The Wisconsin Badgers began day one of fall camp at Camp Randall Stadium. The day was full of highs and lows, but the excitement for football season is palpable. The roster is loaded and full of a ton of newcomers, creating competition at nearly every position. One of the positional battles is one that Wisconsin fans are keenly interested in: the quarterback No. 2.
Colton Joseph is clearly the No. 1 quarterback, and it's never been much of a debate, but who is QB2 is much more up in the air. Luke Fickell said after practice that he was going to have true freshman Ryan Hopkins and transfer Deuce Adams split reps behind Joseph. That's big news for the true freshmen, and he's come a long way since joining the class only a season ago.
The original plan was that Joseph would be No. 1. Deuce Adams would be No. 2, Carter Smith or maybe Danny O'Neil (when healthy) would be No. 3, and then true freshman Ryan Hopkins would be learning from all of them. The 3-star quarterback from Mater Dei came in way more polished than anyone expected.
Luke Fickell is incredibly impressed with the depth of the quarterback room this season
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In spring ball, he started to turn heads. Wisconsin media members started taking notice, then Wisconsin fans started jumping in, and the next thing you know, Hopkins' name is being whispered among the fanbase.
Jesse Temple said this during spring ball: "Very impressed with freshman QB Ryan Hopkins. Three straight outstanding throws with reserves: One bomb to Eugene Hilton Jr. inside the 5 (great catch), one for 20-plus yards to Shamar Rigby, and one dropping his arm angle under pressure to Rigby."
Even Joseph was raving about him in spring, "It's not even the big plays he makes, the most impressive part, he has a shot call, and he identifies the pressure and gets it to the checkdown for a 10-yard gain."
This isn't to downplay what Deuce Adams is able to do, he's a solid quarterback that looks every bit the No. 2 behind Joseph. Yet, Joseph is special and is finding his way rocketing up the depth chart. He went from No. 4 or 5 to No. 2 before the season even kicked off.
As spring ball started, there were a lot of eyes on how the backup quarterback reps would be split. And Hopkins and Deuce looked like they were sharing the QB2 role; it was a quick question in Fickell's presser after. When asked point blank about if the plan was to split the reps at QB2 between them, Fickell said, "It is." He then elaborated, "I mean, I haven't shied away from saying one of the best things about where we are now from where we have been is that quarterback room. And I just feel like there's some competition and there's some depth in there."
This is the best news a Wisconsin fan can read. Since Fickell came to Wisconsin, he's yet to finish a season with his starting quarterback. Each season his starter gets hurt, and we quickly learn the gap between No. 1 and No. 2 is HUGE. Last year, the gap between No. 2 and No. 3 was even bigger. It was a real problem, and now it seems like the room is loaded and a true freshman may end up being the best of the bunch after Colton Joseph.
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