Column: Wisconsin football has no choice but to take a QB in the transfer portal
Regardless of how Carter Smith closes out the season, the Badgers would be foolish not to add bodies to their quarterback room for 2026.
I don’t care if Carter Smith leads Wisconsin football to two stunning wins to close out the season, looking like the second coming of 2011 Russell Wilson in the process by shredding the Illini and Gopher defenses with both his arm and his legs.
The Badgers still need to land a transfer portal quarterback this winter. Maybe two.
There’s been a lot of discourse recently about what Wisconsin should do at quarterback moving forward. And rightfully so: the Badgers are down to their fourth-string gunslinger, a true freshman who, for the majority of the season, was running with the scout team.
Maryland transfer and preseason starter Billy Edwards Jr. has completely fallen off the face of the earth since his non-contact knee injury in the opener and brief return in the Maryland game (well, not completely, but he’s spent the last six games on the sideline, wearing an earpiece and clapping intermittently). He recently sat down with reporters, revealing his injury was more serious than initially expected.
Danny O’Neil, who was carted off the field (also with a non-contact lower body injury) against Washington, appears likely done for the year. But after a rough season with six total touchdowns — only one of which came against Power Four competition — and five interceptions, O’Neil’s case to be a future starter, and even to remain on the roster, is flimsy at best.
Hunter Simmons, meanwhile, completed just over 50 percent of his passes with a 2:5 touchdown-to-interception ratio over six games. A fifth-year senior, he’s likely out of eligibility.
That means these last two games belong to Smith. In the upset win over Washington and the blowout loss to Indiana, he flashed his high upside but also his warts, completing 12-of-27 passes for 106 yards, one touchdown and one interception while rushing for 52 yards and a score, also coughing up a fumble.
Now, the Hoosiers boast the 4th-ranked total defense in the nation. Illinois (61st) and Minnesota (38th) won’t pose quite as big of a challenge. Still, does anyone think Smith is going to convince them beyond a shadow of a doubt that he either is or isn’t the starter for 2026?