In his three years with the Wisconsin Badgers football program, there have been a ton of different starting quarterbacks under Luke Fickell.
One would argue there have been far too many, but injuries happen, and no one would’ve expected some of these quarterbacks to turn out the way they did.
Now, all eyes are on Old Dominion transfer Colton Joseph. The Badgers seem to have a nice QB room heading into the 2026 season, but that’s a phrase that has been uttered before and hasn’t yielded the results one would expect from a Big Ten program that once regularly appeared in the Rose Bowl.
2023 Season
Tanner Mordecai
It’s crazy to think Mordecai first played at the collegiate level in 2018. He went from Oklahoma to SMU to Wisconsin, where he spent his lone season in Madison in 2023. The Texas native threw for 378 yards in the ReliaQuest Bowl, but missed time from October 14 to November 4. Ultimately, he completed 65% of his passes for 2,065 yards, but threw for just nine touchdowns with four interceptions. At the very least he added 303 yards on the ground with four touchdowns.
2023-24 Season
Braedyn Locke
Locke transferred to Arizona for the 2025 season, but saw significant playing time in both 2023 and 2024. In nearly double the attempts, Locke got his completion percentage up to 55.4% in 2024 compared to the 50.0% it was during his time filling in for Mordecai. Overall, he threw for 2,713 yards in Madison with 18 touchdowns to 11 interceptions.
2024 Season
Tyler Van Dyke
The last thing Wisconsin wanted to do was lose its starting quarterback against Alabama, but that’s exactly what happened at Camp Randall against the No. 4 Crimson Tide. Van Dyke’s career in Wisconsin came to an end with him completing 43 of his 68 passes for 422 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. He would later transfer to SMU for his sixth season in 2025 before joining the Mustangs as an offensive analyst.
2025 Season
Billy Edwards Jr.
The 6-foot-3 Virginia native was supposed to be the chosen one last season, but once again, the Badgers’ quarterback room was plagued with injuries. Edwards recorded a pass attempt in just two games as he went 7-16 for 113 yards. Now, he’s set to take over at North Carolina under Bill Belichick.
Carter Smith
Thanks to Carter Smith, Wisconsin took down No. 21 Illinois, 27-10. Smith went 9-11 for 75 yards in a game where Hunter Simmons was 2/4 for 17 yards. Simmons may have been the team’s leading passer in 2025, but Smith added 87 yards on the ground to go along with his 201 passing with three total touchdowns and an interception.
Danny O’Neil
Wisconsin seemed to have a ton of faith in Danny O’Neil, but his experiment went nowhere according to plan. O’Neil was replaced by Simmons after just a few weeks, though it’s clear neither did anywhere near enough to leave a lasting impact on this team. Sure, the Indiana native completed 67.8% of his passes, and his 7.1 yards per attempt was the highest on the team, but he threw five touchdowns and five interceptions.
Hunter Simmons
Not much can be said about Simmons’ time as a Badger that hasn’t already been said. In just three full seasons, Simmons was the seventh quarterback Fickell had to turn to. That’s not great, to put it lightly, and Simmons 62-118 for 664 yards with two touchdowns to seven interceptions highlights how the 2025 season went in Madison.
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This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Every Wisconsin quarterback during Luke Fickell’s first three seasons
Reporting by Jordon Lawrenz, Badgers Wire / Badgers Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
