best tally from a backer to come out of this year’s NFL Combine was 31.

So while most guys work their whole career to top out in the 30s, Leo simply called that feat “progress.”

That Ruffalo-esqe strength made itself known all throughout the spring season. And though most of Leo's reps were taken with the second team, his commitment to competing full throttle every day, and his success so far in doing so, make it easy to see where the true freshman is bound to end up--likely sooner rather than later.

“Certainly there's a lot that he's gotta figure out,” head coach Paul Chryst said of Leo about midway through Wisconsin’s spring practice season. “But he's put himself in position, and he's kinda one of those guys that when he's in, he's gonna be all in.”

Leo would appreciate knowing that aspect of his work ethic hasn’t gone unnoticed, considering it was one of his top goals coming into his first spring with the Badgers. He knew he would be up against some top linebacking talent--the Badgers return a collective nine letterwinners to their ILB/OLB rooms--but Leo thought if he could at the very least work as hard as them, he’d make an impression.

“I may not make the right play all the time,” Leo told Badger247. “But if you're gonna hustle, they want a guy that's gonna be working at it no matter what.”

“I just wanted to get a lot of reps. I didn't really know where I'd be in the depth, but I just wanted to fight for reps.”

And fight he’s done--sometimes, quite literally.

This spring, the team never missed an opportunity to pit Leo against his older brother, John, a sophomore fullback for the Badgers. Almost without fail, the two were lined up against each other during the daily ‘who’s stronger’ contest staged at the goal line between an offensive and defensive player, who lock up and Roadrunner their feet until one breaks the plane or the other is driven away.

It’s called Badger Drill.

Or, if you’re the Chenals, an average afternoon in Grantsburg.

“If I get one up on him, he's gonna do his best to get one up on me,” Leo said. “It keeps going back and forth because none of us are gonna give up ‘til we’re just dying.”

The brothers have been competing with each other their whole lives--it wasn’t about to stop once they joined the same college team.

“It's really fun,” Leo said. “When we're playing against each other, going at each other, seeing who's stopping who, it's really fun.”

Also comforting.

“Even though we're on opposite sides of the ball, [John] is still guiding me, giving me advice as much as he can. He's just giving me a boost of confidence and really helping my game.”

Leo said his older brother has also been looking out for him off the field--including him in his friend group and showing him around campus. Leo claims that he’s shy, so having a blood-related tour guide has been great in helping him get acclimated.

But ask his teammates, and they’ll tell you Leo is anything but lacking in the personability department.

“He's high motor, he's a talker,” junior OLB Noah Burks said of the younger Chenal. “He'll try and hype everyone up.”

“A lot of guys respect him, and he's done a lot of great things so far, especially enrolling early, coming here this spring. He's a very vocal guy.”

The fact that Leo has earned earned that respect from teammates and coaches alike on the the strength of, well, strength, surprised even him.

“I don't wanna admit it, but I thought I was gonna be like, ‘oh shoot, this lineman's coming,’” he said. “I've never gone up against this big of men before. But once I actually got into it, I just started adjusting to it and it became OK. As long as you're moving fast and don't hesitate, it'll be good.”

The next step for Leo is getting his mind caught up with his body.

“At Grantsburg, we had three plays where I do almost the same thing every time,” He said. “And then here, it's a whole other level. Some guys come in from schools with 3,000, 4,000 guys--I come from a school with 250 where we don't run much. So just getting to know the schemes and the whole defense is definitely a huge thing for me.”

Chryst is confident that the process will get him there.

“Yeah he's getting the opportunity to get a lot of reps and he's kind of earned--at some points, you're earning those reps,” Chryst said. “They're given to you initially or there's a rotation, but I've loved his approach to everything and he's attacking the spring like you want a guy to.”

“It might not always be right, but he's gonna give himself a chance. I think he's got a chance to be a good football player.”