This does not have to be this hard, but Luke Fickell and Billy Edwards Jr. may see differently. Not since right before halftime of their Week 1 home opener vs. the Miami RedHawks has Edwards even taken a snap for the Wisconsin Badgers. While it looked to be a season-ending, non-contact injury to his knee, Wisconsin fans are thankful he has only been out a few weeks. He is slated to return shortly.
That being said, Saturday's Big Ten home opener vs. the Maryland Terrapins is not the right time to reinsert Edwards into the starting lineup. It does not matter that Edwards would have a chance to go up against the team he started for under center last year. Maryland is the easiest remaining opponent left on the Badgers' schedule. They are a massive 9.5-point home favorite over the visiting Terrapins.
While the upside of Edwards' College Park successor in Malik Washington is is very high, this is a game where if Wisconsin plays within itself, it should be able to come away with a victory. Danny O'Neil has shown plenty of poise and confidence operating behind the line of scrimmage the last few weeks. He may not be as talented as Edwards, but Wisconsin cannot afford for Fickell to lose the plot.
More importantly, Wisconsin has much bigger fish to fry once they come off its first bye next week.
Starting Danny O'Neil over Billy Edwards Jr. vs. Maryland is a no-brainer
The only thing that matters this week for Wisconsin is getting to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in Big Ten play. While their chances of winning may go down a tick with O'Neil getting the start over Edwards, time is on the Badgers' side this week. If O'Neil can go out and handle business, then that paves the way for Edwards to make his second start of the season coming after the bye ahead of the Michigan game.
When Fickell talked about protecting Edwards from himself, this may have been the game he was referring to. Surely, Edwards would love nothing more than to beat the snot out of his former team to kick off Big Ten play for the Badgers with a big bang. However, Wisconsin has a long season ahead of it. If the Badgers want to achieve bowl eligibility, they need a healthy Edwards to get them to six wins.
Overall, this may be a contrarian take, but starting O'Neil one more week is the right call. Edwards could be healthy enough to play on Saturday, but what if he gets dinged up again when he is not at 100 percent? This is an opponent O'Neil can beat. It does not seem likely that O'Neil could beat any of the big Big Ten baddies coming up on their schedule. With Edwards, the Badgers might have a shot.
Logic has to prevail here by Fickell giving O'Neil his full trust and faith to lead the Badgers this week.