Stunning news arrived for the Wisconsin Badgers football team on Monday, as it was revealed that starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke is one and done with the program. That's right, Van Dyke is entering the transfer portal after only one campaign in Madison.
Not long ago, head coach Luke Fickell said the door was still open for TVD to return to the Badgers, but that's not going to happen. With Van Dyke on his way out, the Wisconsin QB1 job is now fully up for grabs. With that said, how's the QB depth chart looking for 2025 now that the veteran signal-caller is leaving the program?
Braedyn Locke sits at the top of the Wisconsin QB depth chart for now
As things stand, Braedyn Locke would be the starter if the '25 campaign were to start tomorrow. Thankfully, that's not the case - there's still plenty of time for Fickell to bring in outside help (we'll get to that below).
Behind Locke, you'd have redshirt freshman Mabrey Mettauer, who plenty of fans were hoping would replace Locke late in the season. Then, 4-star signee Carter Smith and fellow '25 signee Landyn Locke are on the way to campus as well, while Milos Spasojevic, a preferred walk-on from 2024, would round things out.
It goes without saying, but Fickell and his coaches are surely going to take a look at the transfer portal to bring in some help for the quarterbacks room. Throughout this past season, Locke proved far too many times he's not the answer behind center for Wisconsin.
There are some intriguing transfer portal quarterback options for UW, including Conner Weigman, Matthew Sluka and others. Visits with top portal targets are starting to get set, so you can expect Fickell to start working overtime with QBs soon. The portal officially opened up on Monday and won't close until Dec. 28. Plenty of time for Wisconsin to make something happen.