Wisconsin’s quarterback room has been a revolving door under Luke Fickell, with the Badgers going back to the transfer portal year after year and coming up short on a passer who could make it through a full season. This offseason, though, Wisconsin landed a different kind of answer in Colton Joseph, one of the most dynamic players to enter the program in some time.
Joseph arrives with a highlight reel that already speaks for itself. The signature moment everyone has seen came in Week 1 against Indiana, when he ran for 179 yards and two touchdowns against the eventual national champs. On their very first play of the season, Indiana gave up a 75-yard rushing touchdown to Old Dominion’s quarterback, and Joseph later became part of a 10-win Old Dominion team before transferring to Wisconsin.
That explosiveness is part of why Cody Nagel of CBS Sports included Joseph on his list of the “10 most elusive QBs” in college football. Nagel’s ranking wasn’t just a gut call or a quick film glance. He used five different data points to measure quarterbacks who can create with their legs and stay upright while doing it: sack avoidance rate, yards after contact, tackles avoided, explosive rush rate, and yards per scramble.
Joseph landed at No. 10 on that list.
Nagel said Joseph’s explosive play style fits with what Jeff Grimes and Wisconsin want from the position, and that the offensive system was one of the reasons Joseph was drawn to the Badgers in the portal. Joseph pointed to Grimes’ work with Zach Wilson at BYU, where Wilson eventually became the No. 2 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Wisconsin needs points, and it needs an offense that can ease the burden on its defense. If Joseph keeps turning scrambles into chunk gains, the Badgers have a chance to look a whole lot more dangerous than they did a season ago.
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