Mailbag: Wisconsin football QB questions, NIL priorities and Luke Fickell’s future
Should Wisconsin football roll with Carter Smith at QB? Where NIL resources matter most, player development questions, and why Luke Fickell is getting a Year 4.
A fresh batch of questions about the University of Wisconsin football program landed in my inbox this week, and they hit right at the heart of where this team finds itself heading into a pivotal offseason.
This mailbag dives into the quarterback dilemma at the center of everything, whether Wisconsin can afford to be patient with internal development, and how much urgency should shape portal decisions moving forward. We also get into where NIL resources should be spent internally if the staff is serious about building continuity instead of constantly hitting reset, and which returning player could tell us the most about whether this staff is truly developing talent behind the scenes.
Inevitably, that leads us back to the bigger-picture question hovering over it all: why the administration is sticking with head coach Luke Fickell through all of the turbulence, and why they still believe there’s hope.
Some fair questions. Some uncomfortable ones. Let’s get into it.
Q: I know the instinct every offseason is to hit the transfer portal and go get another quarterback, but why not just roll with Carter Smith?
- Dave from Da Northwoods.
I understand the question, and honestly, it’s a fair one.
Carter Smith is absolutely a player this staff should invest in and develop. The competitiveness is evident. The mobility is real. He can move the chains with his legs and add a dimension to the run game that Wisconsin has desperately needed under center. And it’s probably not fair to make any firm declarations about what Smith is or isn’t as a passer yet.
Smith finished 26-of-46 for 201 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, and he added another 87 yards and a score on the ground, helping lead Wisconsin to late-season wins over a pair of Top 25 teams.
The Florida native was thrown into action late in the season behind a patched-together offensive line, running a limited offense, after spending most of the season with the third team or scout team. That’s not exactly a clean evaluation environment. Long term, that’s the kind of quarterback arc you want. Recruit a guy, develop him, let him grow, and eventually see the payoff. The problem is, this staff doesn’t have the luxury of time.
This is a win-now season. The 2026 schedule is a bit lighter. The administration has been very public about investing more NIL resources and private funding into the program. At some point, those words have to translate into action, or the credibility of everyone involved takes a hit. Fair or not, that’s the reality of where Wisconsin football is right now.
Because of that urgency, Fickell can’t afford to wager his entire future on Smith. You can’t go into a season like this hoping development catches up in real time at the most important position on the field. If this staff gets quarterback wrong again, or has to navigate injuries, there’s a very real chance they won’t be here in 2027 to see how Smith’s story plays out.
“We know that the QB position is gonna be really key and critical,” Fickell said. “We haven’t shied away from making sure our guys understand that.”
That’s why I still believe Wisconsin has to go out and get a major-impact quarterback in the transfer portal. Someone closer to the top of the market. Someone who can raise the floor of the entire roster immediately. Quarterback is arguably the quickest way to change the makeup of a team, mask flaws, and stabilize everything else that’s a work in progress.
The ideal scenario is spending big at quarterback and retaining Smith. Let him continue to develop without the weight of carrying the program right away. If Smith becomes the future beyond that, wonderful. That’s a win.
But you can’t stake the program’s immediate future on potential alone at this point. There were things to like from Smith, no question. There just isn’t enough margin for error anymore to wait and see if that’s enough.
Q: With so much roster turnover expected this offseason, is there one position group you’d prioritize using Wisconsin’s NIL resources to keep intact, rather than rebuilding it through the portal?
- Allen C.
In the portal era, there’s really no such thing as a position group that doesn’t need help. Even the healthiest rooms are usually forced to backfill snaps or bodies just to survive the standard offseason attrition. That said, if I’m picking one spot where I’d be intentional about using NIL resources to keep the core of current players intact, it starts with inside linebacker.
And not just because of the young talent everyone already knows about.
For me, it begins with Christian Alliegro. At 6-foot-4 and 247 pounds, he looks exactly like what you want from a Will linebacker in this system, and the production backed that up. He finished the season with 53 total tackles, nine pressures, 8.0 tackles for loss, and four sacks. He brings size, range, and versatility, and he’s a player you can deploy in a lot of different ways depending on the matchup. Plus, he’s a leader in that room.
Then there’s Mason Posa, who might already be one of the most important defensive pieces Wisconsin has moving forward. Despite arriving on campus in the summer, Posa worked his way into a significant role and finished with a team-high 61 total tackles in just 363 snaps.
He added 14 pressures, 4.0 tackles for loss, four sacks, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery, earning third-team All-Big Ten recognition from the coaches. His 88.3 defensive grade from Pro Football Focus tells the same story the tape does. Posa can defend the run, hold up in coverage, and get after the quarterback. That’s the complete package, and he already plays like the heartbeat of the Badgers’ defense.
Cooper Catalano rounds it out. He’s more of a throwback type, an unheralded recruit who became Wisconsin’s all-time leading tackler in high school and carried that production forward. He finished with 56 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, four pressures, and two sacks. Catalano feels like a true Mike linebacker, a gritty, physical tackler, and reliable. There’s a world where all three of these guys play significant snaps together, especially if the defensive line in front of them plays as it did in 2025.
That part matters. If Wisconsin can rebuild the defensive line this offseason, it opens the door for this group to be disruptive and impactful.
Tackett Curtis entering the portal made sense given how his role changed, and the addition of Iowa Central Community College transfer Taylor Schaefer gives the room some added depth. There’s also Thomas Heiberger, who finally got healthy late in the season and showed flashes after being a highly regarded recruit as an edge-rusher. If you can retain Heiberger as a depth piece, that only helps strengthen the room.
But zooming out, this is a room where I don’t think outside additions necessarily raise the ceiling much beyond what’s already here. What you have is leadership and multiple players with legitimate all-conference upside. That’s hard to replace, especially when you factor in the culture and energy this group provides. Now you just need some continuity.
If I’m allocating resources with an eye toward 2026 and beyond, inside linebacker is the room I’m doing everything I can to keep intact.
Q: Is there one returning player whose trajectory this season could say a lot about whether this staff is actually developing talent?
- BadgerDad78