Jeff Grimes didn’t need much prompting to diagnose Wisconsin’s offensive problems from last season. He leaned right into the humor of it, then got straight to the point about what has to change in 2026.
When reporters asked him for a couple of ways the Badgers can be better on offense this season, Grimes laughed and said, "Only two?! Run the ball better and throw it better.
How about that?" The line landed the way he wanted it to, but the message behind it was serious enough: Wisconsin has to be better at the basics, and Grimes knows it.
He said he doesn’t like dwelling on last year, and with a new roster, new players and new schemes, his attention is on what comes next. The goal now is to move forward with the 2026 chapter instead of getting stuck on a miserable 2025 that he, like everyone else, would rather leave behind.
One of the big areas Grimes pointed to was the run game. He said the staff wants to run the football better, and that fits with what Luke Fickell had alumni discussing last year when they came through and talked about Wisconsin’s history and its identity in the run game. Grimes tied that directly to the offensive line, calling that room and the offensive line room loaded.
He also brought up the dual-threat ability of Colton Joseph as part of why the offense should be more complete this season. That balance, along with a deeper and more physical offensive line, gives Wisconsin a different look than it had a year ago.
Grimes framed the whole thing around toughness, saying, "We want to be the toughest team in the Big Ten. And if we're going to be the toughest team in the Big 10, it starts with our offensive line, and it starts in fall camp."
That’s a sharp contrast from last season, when the defense did enough to keep Wisconsin in games but the offense never got rolling. The offensive line issues, quarterback injuries and lack of playmaking all piled up.
This year, Grimes and Fickell believe they’ve built something better: a deeper running back room, a healthier quarterback situation and more options at wide receiver. If those pieces come together, Wisconsin’s offense could look a whole lot different in 2026.
In Other News...
AJ Storrs Next Move Just Got Much More Complicated
AJ Storrs college path has already taken enough twists to make him one of the more familiar names in the transfer conversation, and now the former Wisconsin guard is back in the portal again after recent NCAA rulings opened the door for another move. It is a reminder of how quickly the modern roster market can change, even for a player who has shown he can produce at a high level in college.
For Storr, the timing makes this next step especially tricky. A lot of programs, including Ole Miss, have already mostly finished building their rosters, which leaves fewer obvious landing spots than a player of his rsum might usually expect. Wisconsin coach Greg Gard has pointed to how complicated these situations can be for players trying to navigate multiple moves and, in some cases, a return to a previous team, and Storr now finds himself right in the middle of that uncertainty. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin Secondary Battle Gets Interesting After Freshman Turns Heads
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One of the names that stood out was redshirt freshman Jaimier Scott, who made an interception on opening day and immediately added some intrigue to a position battle that already had a lot of moving parts. Tressel stressed how important that competition will be, and he also made clear the secondary still has room to grow in one area that matters most: turning more of those chances into takeaways. [Read more 🡒]
Jonathan Taylor Just Added Another Huge Milestone For Badgers Fans
Jonathan Taylor keeps stacking up milestones, and Badgers fans have every reason to keep watching his NFL climb. The former Wisconsin star has become one of the leagues most reliable runners since joining the Colts as a 2020 second-round pick, turning that early draft investment into a long stretch of production and recognition. He is already a three-time Pro Bowler and is closing in on the franchises all-time rushing record, which says plenty about how quickly he has taken hold in Indianapolis.
Now there is another marker on the ledger, even if the full financial picture remains part of the intrigue. Taylors latest agreement ensures he will stay with the Colts deeper into the decade, a reminder that his value stretches well beyond individual Sundays. For Wisconsin, it is one more chance to point to a homegrown success story who has gone from Madison to the center of an NFL offense and kept adding to the rsum along the way. [Read more 🡒]