Player Previews: Can OT Lucas Simmons-Johansson Capitalize on his Potential in Madison?

The former blue-chip recruit is another ex-Seminole dripping with potential.

Wisconsin offensive tackle Lucas Simmons. | Wisconsin Athletics

Over the course of the summer leading up to Big Ten Media Days and fall camp, Badgers On SI will extensively preview Wisconsin football's roster with a write-up for each player expected to be remotely involved in 2026.

We continue the series with one of the team's most intriguing athletes, offensive tackle Lucas Simmons-Johansson.

2025 Stats

12 games, 81 offensive snaps

Overview

Simmons-Johansson spent the first three years of his career at Florida State after signing with the Seminoles as a highly-coveted recruit. He was a consensus four-star, top-10 offensive tackle in the country. While he was a highly-regarded recruit no matter who you talk to, he was especially elite on 247Sports, who rated him as the No. 62 player in the country in the class of 2023.

Last season was his first real action on offense, and it was a very limited 81 snaps. Yet to crack the rotation in Tallahassee, the tackle took his talents to Madison this offseason.

Initially, he was seen as something of a longer-term developmental piece.

“There’s one of those ones where you’re talking about potential," head coach Luke Fickell said of Simmons-Johansson in his post-transfer portal presser.

That looked to be the case early, as according to offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, he got off to a slow start in spring ball as he worked to acclimate to a very different offense than what he was used to. However, as camp wore on, he started to earn more and more reps and eventually took some reps with the starters towards the final practices of the spring.

Best-Case Scenario

Lucas Simmons. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Simmons-Johansson is a backup tackle for now, and I have him as the No. 3 offensive tackle on the team at the moment behind projected starting right tackle Kevin Heywood and projected starting left tackle PJ Wilkins. But while Heywood's spot looks pretty set in stone, Wisconsin would absolutely let Simmons usurp Wilkins from the starting blindside tackle spot if that's what transpires in fall camp.

It'll be interesting to see how many snaps with the starters Simmons-Johansson receives in fall camp. How much of a legit opportunity he's given to win the starting gig will of course impact his chances, but in a perfect world for the former Seminole, he becomes one of the biggest surprises of fall camp and steals the starting left tackle job from right under Wilkins' nose.

It might not be extraordinarily likely, but it's certainly within the realm of possibility. Wisconsin's new offensive line coach Eric Mateos publicly praised the tackle since summer workouts began, saying he's already added 12 pounds to his frame since spring practice wrapped up.

Worst-Case Scenario

If things go sideways for Simmons-Johansson this fall, it likely means he simply didn't get to see the field. The interesting thing here is that if the Florida State transfer rides the bench all season, that's great news for Wisconsin — it means that its starting tackle duo of Heywood and Wilkins panned out beautifully.

Of course, another season riding the bench, or even earning mop-up snaps during late-game situations, isn't what Simmons-Johansson came to Madison to do. He spent the past two years in Tallahassee as a benchwarmer. It'll be interesting to see just how urgently he fights for a starting gig in fall camp.

Prediction

Predicting the tackle's season is an interesting endeavor, as it's almost more about predicting the seasons of the players currently listed ahead of him on the Badgers' unofficial depth chart.

I don't see Heywood giving the staff a reason to take him off the field this season. Wilkins is a different story; the former Ole Miss Rebel has lots of potential, but he hasn't played tackle at the college level yet and he's essentially learning a new position.

I think if Wilkins falters in the slightest, Simmons-Johansson might earn snaps for a drive or two here and there. Depending on how he performs, we'll take it from there.

I love the 6-foot-7, 320-pound tackle's potential, and the staff certainly does too. How quickly can he tap into that potential in Madison? That remains to be seen, but I expect to see him on the field at times this fall and for him to play the most snaps of his career.