Transfer Portal

UK football? 🇬🇧 footyball? Sounds about right.

Thought that UK would be Kansas.     Wonder if that was ever in the works?

Good Luck to GM

WR Markus Allen went into the portal, committed to Minnesota and then de-committed from Minnesota to sign back with the Badgers when Longo was hired.😂😂😂

He is ending up at Kentucky?   I am not picking on the Big Ten but if he struggled at UW can you imagine how badly he will struggle if he has to play at night against the Bamas and UGA's of the SEC?

@The Heckler posted:

He is ending up at Kentucky?   I am not picking on the Big Ten but if he struggled at UW can you imagine how badly he will struggle if he has to play at night against the Bamas and UGA's of the SEC?

They'll likely be 4-0 with a good chance to be 5-0 before they get blasted by Georgia, Tennessee, Miss. State, Alabama, and South Carolina in October and November. Still likely make a bowl game and maybe play against Wisconsin there?

Ouch! "Kentucky fans reacted on Twitter to the news Mertz was heading to Lexington. Most Wildcats fans acted as if this was the second worst thing the Badgers had done to their program after upsetting the “Perfection” basketball team in the 2015 Final Four."

UK is only about 1.5 hours from where I live and there are a ton of their fans here locally.  Needless to say the one's that I know are less than thrilled about this news.  Can't say I blame them.

Badgers officially landed two decent football prospects that had originally committed to Cincinnati.  

Jonas Duclona and Braedyn Moore.  

Moore is a 4 star guy that was rated as a top 20 athlete in the 2023 class.  He played safety but much like Braelon Allen I wouldn’t be surprised to see him move to another position.  Could be WR.  

Duclona is a corner from Florida that was rated either 3 or 4 stars depending on the recruiting source.   Very good athlete and attended the same HS as Chez Mellusi.

Badgers signed a TE and have a top CB that decommitted from CINN coming in this weekend. A QB from VA as well.

Armstrong or Evers.  Grad transfer or untested youthful potential. 

In the Lord I trust🖤 @BadgerFootball #COMMITTED pic.twitter.com/Fed2aFeSSF

— nicco (@NickEvers12) December 17, 2022

What Oklahoma said about him

#Badgers land 4-star transfer QB Nick Evers. Story on him and what it means for Wisconsin:https://t.co/5imTWKNMdH

— Colten Bartholomew (@CBartWSJ) December 17, 2022

That's a huge get.

@"We"-Ka-Bong posted:

Armstrong or Evers.  Grad transfer or untested youthful potential.

I wouldn't be surprised if we get both.

Obviously a best case scenario.  Have to think Evers came to Wisconsin to play next year.  Hope both young men don't shy away from competition. 

Ever's grandparents went to UW. 

I don't think the #Badgers are done in the portal FWIW and the Nick Evers commitment is going to open a lot of doors from what I'm hearing...

— Evan Flood (@Evan_Flood) December 17, 2022

sure is a different look for uw.  gotta like the proactive approach

Have to imagine the staff is looking for receivers like crazy right now.  I'm not counting on Allen coming back for one second as a game changer

I think their receivers should be OK in this offense especially Keontez Lewis and Skyler Bell.  

Both guys are explosive and Lewis in particular could be a downfield threat guy in the new scheme given he’s 6’2” and runs a 4.4 40.  Bell is more of a gadget guy, but if they can get him in space he’s dangerous as a RAC receiver.

Dike has enough size and speed as well to be effective.

Engram is just a guy so agree any upgrade over him would be a plus.

From everything I’ve read about Longo and his scheme their goal is to spread 3 or 4 WR sets and feature a single back and get the right matchups of good receivers v backup corners or RPO option with QB draw or Allen gashing a defense with less LBs and DL crowding the box.  Evers certainly has talent to make it happen and Braelon Allen could have a monster year.

To me, what’s lacking is a pass catching threat at TE.   In this offense if they can get an athletic guy like Owen Daniels to work the middle of the field look out.

Does Barry have anymore grandsons? 

Amare Snowden commits.  4 star db

Graham Mertz should have a good chance to win the starting job at Florida, which is losing its No. 1 quarterback to the NFL. https://t.co/ZAfz5Axcsl

— JSOnline - Badgers (@js_badgers) December 21, 2022

Email from a friend in Madison today,

Here's your amusement for the day:  "Badger247" reports that Graham Mertz will be coming out of the Transfer Portal in Gainesville, Florida.  While the buzz in Madison is all about Nick Evers, a 4-star Oklahoma Freshman QB who had been idling away on the Sooners' bench who has transferred to Wisconsin, the other side of the story has to do with Mertz.  Simply stated, lotsa Florida fans are less than excited.  Of the various comments from Florida insiders who posted comments to the story, my favorite one was this:

       "Graham Mertz to Florida feels like when you go to the grocery store having not eaten anything all day and instead of coming back with a giant steak for yourself, you panic and get a Hungry Man Frozen Dinner."

