Wisconsin football retooled its quarterback room this past offseason by bringing in veteran quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. from Big Ten foe Maryland.
It was part of a complete retool on offense for the Luke Fickell and the Badgers, who fired offensive coordinator Phil Longo last season and hired Jeff Grimes away from Kansas to fix a Wisconsin offense that ranked 11th and 13th in the Big Ten last season in total offense and scoring respectively.
Edwards Jr.’s time in Madison has been off to tough start as he has been sidelined each of the last two games vs. Middle Tennessee and Alabama after sustaining a knee sprain in Week 1.
While Edwards Jr.’s status for the Badgers’ Big Ten opener at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 11 a.m. CT remains in question, if the 6-foot-3 quarterback is active and plays, it will come against a defensive scheme (and program) that he is familiar with in Maryland, his former program.
Here’s an explanation on why Edwards Jr. transferred to Wisconsin from Maryland:
Why did Billy Edwards Jr. transfer to Wisconsin?
Edwards Jr. entered the transfer portal on Thursday, Dec. 12 of last season, 12 days after he finished up his first season as the starter at Maryland where he led the Terrapins to a 4-8 season. He spent the previous two season in College Park backing up Taulia Tagovailoa, the brother of former Alabama and Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
At 22-years-old and one year of eligibility remaining since he redshirted his true freshman season at Wake Forest in 2021, Edwards Jr. was looking for the right fit for his final season of college football.
“It was more so just looking for the best fit for me for my last season of eligibility,” Edwards Jr. told The Athletic on his decision to transfer to Wisconsin. He announced his transfer to Wisconsin on Dec. 16, 2024 in a post on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption of “Time to Jump Around.”
But on top of wanting the “best fit” for him, what drew the Virginia product to the Midwest to a program that has struggled at the quarterback position in recent years? Wisconsin has had seven different quarterbacks play at least one snap in the last three season, which includes the final year of the Paul Chryst era.
In an interview put together by Wisconsin’s athletic department, Edwards Jr. pointed at Fickell and Badgers first-year offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes.
“It was a number of things. The biggest two or three things (were) one, the tradition and history of Wisconsin and what their program speaks of. (And) I think the biggest thing was probably Coach Fickell and the staff,” Edwards Jr. said in the piece.
“… When you think of the Big Ten, you think of Wisconsin football. They have all the right tools in place in terms of great offensive line, running ability and offensive coordinator that they just hired that plans on doing that and building everything else in the offense around that.”
Billy Edwards Jr. stats
Here’s a year-by-year breakdown of Edwards Jr.’s stats at Maryland and Wisconsin:
Billy Edwards Jr. 247 rankings
Edwards Jr. was listed by 247Sports as a three-star recruit and the No. 28 ranked quarterback in the transfer portal. He received similar recruiting rankings out of high school by 247Sports Composite Rankings, as he was a three-star recruit and the No. 103 ranked quarterback in the 2021 recruiting class.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Why did Billy Edwards Jr. transfer to Wisconsin? Explaining move by former Maryland QB
Reporting by John Leuzzi, USA TODAY NETWORK / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
