Wisconsin Football Mailbag: QB Discussion, Outgoing Transfers, More
Badgernotes readers submitted some Badgers football-related questions.
Badgernotes.com received a variety of questions about the Wisconsin Badgers football program from our dedicated readers earlier this week.
So, without further adieu, Let's jump into your mailbag questions...
I don't understand why the Badgers didn't roll with Braedyn Locke at QB. What's the appeal of adding Tyler Van Dyke?
There is a perpetual tug-of-war between immediate success and long-term development across college football. Wisconsin football head coach Luke Fickell wants to build a program that recruits and develops their own guys. But he's also under pressure to win games immediately.
So, anytime the Badgers have an opportunity to bolster the team's depth at the game's most important position through the portal, that's a temptation you'd be foolish not to explore.
That said, the Badgers needed to add an experienced arm for a few reasons. Having an upperclassman helps counterbalance the uneven scholarship distribution in the quarterback room.
Behind Tyler Van Dyke, is a massively inexperienced group of QBs: Braedyn Locke, Nick Evers, Cole LaCrue, and Mabrey Mettauer. His addition will allow them time to develop behind him and, ideally, push for the starting job the following season.
Delving deeper, the Wisconsin Badgers offense performed poorly last season. They averaged 23.5 points per game, marking its lowest scoring total in 19 years—while ranking poorly in most key offensive metrics.
Setting it and forgetting it at quarterback would've been malpractice, even if you view Locke as the future QB1, in my opinion.
While Van Dyke might not have been the most exciting addition, he comes to Madison with 28 starts at a Power 5 program under his belt.
Over his career, Van Dyke has amassed 7,469 passing yards, along with 54 touchdowns to 23 interceptions, and compiled 11 career games with 300+ passing yards. That's something that only happened once last year.
That's all a long-winded way of saying that Van Dyke has plenty of experience, a big arm, and can push the ball downfield in the passing game, which is an element of the air raid offense that was missing.
You could do much worse than adding someone like Van Dyke into the mix. Plus, if Locke proves to be the better option during camp, he'll earn the job—it's a win-win situation for Wisconsin.