Colton Joseph arrives at Wisconsin with the kind of résumé that makes people stop and look twice. The Badgers went out and landed one of the better dual-threat quarterbacks in the country, and he steps into Jeff Grimes’s offense with real expectations attached.
Last season at redshirt sophomore, Joseph put up 2,624 passing yards with 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, then added 1,007 rushing yards and 12 scores on the ground. He wasn’t a static pocket passer. He pushed the ball downfield, used his legs to keep plays alive, and gave the sense of a quarterback who could work well in Grimes’s scheme.
That matters in Madison, because Wisconsin is trying to shake off a rough 2025. The Badgers finished in the bottom five nationally in both scoring and yards per game, and the quarterback spot never settled down. Injuries were part of the story, but the bigger picture is harder to ignore: Wisconsin still hasn’t produced a successful offense under Luke Fickell, and the pressure is now even heavier after the program made a major financial investment in the roster.
The Big Ten, of course, is not exactly short on quarterbacks. Oregon’s Dante Moore, Ohio State’s Julian Sayin, USC’s Jayden Maiva, Washington’s Demond Williams Jr., and Indiana’s Josh Hoover are all part of a deep group returning next season. The bar is high.
So where does Joseph belong in that mix? In a weekly Reacts poll, fans were asked to place him among Big Ten quarterbacks this season, and the response was telling.
More than half of the voters said Joseph would land somewhere in the top third to top half of the conference at the position. Another quarter went even further and saw him as a top-five Big Ten quarterback next year.
That would be a major development for Wisconsin, especially with the names he’d be climbing past. Dante Moore is viewed as a potential top-five pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.
Julian Sayin has already been mentioned in first-round conversations. Jayden Maiava could’ve entered the draft this season before choosing to return, and he brings plenty of starting experience after throwing for 3,711 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions last year.
Josh Hoover also sits near the top of the list of proven quarterbacks in the sport. Over three seasons as a starter, he has thrown for 9,629 yards, 71 touchdowns, and 33 interceptions, and he now takes over at Indiana after Fernando Mendoza. Beyond that, Demond Williams, Roccho Becht, Bryce Underwood, Nico Iamaleava, and Drake Lindsey all add to a crowded field of quarterbacks who have already shown something or could take another jump in 2026.
Joseph’s upside is obvious enough to make the conversation interesting. There is a path where he turns into a top-third Big Ten quarterback next season. But getting there will require real growth: better accuracy, sharper decisions in the pocket, and a cleaner sense of timing with his reads.
He won’t be operating in a finished product around him, either. Wisconsin has a reshaped running back room, a new-look receiver group, multiple new starters on the offensive line, and a couple of new tight ends to work into the mix. There’s plenty to sort out.
The first real test comes in Week 1, when the Badgers host Notre Dame at Lambeau Field. That will be the first look at Joseph running the show in this new Wisconsin offense.
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The concern, of course, is that these situations rarely feel settled until signing day arrives. Zion has already drawn outside attention, and the kind of recruiting tug-of-war that follows a top commit can turn quickly, which is why any sign of reassurance from him lands so well in Madison as the calendar keeps moving toward the finish line. [Read more 🡒]