The Badgers hit the transfer portal for a quarterback again. How does he compare in the conference?
The Wisconsin Badgers hit the transfer portal for a starting quarterback for the third consecutive season, landing Maryland Terrapins transfer Billy Edwards this offseason.
Edwards, a rising senior, threw for 2,881 yards, 15 touchdowns, and nine interceptions in his first year as a starter last season, playing behind a subpar offensive line, albeit with solid weapons.
Now, he enters a Wisconsin Badgers team that returns several starters up front and has a receiving core with much to prove in 2025.
Wisconsin changed offensive coordinators this offseason, hiring Jeff Grimes from the Kansas Jayhawks. While Grimes’s scheme is more run-heavy, it’s no secret that quarterback play will still be paramount for the Badgers to reach their goals this season.
They’ve failed to get the play they’ve desired from the position over the last two years. In 2023, Wisconsin went 6-2 with Tanner Mordecai as their full-time starter, and had a great chance to potentially contend for a Big Ten West title.
However, Mordecai suffered a wrist injury that knocked him out for four games, and the Badgers went just 1-3 with redshirt freshman Braedyn Locke under center (played only the second half in 15-6 loss to Iowa).
In 2024, Wisconsin started the year 2-0, but Tyler Van Dyke went down with a season-ending knee injury. The Badgers proceeded to go 3-7 to end the year, losing five straight games and facing subpar quarterback play from Locke. That led them to miss a bowl game for the first time in 22 years.
Now in 2025, they’re relying on Edwards to be the guy for them, hoping to return to the postseason, despite facing one of the toughest schedules in the country.
Is Edwards a top quarterback in the conference?
CBS Sports’s Josh Pate put together his top 10 Big Ten quarterback rankings, with Penn State’s Drew Allar taking the top spot as expected.
However, Edwards was nowhere to be seen in the Top 10. Instead, here’s how it went:
1. Drew Allar (Penn State)
2. Julian Sayin (Ohio State)
3. Dante Moore (Oregon)
4. Demond Williams (Washington)
5. Luke Altmeyer (Illinois)
6. Dylan Raiola (Nebraska)
7. Jayden Maiva (USC)
8. Bryce Underwood (Michigan)
9. Fernando Mendoza (Indiana)
10. Nico Iamaleava (UCLA)
Looking at the list, it’s clear Pate is pointing to projections, as Sayin, Moore, Williams, and Underwood have yet to play many significant snaps at the college level.
The big surprise for me is Mendoza at No. 9, as the Cal transfer was one of the best quarterbacks in the country last offseason, and could end up as a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
While the order of the rankings can definitely be debated, it’s fair to question whether Edwards is a top 10 quarterback in such a talented conference. Ultimately, if Wisconsin does want to reach its goals and have a six-to-seven-win year in 2025, it’s going to need him to play like one.
Wisconsin plays many of the teams with quarterbacks on this list, including Ohio State, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, Nebraska, Michigan, and Indiana, in 2025.
Those games will be good indicators of where Edwards stands in the conference in comparison to other quarterbacks, but there’s no doubt that talent is present in the Big Ten this year.