Training camp is just around the corner for the Wisconsin Badgers, who are looking to turn things around in 2026 after a major revamp of the roster this offseason.<\/p>\n
Wisconsin overhauled both sides of the ball, bringing in over 30 transfers after a 4-8 season in 2025. Among the group of newcomers is quarterbacks Colton Joseph (Old Dominion) and Deuce Adams (Louisville), who currently track to lead the room this season.<\/p>\n
Joining them in the quarterback room is Carter Smith, who is the lone returner of the group, and freshman Ryan Hopkins.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the outlook of the room heading into fall camp?<\/p>\n
Joseph, a rising redshirt junior, is arguably Wisconsin\u2019s most notable transfer addition under Luke Fickell. He comes to Madison with an established pedigree after throwing for 2,624 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions for Old Dominion, while also adding over 1,000 yards and double-digit scores on the ground.<\/p>\n
After subpar quarterback play in 2025, the Badgers are hoping Joseph can change the tides this season, with his dual-threat ability fitting well in offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes\u2019s scheme.<\/p>\n
The good with Joseph is quite clear: he provides another element to Wisconsin\u2019s offense with his rushing ability, while also demonstrating the ability AND willingness to throw the ball down the field.<\/p>\n
Last year, Wisconsin didn\u2019t get much from the quarterback position on the ground until Carter Smith was thrown into the fray late in the year. But the ground game doesn\u2019t flourish without a functioning passing game.<\/p>\n
Wisconsin is looking to be more physical and dominant on the ground. Joseph\u2019s rushing ability should help the running backs by keeping defenses disciplined and further the run game there.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also got the ability to extend plays, which media saw in the spring when pass protection broke down. That should help a receiver group entering fall camp with a lot of questions and uncertainty.<\/p>\n
With his arm, Joseph demonstrates a willingness to throw the ball downfield and to the sidelines, which Wisconsin rarely had last season. The Badgers know more explosives are needed through the air, and we\u2019ve seen those come to fruition in the past with Jeff Grimes offenses. Joseph is at least willing to challenge defenses with his arm, which should open up more things offensively.<\/p>\n
Now, there are still a lot of questions about the transfer. When it comes to the ground game, Joseph\u2019s legs will be crucial. But, he\u2019ll be entering a much more physical league, which automatically creates a concern for durability with a rushing quarterback. We\u2019ve seen seasons be derailed by quarterback injury for Wisconsin in the past, and while Joseph doesn\u2019t have that history, there will be that lingering question as the season goes along.<\/p>\n
Joseph also has to be far more consistent when playing in structure. He\u2019s shown he can find ways to make plays out of structure when needed, but there are improvements to be made in the pocket.<\/p>\n
He can occasionally be late on reads while honing in on his first read, and accuracy was an issue at times in the spring at all levels of the field. Joseph\u2019s accuracy had also been a question through two seasons as a starter at Old Dominion.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also fair to say the quarterback\u2019s supporting cast still isn\u2019t ideal. Wisconsin has a quality running back room, but its offensive line is fairly young with a group that faced its ups and downs last year. The receiver room also has a ton of questions, as there aren\u2019t many accomplished wideouts in a brand new room.<\/p>\n
Joseph should be an upgrade over what Wisconsin had at quarterback last year, but there are still quite a few questions that we didn\u2019t see answered during the spring.<\/p>\n
When you look at the rest of the room, Deuce Adams is the favorite to be the backup after taking most of the second-team snaps in the spring.<\/p>\n
Transferring in from Louisville, he\u2019s shown some solid things in his first offseason in Madison.<\/p>\n
First off, the ball comes out real smoothly from his hands. That was one of the earliest takeaways that I noticed from Adams, along with the fact that his arm strength is quite solid.<\/p>\n
Similarly to Joseph, he needs to improve more on timing, but he seems to have the tools to be a quality backup for Wisconsin this season. Adams also has some in-game experience from Louisville last year, which should be a benefit in a younger room.<\/p>\n
Freshman Ryan Hopkins had one of the more impressive spring camps of any player this offseason.<\/p>\n
Coming into the spring, I didn\u2019t have much expectation for Hopkins early after his senior year at Mater Dei. He looked like a quarterback with solid tools and some underrated rushing ability, but someone that would need some time to develop at Wisconsin before becoming a trustworthy option.<\/p>\n
Well, one thing you could note from Hopkins this offseason was his confidence and swagger, which was noted by teammates. He\u2019s willing to test out all parts of the field with his arm, which isn\u2019t the strongest, but can still get to all areas on the field.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also got a savvy ability to use his legs and has that playmaking gene as well. Now, he\u2019s a freshman, which was also quite apparent, as his clock felt sped up quite often when dealing with pressure. But it\u2019s notable that the staff gave him some second-team opportunities as the spring went on, while he got a ton of opportunities in general.<\/p>\n
Hopkins is still a bit away from being a meaningful contributor on the field, but it was a strong first spring for a quarterback who was supposed to still be in high school then.<\/p>\n
Carter Smith might\u2019ve had one of the more disappointing spring camps, on the other hand. Last season, Smith felt a while away from being ready to play in the offseason. And we saw that play out as he was thrust into the action at the end of the year.<\/p>\n
While his rushing ability led to some offense, Smith was still far behind as a passer and needed some major improvement there before being ready to be on the field.<\/p>\n
Well, this offseason, it\u2019s been a lot of growing pains for the sophomore quarterback, who hasn\u2019t seen as many opportunities working mainly behind Joseph, Adams, and Hopkins.<\/p>\n
His passing ability remains a major work in progress, as he still feels behind with progressions and looks more like a run-first quarterback. Smith\u2019s accuracy remains a major question mark, and he still looks a while away from contributing. I\u2019m not sure currently what his future looks like as a potential starter at Wisconsin.<\/p>\n
When it comes to Wisconsin\u2019s quarterback room, the Badgers feel in a better spot with a more established starter and some young backups looking to compete.<\/p>\n
But there still are a lot of questions remaining heading into the Fall, and Wisconsin needs results after paying a hefty price for their starter this season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Training camp is just around the corner for the Wisconsin Badgers, who are looking to turn things around…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":772627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,99,15053],"class_list":["post-772626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sports","tag-wisconsin-football"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=772626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/772627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=772626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=772626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=772626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}