Luke Fickell is tired of losing. You can see it in the way he's absolutely gutted and rebuilt the roster over the last fourteen days. After a 2025 season that saw the Wisconsin Badgers stumble to their most losses since 1990, the "Dairy Raid" experiment is entering a brutal, necessary new phase.
Honestly, the Wisconsin Badgers football depth chart isn't just a list of names right now. It is a massive neon sign pointing toward a total philosophical shift. Gone are the days of "slow and steady" development being the only way forward in Madison.
If you haven't been checking the portal wires every hour, you've probably missed the fact that Wisconsin has already added 25 transfers this January. Twenty-five. That's not a tweak; it's a transplant.
The Colton Joseph Era and the Offensive Facelift
The biggest question on everyone's mind is the quarterback. Danny O'Neil had his moments as a freshman, but Fickell didn't wait around to see if he’d take a massive leap in year two. Instead, he went out and grabbed Colton Joseph from Old Dominion.
Joseph is a freak. He’s a dual-threat guy who put up over 2,600 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing last year. Basically, if Jeff Grimes wants to run a true RPO-heavy system, he finally has the engine to do it.
But a quarterback is only as good as the guy snapping him the ball. With Jake Renfro hitting the portal and Davis Heinzen graduating, the center spot was a massive black hole. Enter Austin Kawecki. The Oklahoma State transfer isn't just a body; he’s a veteran with over 800 snaps under his belt. He's expected to be the "battery mate" for Joseph from day one.
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The wide receiver room is getting a size injection too. Shamar Rigby (Oklahoma State) and Malachi Coleman (Nebraska/Minnesota) bring that "big-bodied" threat Wisconsin has lacked since, well, forever. Rigby, in particular, is someone the staff thinks can finally solve the problem of not having a vertical threat who can actually catch the ball in traffic.
Then there’s Abu Sama III. If you watched Iowa State at all last year, you know this kid is a tackle-breaking machine. He forced 48 missed tackles last season. Paired with Nate Palmer from TCU, the backfield suddenly looks a lot more dynamic than the "three yards and a cloud of dust" identity fans grew up with.
Rebuilding the Trenches on Defense
The defense was, frankly, a mess at times last year. Watching teams run for 200 yards a game in the final stretch was painful for anyone used to the Jim Leonhard or Dave Aranda eras.
The Wisconsin Badgers football depth chart on the defensive line has been wiped clean. Ben Barten, Brandon Lane Jr., and Jay’viar Suggs are all out of eligibility. That left Charles Perkins and Dillan Johnson as the only real experienced bodies.
Fickell responded by raiding the portal for "grown men."
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Hammond Russell IV (West Virginia) and Junior Poyser (Buffalo) are the headline additions here. Russell is a 312-pound gap-plugger who can actually move. They also brought in Jake Anderson from Illinois State, a guy who just played in the FCS National Championship and has a knack for living in the backfield.
The New-Look Secondary
If the defensive line is the "muscle," the secondary is the "speed." The turnover here is just as wild.
- Javan Robinson (Arizona State): He’s the undisputed CB1. He started 26 straight games in the Power Four and has the ball skills this team desperately lacked.
- Bryce West (Ohio State): A former four-star recruit who didn't see the field much in Columbus but has elite "nickel" potential.
- Marvin Burks Jr. (Missouri): This was a huge get. With Austin Brown graduating and Preston Zachman heading to Indiana, Burks is the veteran safety who needs to keep the roof on the defense.
Where the Depth Chart Still Feels Thin
It isn’t all sunshine and roses. The linebacker room is surprisingly quiet.
While Jon Jon Kamara (Kansas) was a solid addition, the staff seems to be betting big on the mid-season breakouts of Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano. It’s a risky move. If one of those young guys gets nicked up in September, there isn't a whole lot of proven depth behind them.
The offensive line is also in a state of flux. Beyond the starters like Riley Mahlman and Joe Brunner, you're looking at a lot of young talent—Emerson Mandell, Kevin Heywood, Logan Powell—who haven't been "the guy" yet. Fickell added PJ Wilkins (Ole Miss) and Lucas Simmons (Florida State) to create competition, but the chemistry of a line takes months, not weeks, to build.
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What This Means for 2026
The pressure on Luke Fickell is real. Athletic Director Chris McIntosh has basically handed him a blank check and the keys to the portal to fix this thing. The 2026 schedule is actually a bit more forgiving than the gauntlet they ran last year, but there are no "gimme" games in the new Big Ten.
What most people get wrong about this depth chart is thinking it's settled. It’s not.
Spring ball is going to be a bloodbath for playing time. You have veterans like Colton Joseph coming in to take jobs, and you have talented sophomores like Danny O'Neil who aren't just going to hand over the clipboard.
Practical Next Steps for Fans:
- Watch the Spring Game: Keep a close eye on the "Center-QB" exchange. If Kawecki and Joseph aren't on the same page early, the Air Raid will stall before it starts.
- Track the "Zero-Technique": See how Hammond Russell IV holds up against the Badgers' own interior OL. If he can't command double teams, the linebackers will be exposed just like last year.
- Monitor the Boundary CBs: Javan Robinson is a lock, but watch who wins the spot opposite him. If Bryce West stays at nickel, the competition between the younger corners will be the most important battle in camp.
This roster is built for "win now" mode. Whether it actually translates to wins on Saturdays in Camp Randall is the million-dollar question.