Another guy, well aware of first year Florida coach Billy Napier's less than successful season said:

        "Billy Napier is going to mess around and get fired at Florida if he's relying on Graham Mertz to be his starting QB in the SEC.  He's going to get them boys smoked down there!"

What the hell happened to Mertz going to Kentucky?  Did some alumni offer to make him a gelding?

@ammo posted:

What the hell happened to Mertz going to Kentucky?  Did some alumni offer to make him a gelding?

The hot take just said ‘expected’

@ammo posted:

What the hell happened to Mertz going to Kentucky?  Did some alumni offer to make him a gelding?

Mertz even tweeted that he was going to Kentucky but a couple days later this happened. https://www.foxnews.com/sports...-university-kentucky

Dude is sprinting away from anything that looks like competition. Doesn’t say much about him.

Very true, he is looking for a job that is being handed to him. FL had a bad season last year with a QB that declared for the NFL. Mertz sounds like a downgrade and he might get another HC fired. FL fans are very unhappy on social media.

Mertz really needs to transfer to something like a MAC school.

@PackerRick posted:

Very true, he is looking for a job that is being handed to him. FL had a bad season last year with a QB that declared for the NFL. Mertz sounds like a downgrade and he might get another HC fired. FL fans are very unhappy on social media.

Unhappy? They are ready to commit mass suicide.😂

True again. A lot of DBs in the SEC end up playing on Sundays and he couldn't have picked a worse conference to play in. The MAC comment is very true.

Bert Bielama must have advised him to go to the SEC.

@Goalline posted:

Dude is sprinting away from anything that looks like competition. Doesn’t say much about him.

So how many times can a player transfer in one year? I admit that I know very little about the portal but it seems crazy a player can transfer so much.

I have no idea who in the hell is advising Mertz but I cannot imagine him doing well against SEC defenses.  The dude should have gone to some Big 12 or PAC 10 school where the emphasis is all offense and not having to go up against SEC defenses.

Honestly can you imagine what UGA's defense will do to him?

Mertz probably still has advisors telling him he will play in the NFL someday. I think that these college kids should have the same options that anyone else has to switch colleges, but that freedom is definitely a double-edged sword.

It makes you wonder how many will actually take constructive criticism from a coach and work hard to improve. They will just be constantly bombarded with opposing teams telling them everything they want to hear to get them to transfer.

The pro sports teams control young talent for multiple years, so a guy can't just bail. The new transfer portal is creating chaos for guys that need consistent weight room/strength development, etc. I guess high schoolers now switch schools all the time as well, so it's not any different.  

It's one thing to transfer to get an opportunity to play when you are stuck behind another NFL-level talent (Jalen Hurts going to Oklahoma instead of staying at Alabama or Joe Burrow going from OSU to LSU). Those make sense. It's another when you are already playing and just want to jump to the next shiny object.

I have a feeling some of these guys are going to be left out in the cold. They are giving up a scholarship to transfer and there's no way these guys are all landing on their feet. Probably in 5-6 years we'll be reading about all the guys that got burned in this era of college FAcy.

A big assumption, even with Floridas current situation, that Mertz starts.  

I like the kid, by all accounts a good teammate, but I think the chances he hasn’t hit his ceiling is pretty low

Mertz might start but he'll play himself out of the position. I agree about his ceiling. He's not going to suddenly improve pocket awareness, accuracy, and mobility. He is what he is.

JUST IN: The Woodlands (Texas) 2024 4 ⭐️ QB Mabrey Mettauer has committed to Wisconsin, becoming the Badgers’ highest-ranked QB pledge since Graham Mertz.

"I feel like I'm that missing piece that can take Wisconsin to the next level."

🔗: https://t.co/5NcFeF4TIY pic.twitter.com/OiIOAXDLQi

— Nick Harris (@RivalsNick) December 24, 2022

Another great signing and I think just a taste of what is to come. With the reputation Longo has I expect the depth of talent at WR and QB  to hit levels we've never seen at the UW. Mettauer actually referred to the UW as "playing in the Air Raid".

National Signing Day also ended the speculation about where former Badgers starting quarterback Graham Mertz would land. After announcing earlier this month he would enter the transfer portal, Mertz made it official he is heading to Gainesville to join the Florida Gators.

There is no way we get a Mettauer or Evers to commit if Chryst or Leonhard were the head coach.  

Both guys are legit power 5 conference QB prospects.  When you look at the list of teams and programs that offered or were interested it’s a who’s who of college football.  

What’s become clear is Fickell and his staff have come in and made a real statement and are sending a message to the rest of the Big Ten and honestly to some of the best teams in the country that this isn’t your father’s UW team.   This team really is swinging for the fences.

This might also be the best group of commits for skill players that we’ve seen since the days of Fletcher and Echols and Chambers.   Speed and playmakers and athletes all over the place.