7 thoughts from Wisconsin football's 2nd fall camp practice
The quarterbacks have some wheels to them, a transfer finally able to get on the field, and more.
MADISON, Wis. — It didn’t matter which quarterback took the reins of the University of Wisconsin football team’s offense Friday.
They were a threat with their feet.
Kenny Guiton’s position group arguably has the most athletic group of quarterbacks seen in Wisconsin’s modern era (or at least in Badger Observer’s eyes, since I started covering the team in 2013). The Badgers staff signed Colton Joseph and Deuce Adams from the transfer portal and Ryan Hopkins as part of its 2026 recruiting class. The program also returned Carter Smith and Danny O’Neil, who each flashed their mobility last season.
The four quarterbacks who received 11-on-11 reps — Joseph, Adams, Hopkins and Smith — all had at least one carry that went for significant yardage during Friday’s practice inside Camp Randall Stadium.
Joseph, who rushed for 1,007 yards and 13 touchdowns at Old Dominion last season, took an initial snap during an 11-on-11 period against the first-team defense and ran up the left side of the field for a big gain to the cheers of the offense. It’s not just designed quarterback runs or run-pass options (RPOs) that can keep opposing defenses honest, but his scrambling abilities to extend plays or gain yardage when they initially stop the offense when trying to air it out downfield.
Joseph’s a true dual-threat quarterback for this offense under coordinator Jeff Grimes, and there’s also some swagger to his game. He celebrated near the defense’s sideline after a completion to wide receiver Eugene Hilton Jr. that went into the deeper levels of the defense.
“He’s great with his legs. He’s got a strong arm, and to me is the total package,” Grimes said Wednesday. “But I guess the thing I’ve been the most pleased with is just the way he’s worked, his attitude every single day.
“He’s a workhorse, and — whether it’s in the weight room or whether it’s out running on the field when we’re doing gassers during the summer, or in a practice and we’re asking something of him mentally that he hasn’t done before, checking a protection or a play — I’ve never seen the moment too big for him. I’ve never seen the work be too burdensome for him. He’s a workhorse, man. He can handle the load.”
Badger Observer continues fall camp coverage with more thoughts from Wisconsin’s second preseason practice. Thursday’s takeaways can be seen here.
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