Which tight end will breakout for Wisconsin football?

Wisconsin football's spring practices are scheduled to kick off on March 19. With dozens of incoming transfers, a handful of new position coaches and a new starting quarterback once again, there'll be no shortage of intrigue when the Badgers hit the practice field.

At Badgers On SI, we'll preview spring ball position-by-position. Today, we keep it going with the wide receivers.

RELATED: QB Preview | RB Preview | WR Preview

Best Player

It's less obvious than some positions, but pre-spring practice, Bowling Green transfer Jacob Harris looks like the cream of the crop.

He only caught 19 passes for 182 yards last fall in his sophomore season, but he parlayed that into five touchdowns. Harris is an athletic pass-catcher at 6-foot-4, 255 pounds, and his combination of strong, reliable hands and fluidity in the open field for his size make him a potentially dangerous weapon for this Wisconsin offense.

Harris is still refining the finer points of his game, including blocking. That's a pretty crucial attribute to possess in offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes' offense, so it'll be interesting to see where he's at in his development as a blocker when spring practices kick off. Stil, Harris looks like the top player for tight ends coach Nate Letton.

Biggest Question

How many productive tight ends can this offense sustain?

Last season, it was the Lance Mason show, and rightfully so. He led the Badgers in receiving with 30 catches for 398 yards and four touchdowns. He was targeted 49 times, while the next most-involved tight end (Jackson Acker) saw just 10 targets.

That begs the question of how many productive tight ends Grimes' offense can sustain? Of course, Wisconsin's passing offense was the worst in the Power Four last season, and a tight end still led the way in receiving. This room is going to produce; the question is how much, and with how many players?

Player to watch

There's a couple solid choices here, but Southern Illinois transfer Ryan Schwendeman is fascinating. He reportedly had interest from over a dozen Power Four programs in the transfer portal, but settled on the Badgers. In 2025, he caught 15 passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns, and has plenty of experience as a blocker as well.

With FCS transfers who were hot commodities in the portal but have little stats to their name, it's always interesting to see how they look in practice. Do they flash the intangibles that had dozens of power conference coaches seeking their signature? Wisconsin has hit on some talented players from lower levels of the sport under the Luke Fickell regime in the past (Nyzier Fourqurean, Elijah Hills). Has it found another one in Schwendeman?

Most to gain

You'd love to see Wisconsin's redshirt freshman one-two punch of Nizyi Davis and Emmet Bork begin to make a dent in the rotation, but given the three more experienced players above them, they'll likely be limited to reserve roles barring an injury.

Thus, the redshirt sophomore Stec, who's marinated in the program for two years, has a shot to turn some heads this spring and raise his stock the most.

Stec played 200 snaps last fall and caught a modest five passes for 50 yards. Still, at 6-foot-6, 258 pounds, and with a body refined by multiple years in the Badgers' strength program, Stec is a sleeping giant at the tight end position who supplies an intriguing blend of receiving chops and size to lay down blocks at the line of scrimmage.

If Stec isn't ready to come into his own yet, Wisconsin signed two transfers with more experience who should do just fine. But don't forget about the former blue-chip prospect at tight end.

One bold prediction

Stec steals the show.

The two aforementioned transfers Wisconsin signed are talented and both have more experience than Stec. But I think the former four-star recruit is in prime position to make a splash this spring.

By all accounts, he's a very wiling and eager blocker. That's crucial for earning playing time in this offense, and it positions him well against his competition against Harris and Schwendeman, both of whom are still developing in that category.

Stec clearly has some growing to do himself with just 202 career snaps to his name, but again, he's got an intruging combination of receiving and blocking ability that could make him the best of both worlds. If it doesn't happen for Stec this season, it's hard to see it working out down the line.

Projected depth chart

Projected tight end depth chart
1. Jacob Harris
2. Grant Stec
3. Ryan Schwendeman
4. Nizyi Davis
5. Emmett Bork