3 position groups that could raise the floor for Wisconsin football
Wisconsin football doesn't need a miracle to rebound in 2025—just competence from three key position groups. Here's where real progress can happen.
There’s been a lot of chatter coming from outside the Wisconsin football program heading into 2025—about the brutal schedule ahead, the pressure on head coach Luke Fickell, and whether or not this team can even make a bowl game.
But let’s shift the conversation.
Not toward breakout stars or bold predictions—but toward three areas where the Badgers can, and I think will, quietly improve as a football team. Not splashy upgrades. Just tangible, sustainable steps forward that could help raise the floor of this team and start shifting how we view what Fickell and his coaching staff are attempting to build.
“Going into Year 3 was the first time we recognized there's some things that we have to do different—whether it's a little bit more schematically, whether it's size-wise defensively, which we recognized that we had to do," Fickell admitted. "It wasn't just, ‘OK, you don't have a bowl game,’ it was OK, first, let's have some really deep conversations, because there's going to have to be some changes made."
Fickell was candid, admitting he and his staff had to take a hard look in the mirror. Missing a bowl game wasn’t just a wake-up call for the Badgers. It forced uncomfortable conversations about what wasn’t working—schematically, culturally, and especially up front on defense.
Some of the changes came from the outside, sure. However, a lot of the growth needed to come from within the program. Fickell didn’t just shake up the offense by firing Phil Longo and hiring Jeff Grimes—he acknowledged that certain things should’ve been addressed sooner and made it clear this staff had to rethink how they were building the team.
That kind of self-awareness laid the foundation for wholesale changes, ones that nudged this program back toward an identity Wisconsin fans will actually recognize. While no one should be expecting a finished product in 2025, there are three position groups that, in my eyes, are trending the right way and could quietly help raise the floor of this team.
1. Quarterback play: Billy Edwards Jr. doesn’t need to be a star—he just needs to be dependable.
Let’s start under center. If you watched Wisconsin football last season, you know how painful the quarterback situation got after Tyler Van Dyke’s season ending knee injury that came against Alabama at home.
Braedyn Locke was put in a tough spot, and while the kid’s got a good head on his shoulders, he was the definition of a backup. He was one of the least efficient quarterbacks in the Power Five, and I’m not even saying that to be critical. He was asked to do something he wasn’t ready for.
Enter Maryland transfer Billy Edwards Jr., who moved to campus right after signing to get a head start on learning the offense and building relationships. The staff didn’t waste time naming him the starter, just like they did with Tanner Mordecai. No drawn-out competition, no splitting reps.
It’s a clear contrast from last year, when Locke and Van Dyke battled it out throughout spring practice and into fall.
"He's a pro, and I think first walking in the door, we handed over the keys to him," Fickell said of Edwards... "He's asserted himself. He has done a great job embracing everything, whether it's getting to know the offensive line guys, getting to know the wide receivers... he's done a phenomenal job at the little things that really matter when you're a guy walking into a program knowing you're only going to be there for nine or 10 months.
"What's going to give you the best opportunity to make sure those guys will believe and trust in you? That's what he's done," Fickell continued.
This is a guy who started multiple games at Maryland behind one of the worst offensive lines in all of college football. And he still put together a respectable season. Edwards started 11 games for Maryland last year, completing 65% of his passes for 2,881 yards, 15 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. Edwards also added 148 rushing yards and five scores on the ground, showing he’s more than capable of making plays with his legs.
Now he walks into a program with a better offensive line, a real run game, and a system under Grimes that plays to his strengths: operating on time, managing the Badgers offense, and pulling it down when the lane’s there to take off.
According to Pro Football Focus, Edwards posted a 71.3 passing grade—52nd out of 82 qualifying Power Five quarterbacks. Locke? He graded out at 58.6, good for 72nd. The difference might not scream “game-changer,” but it absolutely suggests a more competent baseline. Edwards also produced 18 big-time throws to just 12 turnover-worthy plays. Locke, by comparison, had just 10 big-time throws and 18 turnover-worthy plays.
So, no, this isn’t about finding the next star. It’s about raising the floor. Edwards doesn’t need to be special—he just needs to be solid. And if he gives Wisconsin what he gave Maryland, but with better protection, more structure, and a halfway run game to lean on? That’s a huge step forward from where this group was a year ago—even if the bar isn't very high.
Even baseline competency at quarterback should make the offense look and feel dramatically more functional. The Edwards addition won’t grab national headlines, but it should bring the stability Wisconsin’s offense has been missing. And that alone could raise the team's floor.
2. Defensive Line: Bigger, deeper, and finally disruptive?
You want to talk about an overhaul? Let’s talk about the defensive line.
