Colton Joseph Among Top Three QBs Nationally in Eye-Popping Metric

The man tasked with resurrecting Wisconsin's offense, Old Dominion transfer quarterback Colton Joseph, has a legit claim to the best mobile quarterback in the country.

One glance at Colton Joseph's rushing stats the past two seasons tell you he's absolutely dynamic with his legs; he ran for a combined 1,654 yards and 24 touchdowns.

Pop on his highlights, and the eye test backs up with the numbers tell you. What's more, that eye test holds up against elite competition; last season, one of Joseph's best days on the ground came against eventual undefeated national champion Indiana, when he amassed 179 rushing yards and two scores on 10 carries against the Hoosiers.

But dig deeper into Joseph's rushing numbers, and they somehow become even more impressive. According to CBS Sports' Cody Nagel, Joseph ranks third in the entire country in explosive rushing percentage by a quarterback:

Top 🔟 explosive rushing QB leaders entering 2026 ⬇️🏈 pic.twitter.com/rjKSy1OT83
— Cody Nagel (@CodyNagel247) July 22, 2026

What Joseph's explosive rush percentage means

Translation: 19.3 percent of the time Joseph tucked the ball and ran, it turned into an "explosive" running play, which is generally considered a rush of 10 or more yards.

Essentially, one out of every five times Joseph pulled it down and ran, he gained at least 10 yards. That's a pretty remarkable statistic, and illustrates not only how dangerous Joseph's legs are, but how adept he is at turning a scramble into a big play. The quarterback doesn't just escape pressure and get what he can on the ground; he makes defenses pay by ripping off long run after long run.

There's a few other interesting takeaways from this list. For starters, the two quarterbacks listed ahead of Joseph, Utah's Byrd Ficklin and UConn's Kalieb Osbourne, are both projected backups. Thus, the Badgers' QB1 is the country's most explosive-running starting quarterback, at least statistically. Again, that's pretty mind-boggling.

That of course also makes Joseph the most explosive-running quarterback in the Big Ten and the SEC, the two best leagues in the sport. The next best Big Ten/SEC quarterback on this list? Somewhat surprisingly, it's Arch Manning, with a similar 19.0 explosive run percentage. It's also worth noting that the only other Big Ten quarterback included on this list is Maryland's Malik Washington.

Joseph his a big arm and is a talented passer as well, but he's still a little raw in that area. He'll miss throws, he'll make poor reads. But his legs? They could be the great equalizer for Wisconsin.

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