Colton Joseph Gives Strong Early Reviews of Jeff Grimes' Offense

Wisconsin football's newest QB1 Colton Joseph met with the media after Tuesday's fifth practice of the spring and had plenty to talk about, from the gaudy expectations surrounding his upcoming junior season to adjusting to life in Madison.

A topic he couldn't help circle back to, however, was offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes' offense — particularly how much he believes he's an excellent fit for the play-caller's scheme.

“I think coach Grimes has a really good system that I can thrive in," he said. “It’s really just running through my process. Running plays how it’s drawn up, if everything’s smoothly, we’ll do that every single time. But if something goes wrong, things are bound to happen, that’s where I come out to expand the play.”

Former Old Dominion's Colton Joseph. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Grimes pro-style, run-heavy system favors a quarterback that can move around, which would be putting it mildly in regards to Joseph.

The quarterback's improvisational skills, which he flashed consistently in two seasons at Old Dominion, appear to have piqued the curiosity of Wisconsin's offensive coaches.

“Our coaches always emphasize scrambling. When the first play’s not there, there’s always a second play that’s within the play," he said. “Create plays off of broken down plays."

This Colton Joseph tape is a blast, man.

Full breakdown coming soon, but there’s a LOT of high-level ball against P4 competition…#Badgers pic.twitter.com/6CCTMWihOn
— Seamus (@seamus_rohrer) January 6, 2026

It makes sense that any coach would want to utilize the legs of Joseph, who ran for 1,007 yards and 13 touchdowns last season with the Monarchs. But it's still encouraging to hear that Wisconsin appears to be planning lean on his mobility, which looks like one of the biggest strengths of this offense.

Joseph is an incredibly gifted athlete, but he's still developing as a passer while learning a new offense this offseason. In his words, Grimes' playbook "is bigger than I thought."

“I think it’s a mix of learning new defensive schemes and learning a new offense at the same time," he said.

Still, the vision is clear for Joseph, who said Grimes' extensive cut-up of film that depicted how he could thrive in the system — akin to a 2020 Zach Wilson, who Grimes coached at BYU — won him over.

Joseph's "Enlightening Moment"

“I figured out what my skillset could do with this offense. It really was an enlightening moment when I figured out all the tricks and stuff he has to get me in space with the ball and even just the route concepts. It was all great stuff to build on my skillset.”

Joseph also described himself as a "point guard," a good analogy for how the quarterback is meant to be a facilitator and get the ball to others. But it's clear that Wisconsin is going to ask more of its prized dual-threat quarterback who's been publicly tasked with leading the program.

At Old Dominion, Joseph proved that his mobility and arm talent make him an extremely dangerous player. Early on, Wisconsin appears to be leaning into those traits.