A year ago, Wisconsin had three defensive linemen over 300 pounds. Three. This year? That number is up to eight. That’s not a tweak—that’s a philosophical shift, and the investment made in the portal shows just how important this staff felt it was to fix the Badgers' run defense.
Guys like Jay’Viar Suggs, Parker Petersen, and Charles Perkins didn’t just walk in with mass—they came in with reps. With twitch. With technique. This isn’t about throwing weight at the problem. It’s about building a front that can not only hold up but also make a few plays when needed.
Defensive line coach E.J. Whitlow said it best: “This is big-boy football. People are leaning on you for 60 minutes plus… You need bodies to roll and stay fresh, so we can play aggressive and attack.”
And he’s right. Last year, this team gave up the most rushing yards per game since 2005. If this group can even get back to being a net neutral—just solid, not even elite—it will change everything for the defense. Suddenly, your linebackers are freed up. Your secondary can take more chances on the backend. Everything stacks off the line of scrimmage.
With Suggs, Perkins, Petersen, and returning pieces like Ben Barten, Dillan Johnson, Jamel Howard, Brandon Lane, and the freshman in the 2025 recruiting class, there should be enough veteran depth to keep guys fresh and be more impactful with their snaps.
I think this group will be noticeably better—maybe not a strength, but no longer a liability. Last year was just flat-out bad. And while I still have my reservations about Mike Tressel’s ability to coordinate a high-level defense at Wisconsin, I think the defensive line will at least give him a better shot at showing what he's capable of and wants to become moving forward.
3. Outside Linebacker: Don’t look for stars—look for stability.
There’s a long list of frustrations you could point to from Wisconsin’s 2024 season, but none sting more than what didn’t happen at outside linebacker. This was supposed to be a position of strength—Mike Mitchell’s room had new bodies, new energy, and transfer portal reinforcements aimed at solving a very specific problem: affecting the opposing quarterback.
Instead? The Badgers finished 128th nationally in havoc rate. That’s not just underwhelming. That’s disappearing from the stat sheet. You weren’t holding your breath on third down because nothing was coming off the edge to make opposing quarterbacks skittish. It was a unit that managed just 6.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss from its pass-rushers all year.
Some of that’s on the defensive line, sure—pressure starts up front. But regardless of the situation, you’ve got to find a way to pressure the quarterback. And for the last two seasons, Wisconsin’s outside linebackers just haven’t done that. Not consistently. Not when it mattered.
"I don't have to remind you where we were nationally in terms of tackles for loss," Mitchell said. "We had a decent pressure rate, but we didn't finish on sacks. So we need to do that. We want to try to create more negative plays, and we are on a mission to try to create more without having to bring pressure packages.
"It's a combination: the people we recruit and the athletic skill set, and how we coach them—the techniques and fundamentals. Now, you can't go completely rogue and sacrifice the scheme of our defense. But when is it acceptable to take a shot?
“We didn't create enough negatives last year, and we have to do that."
It’s also worth noting that Wisconsin lost both of its top edge defenders from last year—Leon Lowery Jr. hit the portal, and John Pius exhausted his eligibility. Those were your starters. And while their departure leaves a gap, it cleared the way for a much-needed personnel reset.
To offset those losses, the Badgers dipped back into the transfer portal and stocked up on bodies. Mason Reiger arrives from Louisville. Tyreese Fearbry comes in from Kentucky. Corey Walker made the move from over Western Michigan. And Michael Garner is an intriguing name to watch after transferring in from Grambling State with multiple years of eligibility.
Add those pieces to a returning group that includes Darryl Peterson, Aaron Witt, Sebastian Cheeks, and Ernest Willor Jr., plus freshman Nick Clayton—and suddenly you’re looking at a room with options.
Some of these guys can set the edge. Some have real bend and could develop into situational pass-rushers. Others blur the line between defensive end and stand-up outside linebacker, which gives Mike Tressel and coach Mitchell the flexibility to play with different looks and tailor packages to offensive matchups.
It’s not about finding one star to fix it all—it’s about creating a room that can finally function how it’s supposed to.
That’s why I say don’t look for stars here. Look for solid. If this group can return to being serviceable, just give you something, Wisconsin’s defense won’t have to play with one hand tied behind its back.
And just like quarterback and defensive line, the bar here is low. But if this unit can simply do its job—generate pressure, win occasionally on the edge, make a few plays in the backfield—you’ll notice the difference, maybe not in the box score. But definitely in the way games look.
So, what does all this mean?
It means Wisconsin doesn’t need a miracle to look like a more complete football team in 2025. They just need competence where there was disarray a season ago. A little structure where there was uncertainty. And steady hands in a number of key spots where things collapsed last fall.
None of these groups are expected to be the strength of the team. But if they each make a leap from “liability” to “reliable”? That’s how they quietly raise the floor—and maybe sneak up on a few teams.
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