Wisconsin Football 2016 Outlook: Quarterbacks
By Jim Oxley
A look at the Wisconsin football team’s 2016 quarterback outlook
The Wisconsin Badgers head into the 2016 college football season with a major question mark at arguably the most important position in all of sports: quarterback.
More badgers: Joel Stave Leaves Wisconsin on High Note
2015 saw the Badgers say farewell to Joel Stave, who for all his shortcomings, leaves UW as the school’s winningest quarterback. He threw a lot of interceptions and he was never a fan favorite, but he and the Badgers teams around him won games, and he will be tough to replace for that reason and more.
Without Stave on the roster, the Badgers are surprisingly thin at the quarterback position. Wisconsin has recruited three quarterbacks since 2013 who are no longer on the team, as Tanner McEvoy was a junior college recruit (class of 2013) who came in with limited eligibility and both D.J. Gillins (class of 2014) and Austin Kafentzis (class of 2015) transferred out of the program.
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Two of those three players would have theoretically been in the mix for the starting gig this season, but instead, the Badgers have just four options for 2016 as things sit now.
Luckily, one of those options has actual real-game experience, and not just in clean up time.
The front-runner for the starting job in 2016 is redshirt senior-to-be Bart Houston, who has played in 15 games over his tenure as a Badger. more importantly, he answered the call when he was needed against Illinois in the 2015 season, stepping in for an injured Joel Stave and playng three quarters for the Badgers on the way to a Wisconsin victory.
Houston finished the Illinois game with 22 completions on 33 attempts for 232 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He did throw a pair of bad interceptions in the red zone, but otherwise played a strong game for Wisconsin. In his career Houston is 29 of 51 (57 pecent) for 295 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions.
Houston is clearly the front-runner for the starting job, but a dark horse to keep an eye out for will be redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook. Hornibrook, a 6-4 lefty hurler, followed head coach Paul Chryst from Pittsburgh to Wisconsin, flipping his commitment to play for the man who recruited him in the first place. He impressed early in spring practice, and by all indications performed well in practice all season.
He has an uphill battle to overpass the much more experienced Houston, but stranger things have happened. If nothing else, Houston proved last year that a reliable backup can win a game, and the Badgers will need Hornibrook ready if that opportunity arises.
Wisconsin has another player with some experience, although it’s only come in practice, as redshirt senior walk-on Thad Armstrong has one year left on campus. Armstrong has been around since 2012, so he’s plenty familiar with how things run at Wisconsin.
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The fourth option for the Badgers at the quarterback position is incoming recruit Kare’ Lyles, who is expected to sign his letter of intent on National Signing Day. Lyles isn’t expected to challenge for the job, and is probably headed for a redshirt season, but he’s an important commit nonetheless. Not only will he help add depth at a position that desperately needs it, but his younger brother, Kayden Lyles, is a stud offensive lineman who has also committed to the Badgers, the same school their father (Kevin Lyles) played for.
The 2016 depth chart is anything but written in pen, and spring football will go a long way toward finding out if Houston will hold down the starting job or if Chryst chooses to go another direction. This past spring we saw Chryst make his decision early to name Stave the starter, so maybe we find out in a few months who the starter will be.
In any case, the Badgers will head into 2016 with limited options at the position, and Wisconsin will need s couple of guys to step up and deliver when it counts.
Next: Top 10 Quarterbacks in Wisconsin Football History
Stay tuned to Badger of Honor for more off-season coverage of the Wisconsin football team.