Wisconsin Badgers transfer QB showing 'natural born leadership' in training camp

When Danny O’Neil left San Diego State to join the Wisconsin football program this offseason, it wasn’t to walk into a starting job. O'Neil was well aware that Billy Edwards Jr. was locked in as QB1 for 2025, and he knew the most likely outcome was a season spent preparing, developing, and learning the offensive system before taking his shot in 2026.

For a lot of quarterbacks in today’s transfer portal era, that’s a tough sell. But O’Neil has leaned into it.

Wisconsin didn’t just pluck O’Neil out of the portal to fill a spot on the depth chart. Since Luke Fickell and his staff arrived, the Badgers haven’t had the luxury of their starting quarterback making it through a full season. Tanner Mordecai broke his throwing hand in 2023 and missed three games. In 2024, Tyler Van Dyke tore his ACL against Alabama and sat out the final nine. That forced Braedyn Locke to start a dozen games, going 4-8 in those appearances.

Given that run of tough luck, it made all the sense in the world to go and get a legitimate backup option who had both real experience and multiple years of eligibility to develop.

The 6-foot, 195-pound Indianapolis native arrived in Madison with a full season of starting experience under his belt. As a true freshman in 2024, he started 11 games for Sean Lewis at San Diego State, completing 63.3% of his passes for 2,181 yards, 12 touchdowns, and just six interceptions.

He opened the year with 127 consecutive pass attempts without a pick, showing the kind of decision-making that’s rare for a first-year starter. Pro Football Focus graded him at 72.4 overall and 75.0 as a passer, crediting him with 12 big-time throws against only nine turnover-worthy plays.

And now, O’Neil’s working to build on that.

“He has always had a good fire about himself,” quarterbacks coach Kenny Guiton said. “Danny is a guy that comes in with a natural born leadership about himself. He comes in with a chip on his shoulder. He’s just one of those guys that, you know, what kind of fire you’re getting out of him.

“And since Spring, I just encouraged him to make sure that’s who he is all the time. I was one of those guys as well. It’s kind of easy to see when you’re not, you know? And I think at the position that we play, the leaders that we have to be, they have to see that every day, no matter how it’s going, no matter which way it may be going at the time. I need to know that it’s gonna flip at any moment because of the calmness they have."

That consistency, being the same steady presence every day, has been a focus point for O’Neil since spring ball. And Guiton’s seen the results.

“I see him doing a better job with that,” Guiton said. “You can just tell he’s more comfortable in the playbook, right? The things we’ve added to the playbook. We know how to tailor around his game better for when he’s in and when the different quarterbacks are in, knowing what their strengths are, and we’re able to tailor the game around that.

“He has that kind of skill set that is more all-around. But also, we know that he can get people in the right places, move his feet in the pocket, and make some good decisions. Every now and then, we can move him around as well.”

O’Neil’s path is the one that Fickell and his staff have been trying to normalize, land a talented young quarterback, give him time to grow, then let him compete to take over the starting job. In a sport where patience is in short supply, the hope is that a year of seasoning will set him up to battle former blue-chip recruit Carter Smith for the job in 2026 and finally break the cycle of having to go to the portal to find a capable starter.

If O’Neil keeps stacking days like he has since spring practice, the conversation a year from now could look very different, and Wisconsin might have an in-house successor ready to take the reins. That said, a lot can happen between now and the start of next college football season.