Whispers and rumblings circulated throughout the week about the Wisconsin football team potentially switching quarterbacks from Colton Joseph to true freshman Ryan Hopkins.
A lot of smoke followed after Fickell’s media availability, where he insisted Colton Joseph would remain the Badgers’ starting quarterback. But as the old adage goes, 'where there’s smoke, there’s fire.’
Word leaked that Hopkins was getting most of the reps with the first team at practice, making you wonder whether Hopkins would get the nod against Rutgers this weekend, or at the very least, split reps with Joseph.
But now, in a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the Badgers will start Hopkins on Saturday afternoon.
The report says he’s starting because Joseph is dealing with an injury and ‘isn’t himself’, which is a bit of a red flag. Joseph didn’t appear on the initial injury report this week, so whether or not he is really injured is up for interpretation.
Why this is the best time to start Hopkins
It’s never ideal to make a midseason change at quarterback, but this may be best for the team. Joseph has not been playing well lately. We knew coming into the season that he wasn’t brought to Madison for his throwing ability, but even still, his accuracy has been questionable at best.
Given that the Badgers are facing a three-game stretch of teams that are at or near the bottom of the Big Ten, this would be an ideal time to get Hopkins in the starting role and some experience before the Badgers take on Minnesota at the end of the season and the potential bowl game afterward.
Hopkins will make his first career start after appearing in three games this season. He came in relief of Joseph in the Badgers’ 30-0 blowout win over Iowa last weekend, completing 8/13 passes for 93 yards and an interception.
You can see a breakdown of his game against Iowa here.
Film Room: Should Wisconsin football turn to Ryan Hopkins at QB?
Just two weeks ago, even after his second straight outing in which he threw for fewer than 100 yards, the idea of benching starting quarterback Colton Joseph seemed absurd for Wisconsin football.
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Amazing. #Christian, why does the 608 media buy the propaganda that our Athletic Department spews from January to September 1 ? O Line "much improved" ? Colten "a QB who will transform UW football" ? Some of your posters predicted 8-4, 9-3 and 10-2 in August.
They drank the Kool Aid too. I hope that Hopkins has a good game. Thanks for the update.