Wisconsin football transfer portal lessons learned and unanswered questions
Here's what we learned about the Wisconsin football team's offseason moves during the winter transfer portal window and what questions still remain.
Luke Fickell and the University of Wisconsin football program entered a pivotal offseason following an underwhelming 5-7 campaign. It became quite clear by season's end that changes were necessary—big ones.
Since then, the coaching staff has responded by aggressively rebuilding the roster through the transfer portal.
The portal officially opened on Dec. 9 and closed on Dec. 28, and during that stretch, Wisconsin saw significant turnover. A total of 25 players from last year’s roster opted to move on from the program and enter the portal, while the staff brought in 16 scholarship additions to fill key needs.
As things stand, the Badgers’ transfer class ranks No. 8 nationally and No. 1 in the Big Ten, per the 247Sports Portal Rankings.
While it’s important to keep expectations in check heading into the 2025 season, on paper, these additions mark a necessary step toward Wisconsin reestablishing itself as a respectable football program.
It’s worth noting that the transfer portal is inherently a crapshoot. Historically, about a third of transfer additions tend to become meaningful contributors, another third provide depth, and the remaining third often fails to make a significant impact of any kind whatsoever.
With the winter portal window now closed, Badgernotes staff writers Dillon Graff and Jake Maier reflect on what we learned about Wisconsin’s offseason moves—and the questions that remain unanswered. Let’s dive in.
What we learned
Dillon Graff: I learned that Wisconsin has a completely different vision for the passing game under Jeff Grimes and that the inherited personnel brought in to run Phil Longo's scheme didn't quite fit the bill. Because of that, the Badgers went out and added three intriguing pass-catchers from the transfer portal to better fit that mold he’s looking for.
The Badgers went out and added Idaho wideout Mark Hamper and Ohio State’s Jayden Ballard to provide some options on the outside.
That said, the most significant addition came in the form of Ball State tight end Tanner Koziol, who was among the top options on the market. Tight end has been a black hole for Wisconsin since Jake Ferguson left, and they may finally have found a player capable of making a legitimate impact.
Every offseason, it seems like there’s chatter about Wisconsin’s wide receivers being poised to break out as big-time playmakers. If you’ve followed my work, you know I was pretty low on the group heading into last season. I didn’t want to be right, but I can’t help but feel vindicated after what we all witnessed on the field.
Now, I don’t want to downplay the loss of Will Pauling—who led the Badgers in receptions for two straight seasons—or even C.J. Williams, who was a solid rotational piece. But looking at the room as it stands today, I see it as a slight improvement. Let me explain why.
Vinny Anthony is back. His return provides a solid building block for the Badgers’ wide receiver room. This past season, Anthony emerged as a legitimate deep threat in the Big Ten, leading Wisconsin with 14 explosive plays and forcing a team-high 11 missed tackles among the team's wideouts. He finished the year with 39 receptions for 642 yards and four touchdowns, averaging an impressive 17.2 yards per catch.
Trech Kekahuna briefly entered the transfer portal before deciding to stay in Madison, positioning himself to take over the starting slot role vacated by Pauling. While Kekahuna still has room for growth, his explosive traits are undeniable. With Grimes now calling the plays, there’s potential for Kekahuna to be used in creative ways that maximize his dynamic skill set.
I think both Hamper, with his impressive size and ability to stretch the field, and Ballard, a true burner, should provide Wisconsin with another strong option to compete for the starting spot opposite Anthony.
While this group might not be littered with game-changers, pairing them with Quincy Burroughs or young talents like Kyan Berry-Johnson and Eugene Hilton Jr. gives Wisconsin a solid collection of players that feel well-suited for what Grimes wants to accomplish offensively.
Jake Maier: Something we learned in this transfer cycle is the emphasis Wisconsin's staff placed on picking up talent from lower levels. Additions from the FCS, Division II, and even Division III were made to fill out the transfer class, which, in my opinion, is a good strategy.
There probably aren't stats to back this up, but I believe that the players who come from the lower levels are hungrier. Whether it be that these guys were overlooked in their initial recruitments or just needed an opportunity at a lower level to put their talents on display, these are the portal pickups that are going to come in to prove that they can hang with the big dogs.
Take, for example, a guy like former Bethel College safety Matt Jung, who was one of the biggest standouts in Divison III football this year after recording 109 tackles, 10.5 TFLs, 11 pass breakups, nine interceptions, 2.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles. Or look at former Idaho receiver Mark Hamper, who was an FCS Freshman All-American after logging 49 receptions for 961 yards and six touchdowns in 2024.
These players have track records of success at lower levels, and while it's no guarantee that they will pan out on a bigger stage, it's good to see that Luke Fickell and company are looking for guys who have proven their capabilities at lower levels rather than going for the big names or guys from big schools who might have been over-recruited.
What we still need to learn
Dillon Graff: Wisconsin went out and added a whole bunch of bodies to their defensive line room—which is something they desperately needed to do, even if James Thompson Jr. and Curt Neal didn't walk out the door.
Now the question becomes: are the portal additions any good?
I’m not saying the Badgers didn’t pick up some players capable of playing snaps—they absolutely did. But it’s important to keep in mind that every team in the country is hunting for upgrades along the defensive line, and the reality is, the best players usually aren’t hitting the open market. That leaves everyone else scrambling to overpay for whoever is available.
This defensive line room wasn't impactful whatsoever last season outside of the moments that Elijah Hills gave Wisconsin. The run defense was also piss poor, and I'm concerned that they won't be much better in 2025.
Let me start by saying I’m not sold on Mike Tressel. If Phil Longo hadn’t failed so spectacularly, I’d have been in favor of moving on from the defensive coordinator as well—but that would have been a lot of turnover for one offseason. I’m not convinced he’s capable of making it work, no matter who the personnel is—but I’m even less sure he can coordinate a good defense without access to players who are at least above average.
The Badgers got bigger up front. That matters. Charles Perkins, Parker Petersen, Corey Walker, and Micheal Garner all bring some beef to the front seven, but they'll need to be more than serviceable if Wisconsin's defense is going to be good enough to push for bowl eligibility in 2025.
Credit where it’s due—the staff did an impressive job landing many of their plan A portal targets. They got these guys on campus early and closed the deals, which is a far cry from last offseason when they were still scrambling for help during the spring portal cycle. Hopefully, the recruiting department identified exactly what they needed.
Unfortunately, we won’t know if they got it right until the season starts.
Jake Maier: Going to go with the obvious one here: what is going to be done with this cornerback situation? The mass exodus of defensive backs has left the cornerback room extremely, extremely thin, and during the opening transfer window, Wisconsin didn't do much to dispel concerns.
As it stands, the Badgers have added just one cornerback via the transfer portal in Jacksonville State transfer Geimere Latimer. He will provide some important insurance and experience at the position after a strong 2024 campaign where he tallied 46 tackles, eight pass breakups, and three interceptions. However, the cornerback room is still in desperate need of additional help.
Right now, Latimer is the sole upperclassman in the cornerback room. Class of 2024 signees Jay Harper and Omillio Agard are still in the mix, along with the three 2025 signees: Jaimier Scott, Jahamare Washington, and Cairo Skanes. UW is also still waiting to find out if Ricardo Hallman will return for another season or declare for the NFL Draft.
The cornerback room is thin with talent, and if Wisconsin doesn't supplement the huge losses, the cornerbacks could be a big issue in 2025.
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We need stronger defensive backs, that are faster. They may need to recruit some basketball players