After a miserable season for Badger quarterbacks, Wisconsin made a splash in the transfer portal by landing former Old Dominion quarterback Colton Joseph, who was regarded as one of the premier leaders in this year’s transfer portal. Joseph will have two years of eligibility remaining.
During his time at ODU, Joseph, who is listed at 6-foot-2 and weighs 200 pounds, made a huge impact on their football program. Joseph took home Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year for the 2025 season, while leading his former school to a 10-3 season.
Joseph is regarded as a major dual-threat quarterback as he rushed for over 1,000 yards and threw for over 2,600 yards in 2025. Joseph was also responsible for 34 touchdowns last season..
Joseph has proved he can play at a high level despite coming from a smaller school like Old Dominion. Early in the season, Joseph and the Monarchs faced off against Virginia Tech and came out with a 19-point victory.
In the win, Joseph threw for 276 yards, ran for 63 yards and accounted for 3 total touchdowns. The Monarchs also kicked off the season on the road in Indiana where Joseph ran for 179 yards, scoring two touchdowns in the loss . Joseph has certainly proved he has what it takes to compete at the Power 4 level.
Coming out of high school, Joseph was merely a three-star recruit, with offers from only four Division I schools.
After deciding between those four schools, Joseph ended up moving across the country to Norfolk, Virginia, the home of Old Dominion. Joseph redshirted in 2023 before taking over as the Monarchs’ starter in 2024.
Joseph comes to Madison with 2 years of eligibility remaining, as the Badgers hope he can handle the reins for more than just a season. While the Badgers are all in on Joseph, it will be interesting to see if incoming 4-star freshman quarterback Ryan Hopkins and returning 4-star redshirt freshman Carter Smith, who started Wisconsin’s last four games, remain with the program.
Wisconsin added a second transfer quarterback — Louisville’s Deuce Adams — on Thursday. A depth piece, Adams appeared in seven games in his two years at Louisville and has three years of eligibility remaining.
Since Luke Fickell took over in 2023, the Badgers have opened the season with three different quarterbacks in three years. From Tanner Mordecai to Tyler Van Dyke to Billy Edwards, not a single one of these three quarterbacks completed a full season with the Badgers due to injury.
With Joseph’s arrival comes high expectations. Badger fans have been waiting for a promising leader at quarterback for years, and with a highly-touted portal acquisition with multiple years of eligibility remaining, Joseph offers Wisconsin a potential multi-year solution to what has been an Achilles heel in recent years.
