Stock up, stock down for Wisconsin football after Week 6 loss to Michigan
Wisconsin Badgers stock report after the 24-10 road loss to Michigan. Who’s rising, who’s falling, and what it means heading into Week 7.
The Wisconsin football team (2-3, 0-2 Big Ten) walked into Ann Arbor hoping to show signs of progress, and in some ways, it did. The Badgers fought hard, played disciplined early on, and even flashed moments of promise. But when the dust settled, a 24–10 loss to Michigan served as another reminder that effort alone isn’t enough. Under head coach Luke Fickell, this remains a team capable of competing, not yet one capable of finishing.
For a moment, the opening drive offered hope. Twelve plays, 75 yards, and a touchdown that was everything fans have been clamoring for. But after that, Wisconsin’s offense vanished, and the defense that had played hard all afternoon eventually wore down. The night ended with the kind of quiet resignation that has become far too familiar under this head coach.
“I sure as hell can tell you that it’s going to be a battle,” Fickell said. We said in the locker room, there’s only one way for where we want to go, and that’s through it. Through these tough times, through these tough situations. Recognizing what we have to do and how we have to grow is going to take a hell of a lot of effort, a hell of a lot of toughness, and most importantly, a hell of a lot of competitive spirit.
“Every play will be evaluated tonight: offense, defense, special teams, for the competitive nature of every guy. And we’re going to keep pushing forward with that.”
This team still plays hard. Nobody can question that. But effort without execution doesn’t win Big Ten games. The truth is, Wisconsin looks like a football program caught between what it wants to be and what it actually is — flashes of progress buried under the same old inconsistencies.
Even so, there were players who flashed, guys who continue to trend in the right direction amid all of the frustration. And there were others whose struggles mirrored the broader problems holding this team back.
With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at whose stock is rising and whose is falling after Wisconsin’s Week 6 loss to Michigan.
📈 Stock up: DL Parker Petersen
Sometimes it takes a while for a transfer to find his groove, but Parker Petersen has been rock solid for the Badgers all season. The Tulane transfer came to Wisconsin billed as more of a run-stopping specialist, but through five games, he’s proving to be better than advertised.
Petersen has logged 94 snaps so far this season, with a surprising 51 of them coming as a pass rusher and just 43 against the run. That shift tells you what this staff now thinks of him — he’s earning trust on every down.
Against Michigan, the Tennessee native posted two total tackles and a pressure. His 71.0 defensive grade was the highest among Wisconsin defenders who played at least 10 snaps, and he added a 70.8 mark in run defense. It might not jump off the page, but it’s emblematic of the steady, fundamentally sound play he’s brought to the defensive line room.
His season-long defensive grade from PFF sits at 76.7 overall, including a 78.8 mark against the run and a 77.0 tackling grade. At 6-foot-4, 314 pounds, Petersen has recorded seven total tackles and four pressures on the season, hasn’t missed a single tackle, and continues to show consistency every week.
This looks like a player who’s quietly growing into one of E.J. Whitlow’s most reliable defensive linemen. His snap count has more or less trended up every week since the home opener against Miami (OH), and with his balance of discipline and production, Petersen’s stock is climbing fast.
📈 Stock up: WR Vinny Anthony
If there’s been one constant through Wisconsin’s offensive struggles this season, it’s Vinny Anthony. The senior wideout continues to produce no matter who’s under center, and Saturday in Ann Arbor was his reminder that he’s become one of the few dependable pieces on this roster.
Anthony hauled in a career-high nine of his 11 targets for 97 yards, highlighted by a 27-yard reception that jump-started one of Wisconsin’s drives. His 75.1 Pro Football Focus grade wasn’t just the best mark among Badgers players this week; it reflected the kind of reliability this offense needs.
Across 45 snaps, Anthony did everything you could ask of a No. 1 receiver: ran crisp routes, created separation, and caught passes.
Through five games, Anthony now sits at 21 catches for 258 yards and a touchdown, which is solid production considering he’s caught passes from three different starting quarterbacks this season. The Kentucky native hasn’t flinched once through all of the program’s instability. He’s a pro’s pro, the kind of player who just shows up, does his job, and gives Wisconsin a chance to move the chains.
He’s now caught a pass in 16 straight games, and has a reception of 20+ yards in 10 of them. Anthony is a legitimate weapon in a bad offense.
In a season where inconsistency has defined nearly everything else, Anthony has been the exception. His stock continues to rise, and he’s proving week after week that he’s the unquestioned WR1 of this program.
📈 Stock up: CB D’Yoni Hill
It hasn’t been flashy, but D’Yoni Hill is quietly starting to settle into his role in Wisconsin’s secondary, and his performance against Michigan was another step forward. The Badgers trusted him with 63 total snaps, and he rewarded that confidence with one of his better outings of the season.
Hill finished the game with a 68.1 defensive grade from Pro Football Focus, including a strong 78.1 in run defense and an 81.3 tackling grade.
He wasn’t afraid to come downhill and stick his nose in the pile, finishing with five total tackles and several physical stops that set the tone on the perimeter. In coverage, Hill was targeted four times and allowed just two completions for 39 yards, with a long of 33. Those are some respectable numbers against a Michigan offense built to exploit mismatches.
He’s not a perfect product, but you can see the growth. Hill’s starting to play faster, trust his reads, and deliver the kind of tackling consistency this defense needs on the outside. For a secondary that’s been prone to giving up chunk plays, his emergence is a positive sign. Wisconsin needs more guys like Hill, reliable, physical, and improving week to week.
📈 Stock up: OL Davis Heinzen
It’s been a winding road for Davis Heinzen, but Saturday in Ann Arbor might have been the first sign that things are trending upward.
After a disastrous start in the season opener against Miami (Ohio), the Badgers reshuffled their offensive line and sent Heinzen to the bench. Since then, he’s worked as a swing tackle, and during the bye week, the staff even moved him to center, a position he hadn’t played, in hopes of finding some stability at a spot where there hasn’t been any in 2025.
Against Michigan, Heinzen’s start was far from perfect, but it represented something Wisconsin hasn’t had much of lately: progress. In 57 total snaps, he posted a 48.4 offensive grade, allowing three total pressures, two quarterback hits, but no sacks. That’s not perfect, but considering the context of it being a new position, a hostile environment, and one of the nation’s top defensive fronts, Heinzen gave them something to build on.
“Davis is doing a pretty good job,” Fickell said. “I’m not saying it was flawless by any means, but for a guy who’s played his first game ever at center in his fifth year of college football, there are a lot of things that we can build off of, and I think that’s where we have to continue to go.”
Jake Renfro remains sidelined with an injury, and based on how Heinzen held up, it wouldn’t be shocking if he keeps the job for now. Wisconsin needs competence and continuity more than anything up front, and for the first time in a while, Heinzen provided a little bit of both. It wasn’t clean, but it was progress, and that’s what this team needs right now.