Wisconsin Football Contacts SEC Transfer Lineman in the Portal

The University of Wisconsin football program is having to navigate the tricky waters between focusing on spring practice and sifting through the list of spring transfer portal entries, looking for potential fits.

According to a report from Chris Hummer of 247Sports, the Wisconsin Badgers staff has contacted Arkansas transfer offensive lineman Paris Patterson and expressed interest. Colorado, MSU, SMU, Tulane, and a host of other schools have also reached out. 

Arkansas redshirt freshman o-line transfer Paris Patterson has heard from these schools since entering the portal earlier today, a source tells @247Sports:

Wisconsin
MSU
SMU
Colorado
Tulane
Charlotte
Miami (Ohio)
South Alabama
WKU
Toledo
New Mexicohttps://t.co/f4As693pRb pic.twitter.com/rV4hj64hiV

— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) April 22, 2024

Wisconsin football coaches kicking the tires on Patterson, a 6-foot-6, 352-pound interior offensive lineman from the 2023 recruiting class, signifies that the Badgers feel their depth could use a shot in the arm. 

When the last season ended, Nolan Rucci, Trey Wedig, and Dylan Barrett entered the transfer portal in pursuit of greener pastures. However, that left the Badgers two-deep on the offensive line rather thin. That’s forced the staff to insert some freshman early enrollees into the mix, giving them a little ‘baptism by fire’ during spring ball. 

“We’re making sure we build the depth there because we lost quite a bit with some of those guys that left and transferred,” Fickell told reporters. “They were guys that were going to compete to play and to start, but also to give you that bunch of depth up there to allow you to play a bunch of guys. So we’re going to have to continue to build that back.”

Patterson, an Illinois native, is a mountain of a man. Although he was running with the Razorback’s third-team offensive line during the spring, Patterson’s film shows a strong interior presence that finishes blocks and is a much better athlete than you might expect. 

We’ll see if anything more materializes here, but the Wisconsin football staff clearly sees a need to bring in some added competition between now and the summer. The Badgers also hosted Illinois transfer guard Joey Okla on a visit this past weekend and could be another option.

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