Badger football has been swarmed with anger, sadness, controversy and questions. University of Wisconsin football coach Luke Fickell, alongside Offensive Coordinator Phil Longo, attempted to transform Wisconsin into an air raid system. After two underwhelming seasons and going 5-7 last season, Fickell blew it up. Longo is out and Jeff Grimes is in. 23 players left and over 30 players are coming in.
Whether the Badgers will bounce back next season or not is unknown, but the quality of players joining the Badgers next season is unquestionable.
Losses to the portal
The biggest exit was Tawee Walker, the Badgers’ starting running back, who transferred to Cincinnati. The quarterback room was also dismantled. The Badgers lost Mabrey Mettauer, who’s following Longo to Sam Houston State, Braedyn Locke (Arizona), Tyler Van Dyke (SMU) and Cole LaCrue (uncommitted).
The Badgers also lost two big contributors in the wide receiver room — C.J. Williams (Stanford) and Will Pauling (Notre Dame). Other losses include tight end Riley Nowakowski (Indiana), running back Nate White (South Dakota State) and offensive lineman James Durand (Western Illinois).
The Badgers’ defense was slaughtered by the sheer number of transfers. But the offensive transfers, while not as many, hurt the Badgers through quality, given six of these 10 offensive transfers started for the Badgers last season.
The defense lost 13 players to the portal. Five were starters and eight were in the secondary. The transfer that hurt the most was freshman cornerback Xavier Lucas (Miami).
Other outgoing transfers from the secondary include cornerback Max Lofy (uncommitted), safety Kamo’i Latu (UConn), safety Braedyn Moore (Toledo), cornerback Jace Arnold (Sam Houston State), cornerback Jonas Duclona (USF), safety Justin Taylor (Wyoming) and cornerback Amare Snowden (Toledo).
The defensive line was also hit hard, losing Anelu Lafaele (Michigan State), Hank Weber (Samford), James Thompson Jr. (Illinois), Curt Neal (Illinois) and Leon Lowery Jr. (Illinois).
It is noteworthy that the Badgers lost many edge rushers, defensive linemen, cornerbacks and safeties — but zero linebackers. Furthermore, the Badgers backup kicker, Nate Van Zelst (uncommitted), also entered the portal.
This was the first class of outgoing transfers from the class of 2024, which was Luke Fickell’s first full recruiting class at Wisconsin. This includes freshmen like Mettauer, Lucas, Lafaele and Weber.
Fickell also helped recruit players in 2023 following former head coach Paul Chryst’s firing during the 2022-2023 season. Some of these players are leaving too, like Moore, Durand, Snowden, Duclona, Arnold, White, Taylor and LaCrue.
There are a lot of negatives for 2025 when it comes to players leaving. After a 5-7 season and the first non-bowl season Wisconsin has seen in over 20 years, one would expect some turmoil. But Fickell and his staff bounced back, signing a great class while picking up key players from the portal.
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Class of 2025
According to 247 Composite, Wisconsin’s recruiting class for 2025 ranked 26th in the nation. Each of Fickell’s full recruiting classes have been ranked around the top 25, with the 2024 class ranked 23rd in the country.
In the class of 2025, Fickell brought in eight four-stars and 15 three-stars. Amongst those 23 recruits is quarterback Carter Smith, one of the highest-graded quarterback recruits Wisconsin has ever brought in.
For comparison, the highest-graded quarterback recruit in Wisconsin history is Graham Mertz, who graded 96.89 on a 100-point scale. Mertz was also ranked the 65th-best prospect in the country.
Smith is a 91.84 and the 218th-best player in the Class of 2025. His 91.84 is good enough for being the third highest-ranked quarterback Wisconsin has ever brought in, behind the aforementioned Mertz and Bart Houston (92.03).
Fickell also brought in several other high-profile recruits. This includes guys like Mason Posa, who graded a 91.51 and is rated the 27th-best linebacker in the country and the number-one recruit from New Mexico.
Wisconsin is also bringing in Hardy Watts, the 14th-best interior offensive lineman and the number-one player from Massachusetts. There’s also Jaylen Williams, the 30th-best defensive lineman and eighth-best player from Illinois.
Fickell and his recruiting team brought in high-caliber high school players, several of whom have a shot at finding playing time next season. The class becomes even more exciting when including the players brought in through the portal.
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2025 winter transfer portal additions
The Badgers brought in two wide receivers to try and bolster the receiving room. The first of whom was four-star wide receiver Mark Hamper. Hamper spent last season with Idaho, where he tallied 858 yards and five touchdowns.
The Badgers also brought in Jayden Ballard, a former member of the 2025 national champion Ohio State Buckeyes. Ballard struggled to find playing time for a Buckeyes squad that had, arguably, the deepest wide receiver room in the nation. Ballard was graded the 15th best wide receiver out of high school in the class of 2021. Ballard is entering his last year of eligibility.
The Badgers also brought in an elite transfer tight end, four-star tight end Tanner Koziol, from Ball State. Last season, Koziol had 839 yards and eight touchdowns. In comparison, every Badger tight end on the roster last season combined for 348 yards and three touchdowns. Bringing in Koziol is a huge help in a struggling room.
The Badgers also brought in two much-needed quarterbacks with senior Billy Edwards Jr. (Maryland) and sophomore Danny O’Neil (San Diego St.). Neither were highly-touted recruits but they made names for themselves at the college level.
Last season, Edwards threw for 2,881 yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Comparatively, O’Neil threw for 2,181 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions.
On defense, the Badgers brought in more big names. One of them is four-star edge Tyreese Fearbry (Kentucky). Fearbry, similar to Ballard, struggled to find playing time at Kentucky but possessed serious talent — hard for the Badgers not to jump at the opportunity to bring him in to deepen that room.
Easily the most interesting transfer the Badgers are bringing is Matt Jung, who attended Bethel University, a DIII program in Wisconsin. Last season, Jung led all DIII programs with nine interceptions and four pick-sixes. On top of that, he racked up 86 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown.
He earned Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-America honors. The high school quarterback, middle linebacker and cornerback was born and raised in Wisconsin and now he gets a shot to play for his favorite childhood team — and bring them back to the glory fans are desperate to see again.