The current state of the Wisconsin offensive line, explained
There are plenty of factors as to why one of the Badgers' most storied position groups is where it is currently. And it starts before Luke Fickell arrived.
The University of Wisconsin football team’s offensive line isn’t in an ideal situation, but this problem didn’t pop up overnight.
It’s something that began before Luke Fickell’s time in Madison but has snowballed since.
Wisconsin’s needed to tinker with its starting unit in each of its first four games of the 2025 season due to injuries and ineffective play. Fickell said days prior to the Badgers’ 27-10 home loss at Maryland that college football isn’t particularly meant for redshirt freshmen to play on the offensive and defensive line. Yet the Badgers trotted three second-year offensive linemen out for a portion of its Sept. 13 loss at Alabama, and that trio started one week later in the conference opener against the Terrapins.
Wisconsin’s only rushed for 117.8 yards per contest on 3.1 yards per carry and four rushing touchdowns heading into the Badgers’ 11 a.m. kickoff Saturday at Michigan, even with the reemphasis on the ground game under new coordinator Jeff Grimes. The Badgers have also given up 13 sacks through four contests, 10 of which have come in losses to the Crimson Tide and Terrapins.
“There’s a reason guys are four- and five-star or high five-star guys, high four-star,” Fickell said Sept. 15. “It doesn’t mean that they’re going to be the best NFL players. That just means they’re more college-ready in a lot of ways, and what a lot of offensive linemen are just not quite college-ready. Meaning that, how big are they, how strong are they, and that doesn’t mean just in the weight room, right? Because there’s plenty of guys that walk in the door here that are plenty strong enough in the weight room.
“The truth of the matter is, that’s where the grown-men stuff really shows. And so these guys are being thrust into a situation and an opportunity, I guess – depends on how you look at it – that they have to grow even faster. And that’s where that whole idea that every snap of every day, in particular, every game that you get an opportunity to play in, regardless of what the situation is, we have to take advantage of it. And I think those guys are doing a great job at that and there’s a lot of growth.”
There are a few reasons why Wisconsin’s not only needed to rely on its youth on the line, but also why this position group hasn’t lived up to its traditional standards despite their best efforts.