Wisconsin bye week grades: The QB room has been a rollercoaster

The Wisconsin Badgers have officially entered their bye week sitting at a respectable 4-1 on the season. Through this stretch, us as fans have learned many good — and bad — things about each and every player on the roster. From emerging stars to underwhelming starters, there has been quite the influx of stories to track through just five weeks.

Of course, it’s always important to take small samples with a grain of salt, as, after all, there is still a lot of football yet to be played. That said, it’s also fun to reflect and grade players’ performances in order to adjust moving forward — starting with the quarterback.

Grade: B-

If we were to just grade Wisconsin’s quarterback play strictly off the last five quarters, then this grade would likely be a helluva lot higher. That said, it’s impossible to ignore the inconsistencies from the position thus far, and properly scale that against the highs we have seen.

Colton Joseph, the Badgers’ starter, has played every meaningful snap thus far, meaning that a vast majority of this B- grade falls on his shoulders. To this point of the year, Joseph has completed 56.6% of his passes, throwing for 1,132 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions — two of which were pick-sixes.

The Wisconsin offense has been no stranger to big plays through the air — a rarity for the program — in large part due to the value Joseph brings. In four of the team’s five games, he has completed at least one pass over 45 yards, including multiple 70-plus-yard completions.

The in-between stuff, however, has been the real issue. Joseph has had his fair share of miscues, poor reads and errant passes thus far, which have to be cleaned up moving forward. Nobody is doubting his ability to stretch the field and make the occasional big play, but what fans really want for him to do is make the easy stuff look easy — something he has struggled with.

That said, one could also argue that Joseph’s short-yardage value comes from his legs — not his arm. Joseph has tacked on 262 yards and three touchdowns on the ground as well — numbers that account for sack yardage — and has been a consistent threat in that regard, especially in recent weeks.

Finding the balance between the two aspects moving forward is the challenge for the Wisconsin staff, but it definitely wouldn’t hurt the offense for Joseph to find some consistency with his arm.

Freshman Ryan Hopkins is the only other QB that has seen the field for the Badgers thus far and has yet to attempt a pass. He has, however, tucked four rushes for 14 yards.

All in all, the Wisconsin quarterback play has been solid — especially as of recent — but has plenty of room to improve.

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