National Outlet Snubs Badgers in Top-100 Players List—Here's Three Who Could Prove Them Wrong

Which Badgers could be top-100 players in college football by season's end?

Wisconsin OT Kevin Heywood. | Christian Borman.

If you're surprised that On3 didn't include any Badgers in its list of the top-100 players for the 2026 college football season, you clearly missed the on-field carnage Wisconsin has suffered for the better part of the past three years.

Coming off a 4-8 campaign — their worst record in 36 years — the Badgers are flying so low under the radar they might as well be crawling. The only national attention Wisconsin has gotten this offseason is when its head coach, Luke Fickell, comes up in discussions of coaches with the hottest seats this fall.

It's certainly troubling times for the football program in Madison, and that was reflected in On3's recent piece ranking the top-100 players in college football.

Does this mean Wisconsin is completely devoid of talent? Not at all; in fact, I beleive this is one of Fickell's more talented rosters, certainly more so than 2025 and 2024.

With that, here's three players who could wind up being top-100 players in the country in 2026:

1. QB Colton Joseph

Former Old Dominion Monarchs quarterback Colton Joseph. | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

Despite amassing nearly 6,000 total yards and 56 touchdowns over the past two seasons while leading Old Dominion to just its second ever winning season at the FBS level, Joseph remains slept on nationally.

Considering On3's list only includes 13 quarterbacks, it's not surprising to see Joseph's name not included. But in terms of Badgers with potential to explode onto the national scene, he's at the top of the list.

There's already been plenty of ink spilled over Joseph's athleticism and arm strengh. But an underrated aspect of his transfer to Wisconsin? Just how good of a fit he appears to be in offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes' offense.

"It really was an enlightening moment when I figured out all the tricks and stuff he has to get me in space," he said this spring.

2. OT Kevin Heywood

Wisconsin OL Coach Eric Mateos runs through a drill with OT Kevin Heywood. | Christian Borman.

Heywood has just 72 career snaps, all of which came during mop-up duty in the 2024 season. Still, the 6-foot-9, 318-pound offensive tackle is a an athletic freak and he easily has the highest upside of any offensive lineman on the team. Remember: coming out of high school, Heywood was a consensus top-five offensive tackle and a consensus top-60 player nationally.

Now primed to hold down the Badgers' starting right tackle spot, Heywood could explode onto the scene in 2026 with his rare combination of size, power and athleticism. For all the promising new pieces on Wisconsin's offense, don't forget about the surging tackle whose time has finally come.

3. LB Mason Posa

LB Mason Posa and his partner in crime, Cooper Catalano. | Christian Borman.

There's several defensive players who I believe have a shot to vault into the top-100 players in college football this season, one of them being Posa's position-mate Cooper Catalano. But if I had to pick one, Posa is the most likely to blossom into a national star.

Both Posa and Catalano are tackling machines; Catalano potentially even more so. But Posa's knack for the big play — something he displayed time and time again as a freshman — is what has him positioned to become a national star, because he can singlehandedly change the course of a game.

Posa was the Badgers' leading tackler last fall, but he also notched four sacks, three pass-breakups, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. His elite instincts allow him to always be around the ball, and he can spoil an offensive drive in the blink of an eye.