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Why Colton Joseph will be high-risk, high-reward transfer QB for Wisconsin Badgers

Colton Joseph could be the most dynamic Wisconsin Badgers quarterback since Russell Wilson, or he could be next in a recent trend of transfer portal busts.
Lorin Cox|
Old Dominion Monarchs quarterback Colton Joseph (1) is a high-risk, high-reward addition for the Wisconsin Badgers.
Old Dominion Monarchs quarterback Colton Joseph (1) is a high-risk, high-reward addition for the Wisconsin Badgers. | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

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Colton Joseph could be the most dynamic Wisconsin Badgers quarterback since Russell Wilson, or he could be next in a recent trend of transfer portal busts.

His ceiling is tremendous, and it's easy to see why the Badgers made him their No. 1 QB priority this winter.

Joseph also offers plenty of risk and could cost Luke Fickell his job in 2026 if he doesn't pan out.

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High-Reward

Wisconsin hasn't had a quarterback with the type of mobility that Joseph has since Tanner McEvoy in 2014, but he's a far superior passer as well.

At Old Dominion this season, he rushed for 1,007 yards and 13 touchdowns. He finished fourth among all QBs in the nation in rushing yards and tied for 10th in touchdowns.

Joseph led all quarterbacks in rushes of 15 yards or more, breaking away from defenses 22 times in 12 games, according to PFF.

He's also a true gunslinger with his arm, frequently taking deep shots downfield to stretch opposing defenses vertically.

According to PFF, he finished this season with the second-highest average depth of target of any quarterback in the country. Joseph also had the sixth-highest rate of deep pass attempts (20+ yards in the air) of any starter.

Nine of his 21 passing touchdowns came on deep throws, with a clear ability to create explosive offense with his arm and his legs.

If his game translates from the Sun Belt to the Big Ten, Joseph could be something special for Wisconsin and cement Fickell's job security as Badgers head coach.

Related: How Colton Joseph compares to other recent Wisconsin Badgers transfer portal QBs

High-Risk

Wisconsin has had exciting, productive quarterbacks come to Madison through the transfer portal in each of the last four winters.

None of them have worked out quite the way Badgers fans hoped.

Injuries were the big issue for Billy Edwards and Tyler Van Dyke, and Tanner Mordecai was also limited by health at times.

The plan for 2026 is to bring a quarterback in Joseph who gets hit more than most QBs because of his rushing.

He ran the ball 145 times this season at Old Dominion, 11th most among quarterbacks nationwide. Many of those runs end out of bounds or with a slide, but it's still 145 more opportunities for a defensive player to hit him.

Joseph's offensive line on the Monarchs did a solid job of protecting him in the pocket. He was under pressure on only 25 percent of his passing plays, tied for 20th lowest in the country, according to PFF.

But on the 84 plays he was under pressure, he took 17 sacks. That pressure-to-sack rate of 20.2 percent ranked 120th out of 168 starting QBs.

Mobile quarterbacks like him tend to hold onto the ball longer, as reflected by his average time to throw of 2.91 seconds, which invites more time for pass rushers to turn pressure into sacks.

When he does throw the ball, Joseph struggles at times with accuracy as well. Much of that is from the frequency of deep passing, where sometimes he forgoes an easier throw underneath for a more difficult vertical shot.

He's also more turnover prone than other recent Badgers quarterbacks.

His 10 interceptions aren't the end of the world, but he also added 12 fumbles as a ball-carrier, the third-most of any quarterback last season.

Joseph has the potential to be great, but he also presents his own level of injury risk and recklessness that could derail Wisconsin's offense and be the latest in a series of Badgers transfer portal quarterbacks that failed to meet high expectations.

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Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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