Fall camp has wrapped up for Wisconsin, and the Badgers are shifting their attention toward the season opener against Notre Dame, which comes in less than two weeks. The starter situation is settled - Colton Joseph has that job - but the battle behind him has turned into one of the more intriguing competitions of camp.
The fight for the No. 2 quarterback role has come down to Louisville transfer Deuce Adams and true freshman Ryan Hopkins. It’s the kind of quarterback competition that can sneak up on a team, especially when the top spot is already spoken for.
Adams arrives as a rising redshirt sophomore with some real experience in his background. He was a three-star recruit in the Class of 2024 and originally committed to Louisville, where he redshirted his freshman year.
Last season, he made his first career start in a 38-6 loss to SMU when Miller Moss was unavailable because of injury. Adams finished that game 12 of 17 for 94 yards.
After that, he transferred to Wisconsin with a chance to back up Joseph and eventually push for the starting role down the line. His spring stood out for his arm talent, and he also flashed sneaky athleticism at 6’2, 207 pounds.
Hopkins has been the more surprising name in the mix. A four-star prospect out of Mater Dei High School in California, he impressed in spring practice by showing confidence with his decision-making, even if he was still clearly a work in progress. That momentum has carried into the fall, where his consistency has helped him close the gap on Adams and put real pressure on the race for the backup job.
So the question for Wisconsin’s coaches is a simple one: do they lean toward the high-upside true freshman, or stick with the more proven redshirt sophomore?
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For Mason, the timing makes the issue even more notable. He had no remaining eligibility when he left for the NFL, and after being cut by the Seahawks, he was recently claimed by the Pittsburgh Steelers, underscoring how quickly a pro career can shift. The new Big Ten stance leaves players like Mason with fewer fallback options if the professional route keeps changing on them. [Read more 🡒]