Predicting Three Wisconsin Football Depth Chart Week 1 Surprises

Who or what could surprise us when the Badgers release their initial two-deep?

Wisconsin QB Deuce Adams. | Christian Borman.

College football depth charts are notoriously unreliable.

Some programs load every position up with "OR" to make it impossible to discern who the starters really are. Some programs, such as Florida State this season, simply refuse to release a depth chart entirely.

Under head coach Luke Fickell, Wisconsin has been pretty straightforward with its depth charts. The two-deeps, released at the beginning of each week, don't always reflect the team's rotations to a tee, but they're a more or less accurate depiction of who's going to trot out with the starters each week, and who's likely to replace them.

We've already taken our final stab at projecting Wisconsin's depth chart ahead of Week 1, but what are three depth chart moves that could take us by surprise when it's officially released at the onset of Notre Dame week? Badgers On SI takes a look below:

Deuce Adams OR Ryan Hopkins at QB2

Wisconsin quarterback Ryan Hopkins. | Christian Borman.

Offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes had one word to describe the quarterback battle between true freshman Ryan Hopkins and Louisville transfer Deuce Adams the last time he spoke to the media: "ongoing."

Following a stellar spring camp by Hopkins, after which he appeared to have the inside track at the backup quarterback spot, Adams roared back in the fall, evening the race and making it an extremely tight competition.

Eventually, a winner is going to need to be settled on.

“It will be decided," quarterbacks coach Kenny Guiton said during fall camp. "I promise you we'll have enough film to know exactly which direction we wanna go.”

Obviously, if the situation arose, Wisconsin needs to know who's next in the pecking order behind Colton Joseph. But if Hopkins and Adams are truly neck-and-neck with no clear winner emerging from fall camp, or if Wisconsin simply doesn't want to reveal who's next in line behind Joseph, it could very feasibly drop an "OR" at the QB2 spot.

DL Nolan Vils cracks the two-deep

Wisconsin DL Nolan Vils (92). | Christian Borman.

I didn't have Vils in my final two-deep projection, but he could very feasibly become the fourth or even third defensive lineman in this room, snap-count wise.

Vils' ascension from walk-on to legitimate rotational option on the defensive front, who spent plenty of time working with the twos and occasionally the starters at fall camp, has been pretty remarkable.

"Big Red," as he's endearingly referred to by his teammates, is one of the team's lighter defensive linemen at just over 300 pounds, but he's flashed some real disruption, muscling into the backfield and getting his hands in passing lanes.

“Nolan Vils has really worked his ass off," defensive line coach EJ Whitlow said. "Coming from a guy that was a walk-on, he’s really put in the time. He’s changed his body. He’s got himself over 300 pounds. He’s worked in the offseason as far as increasing his foot speed. But he plays the game the right way, too. He plays with a nastiness, he plays with an edge to him, which at the end of the day, that’s what it takes inside.”

I could easily see Vils as an "OR" inclusion on the two-deep, perhaps sharing a spot with Dillan Johnson behind a top three of Hammond Russell IV, Charles Perkins and Junior Poyser.

TE Nizyi Davis earns a spot on the two-deep

Wisconsin TE Nizyi Davis. | Christian Borman.

We've heard a lot about Emmett Bork this offseason, but when I dropped by Camp Randall to take in fall practice, Davis was much more impressive. Bork is a big, imposing tight end, but Davis was by far more physical and had a couple big-time pancake blocks in the practices I watched.

Last season, four tight ends made the Badgers' two-deep as there was an "OR" at both starter and backup. I see that remaining the case in 2026. There's a lot of 12 and even 13 personnel in offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes' scheme, and there hasn't been a lot of separation between the top and bottom of this room.

Thus, four tight ends should be featured on the two deep once again. Jacob Harris, Grant Stec and Ryan Schwendeman appear to be locks. That means it's down to Bork and Davis for the final spot, and again, Davis was more impressive in my eyes this fall.

"There’s a physicality and a toughness that quite honestly I don’t know that I had seen. Everybody’s on a toughness battle or journey, and when you walk in the door the whole objective is you have to grow in it. And he has grown," Fickell said.