Colton Joseph Among Highest-Graded Returning Big Ten Quarterbacks

Wisconsin's starting gunslinger ranks highly amongst the Big Ten's returning quarterbacks.

Old Dominion Monarchs quarterback Colton Joseph. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Wisconsin football will rely on a transfer quarterback to save its offense once again this fall, but Colton Joseph feels like a different story than past quarterback band-aids Billy Edwards Jr or Tyler Van Dyke.

The former Old Dominion Monarch transfers from the Group of Six level, but brings tantalizing talent to Madison as one of the nation's best dual-threat quarterbacks in the past two seasons in Norfolk.

Joseph is coming off a season in which he tossed for 2,624 yards and 21 touchdowns while rushing for 1,007 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Those gaudy numbers resulted in a Pro Football Focus grade of 78.9 percent for Joseph, which positions him as the eighth-highest graded returning signal caller in the Big Ten.

Highest Graded Returning Big Ten Quarterbacks🎯 pic.twitter.com/QMtM4NXiO9

— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 18, 2026

Now, Pro Football Focus of course needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Their grades are the result of their own in-house formula that oftentimes simply doesn't match what the eye test tells you. Still, it's worth noting how the analytics site grades Joseph's 2025 season, and where he falls amongst the rest of the conference's returning quarterbacks.

Big Ten loaded with returning QB talent

Joseph's perch at No. 8 on this list may not look like much to write home about, especially since Pro Football Focus' tweet only included the top 10-graded returning quarterbacks. But one must keep in mind that the Big Ten is loaded with teams trotting out experienced gunslingers who have started for one program or another.

In fact, 15 of the 18 programs in the conference are set to deploy a "returning" quarterback, and it could be 16 if Rutgers' Dylan Lonergan wins the starting quarterback job over AJ Surace out in Piscataway.

Thus, Joseph being the 8th highest-graded returning quarterback out of 15 or 16 doesn't look too bad.

Joseph considered a top transfer QB in the conference

Wisconsin football quarterback Colton Joseph | Christian Borman

The top of Pro Football Focus' list, featuring Julian Sayin and Dante Moore, comes as no surprise. Those two are widely regarded as the elite gunslingers in the conference. But in terms of newcomers to the Big Ten, Joseph is the fourth-highest graded incoming transfer quarterback behind Nebraska's Anthony Colandrea, Illinois' Katin Houser and Penn State's Rocco Becht.

Colandrea at No. 3 is interesting. Sure, he poured on the stats last fall at UNLV, tossing for 3,459 yards, rushing for 649 yards and scoring 33 total touchdowns for the Runnin' Rebels. But I'm not sold that the generously listed 6-foot tall quarterback, who struggled in his first Power Four stint at Virginia from 2023-2024, is going to be able to come anywhere close to those gaudy numbers in Lincoln.

Colandrea and Houser are both coming off much bigger passing seasons than Joseph, but it'll be fascinating to see who winds up being the Big Ten's best incoming quarterback transfer from the Group of 6.