The Badgers started 2025 undefeated through their first two games before quickly dropping six straight games, being outscored 181-41 in those losses.
After picking up some momentum towards the end of the season — with ranked wins over No. 23 Washington and No. 21 Illinois, finishing the season 4-8 — the Badgers made splashes in the portal, as they look to pick up their first winning season since 2023.
It’s important to note who is leaving first.
The Badgers have 23 outgoing transfers — most notably headlined, at least on offense, by the week one starting quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., who is joining Bill Belichick at North Carolina. Joining Billy in Chapel Hill is star wide receiver Trech Kekahuna.
The Badgers have two additional wide receivers transferring away. Joseph Griffin Jr. is heading to UMass, while Kyan Berry-Johnson is heading to Sam Houston.
Other offensive stars transferring away include starting running back Dilin Jones, who is moving to the SEC and joining new head coach Lane Kiffin at LSU. Star offensive lineman Joe Brunner is joining the reigning national champions, the Indiana Hoosiers.
The last of the offensive transfers includes Cade Yacamelli, who will play for Miami (OH), tight end Tucker Ashcraft, who is going to USC, offensive linemen Leyton Nelson, who is uncommitted at the time of writing and Jake Renfro, who will be at Illinois.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Badgers are losing several starters of last season. Some of the most notable of names includes Christian Alliegro, who is joining Ohio State, Omillio Agard, who will be at Virginia and Preston Zachman, who will play at Indiana.
Head coach Luke Fickell is also losing one of his highest graded high school commits of his Wisconsin tenure with defensive lineman Ernest Willor Jr., who will now play for James Madison. Other defensive lineman leaving include Jamel Howard Jr., now of Sacramento State and Cody Raymond, new Ohio Bobcat.
The last defensive players leaving are linebacker Tackett Curtis, who will play at UCF, Geimere Latimer Jr., who is joining his brother Amari — a former Wisconsin commit who flipped at the last minute — at West Virginia and Remington Moss, who is joining Elon.
Former starting punter Atticus Bertrams will be following Curtis to UCF, as he lost his starting job to Sean West during the middle of last season.
The Badgers also convinced Eugene Hilton Jr. to withdraw from the portal — keeping NFL star Ty Hilton’s son to remain a Badger for at least one more season.
Now for the fun part — who will be a Badger in 2026.
The Badger staff had a net gain of 10 players, bringing in 33 new transfers as opposed to the 23 transfers leaving. Of those 33, there are several that Badger fans should be excited about.
The Badgers brought in two exciting quarterbacks: Deuce Adams, who was at Louisville last year, and Colton Joseph, an Old Dominion transfer. Adams will have three years of eligibility left while Joseph will have two.
At running back, the Badgers brought in Nate Palmer of TCU, Bryan Jackson of USC and maybe most excitingly, Abu Sama III, who was at Iowa State. Sama rushed for 732 yards and five touchdowns last season, while Jackson rushed for four touchdowns.
The Badgers also brought in five wide receivers in this class: Eli Adams, formerly of Louisville, who will have four years of eligibility left, Zion Kearney, who was at Oklahoma, Malachi Coleman from rival Minnesota, Jaylon Domingeaux, who was at Southeastern Louisiana and Shamar Rigby, formerly of Oklahoma State.
The Badgers also bolstered the tight end room with Jacob Harris from Bowling Green and Ryan Schwendeman from Southern Illinois.
As for the offensive linemen, the Badgers brought in Stylz Blackmon from Augustana, PJ Wilkins from Ole Miss, Lucas Simmons from Florida State, Blake Cherry from Arkansas and Austin Kawecki from Oklahoma State.
The Badger staff spent the majority of their time recruiting on the defensive line and in their secondary, something fans also saw in 2025. It led to a top ranked defense in the Big Ten last year, and hopefully it will in 2026 too.
On the defensive line, the Badgers brought in DeNigel Cooper from App State, Liam Danitz from Hope, Jake Anderson of Illinois State, Jayden Loftin who flipped from Wisconsin to Tennessee during his recruitment, Hammond Russell IV from West Virginia, Junior Poyser from Buffalo and Justus Boone, a former Arkansas Razorback.
The Badgers also brought in six transfers for the secondary: Marvin Burks Jr. from Missouri, Bryce West from Ohio State, Javan Robinson from Arizona State, Cai Bates from Florida State, Eric Fletcher from Oklahoma State and Carson Van Dinter from Iowa State.
The last of the transfers includes linebacker Jon Jon Kamara from Kansas, punter Ethan Tranel, from UW-La Crosse and long snapper James Roe from Toledo.
The Badgers brought in a strong transfer class, one that ranked top 50 in the country. They filled positions they lost, bolstered weaknesses from last season and overall made a big splash — a splash they promised.
Shortly after athletic director Chris McIntosh backed Luke Fickell, one of the most prominent donors for Wisconsin football, Ted Kellner, went on to claim that Wisconsin would have one of the strongest budgets in the country for 2026. Well, certainly, this transfer portal class was a good start and a great sign for a program looking to get back to their winning ways.
It’s exciting to see the staff and donors keeping their word, bolstering the roster in a big way, and hopefully prepping the Badgers for a rebound season, a season where the Badgers make a bowl game for the first time since the 2023 season.
It’s impossible to know whether or not the talent on a roster gels, whether or not they pick up wins. But what is possible to tell is that the talent is present in Madison. Now, it comes down to coaching, development and progress during the spring and leading into fall.
