There are lots of ways to find out how good a transfer player is before they arrive on campus. You can look at stats, or portal rankings, or, and maybe most importantly, you can see how the fanbase reacted to the player's previous school. For Missouri fans, losing Marvin Burks was a kick to the gut. He immediately became one of the best safeties in the portal.
Wisconsin had to work hard and probably open up the checkbook to land him, but Burks is a stud, and his play on the field and stats tell even more of the story.
BREAKING: MIZZOU safety Marvin Burks to Wisconsin #Badgers
— Nick Osen (@TheRealNickOsen) January 8, 2026
Huge get for Jack Cooper and the room pic.twitter.com/pH2q0CirXH
Wisconsin lands one of the top safeties in the transfer portal, Marvin Burks
Related: Wisconsin football transfer portal tracker: Who's out, in, and the speculation
Burks had 49 tackles, 1 pass deflection, and 1 interception this season for Missouri. And over the last couple of seasons, it's well over 100 tackles. In 2025, he played a team high in snaps for the Tigers. He plays with explosive energy and is fantastic in coverage. He can also get downhill to bring down running backs.
Burks was a 4-star prospect as a recruit out of high school and has played now three seasons for Missouri. He wants to use his last season of eligibility to play for the Badgers and Luke Fickell.
It's a big pickup for Wisconsin as he brings veteran experience to the secondary, something they lost in Preston Zachman, but now have brought back with Burks. The portal continues to be Luke Fickell's choice for overhauling this roster. Burks is now the 20th player that Fickell has added this week to Wisconsin.
He's also the second safety to be brought in via the portal in this cycle. Wisconsin started the whole run with former Iowa State safety Carson Van Dinter. These two may end up being the two starters at the beginning of next season.