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The Wisconsin Badgers have found their starting quarterback for 2026: Old Dominion transfer Colton Joseph. Joseph, who committed on Sunday, was the Badgers' top choice for the position. A successful weekend visit sealed the deal for Pat Lambert and the Wisconsin recruiting staff.
Joseph had a successful redshirt sophomore year for the Monarchs in 2025, throwing for 2,624 yards and 21 touchdowns while also adding over 1,000 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground. Joseph was one of, if not the best, dual-threat quarterback in the portal, which is why Jeff Grimes and the Badgers were so invested from the jump. Joseph graded out at a 79.0 on PFF, which was just below quarterbacks Rocco Becht and Demond Williams. The signal-caller was named the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year in 2025, beating out quarterback Alonza Barnett III, who led James Madison to the College Football Playoff. In addition, Joseph has two years of eligibility remaining, meaning that the Badgers have potentially found their quarterback for 2027 as well.
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Joseph is a real boom-or-bust quarterback, but in the best way possible. If he's not extending plays with his legs, he's talented at moving the ball down the field in big chunk plays. Joseph averaged 9.0 yards per pass attempt this year, which ranked ninth-highest in the nation, tied with star Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. When he is extending plays with his legs, Joseph is as explosive as can be. He broke off a 75-yard touchdown run on the first play of his team's matchup against top-ranked Indiana this season. Teamworks clocked Joseph with a top speed of 21.2 MPH this season, which is only .52 MPH off the top NFL speed from this year (21.72 from Rashid Shaheed).
Joseph has some minor accuracy issues, but those should be minimized if he is asked to do less in Jeff Grimes's offensive system, alongside transfer running back Abu Sama. Additionally, he throws an excellent deep ball, which will be a real asset for the Badgers as they look to have more success throwing downfield next fall.
Wisconsin still has positions to fill in the portal, most specifically on the offensive and defensive lines. But overall, the Badgers have had the most active transfer cycle of any program in the sport, and they appear to be far from finished.
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This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Wisconsin football transfer quarterback commitment Colton Joseph
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