MADISON, Wis. — It took just three seconds from the time Wisconsin quarterback Braedyn Locke fielded a shotgun snap to when his pass landed in the hands of Penn State safety Jaylen Reed. Three seconds for a game to turn completely on its head, with Reed returning the interception 19 yards for a touchdown and a Penn State lead it would not relinquish during a 28-13 victory Saturday night.
The moment came and went quickly. But it was representative of something bigger about Wisconsin football because the Badgers need better quarterback play if they want to take a step as a program under Luke Fickell. Four regular season games remain, as well as a potential bowl game. Yet the quarterback question lingers.
“You’ve seen Tyler Van Dyke for two games, or two games and a quarter, not even,” Fickell said this week. “Obviously, you’ve seen the most out of Braedyn and you’ve seen nothing really else other than a couple snaps from Mabrey (Mettauer). So to say you know what the development is like is hard.
“It’s an ongoing constant thing. You can never have enough, and the depth is always going to probably be an issue until maybe you can truly think you can build from within. But with that being said, it’s even harder because you get a talented guy and not a whole lot of people want to sit.”
What should Wisconsin do in the future at the most important position? Here’s a look at potential options:
Tyler Van Dyke
Pros: Van Dyke is the best quarterback on Wisconsin’s roster, which is why he won the starting job this preseason. It’s unclear at this point whether Van Dyke will choose to return to Wisconsin for a sixth college season after tearing the ACL in his right knee Sept. 21 against Alabama. He would have another year of eligibility because of when the injury occurred — a combination of using the extra year the NCAA granted players in 2020 and a redshirt year.
Wisconsin would seem to be the best college spot for him given that he already was the starter and, if healthy, could try to make one last run to show he can be an NFL quarterback. Of course, the roster will be predicated on who the offensive coordinator is and whether Fickell still sees Phil Longo as the answer there. Fickell made it clear after the injury that, while he hadn’t yet spoken to Van Dyke about the future, “we’d put a plan in place” for him to return for another season.
Van Dyke is the most experienced player in the room with 31 career starts. He completed 43 of 68 passes for 421 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions this season. His arm strength and running ability were elements that elevated him and had the potential to make Wisconsin’s offense more dynamic — but that was before the injury.
Cons: Who knows how long it will take Van Dyke to recover and whether he’ll be close to the same player he was before the injury. Recovery time can usually be anywhere from 6-12 months. That means Van Dyke wouldn’t participate in spring practices, and there aren’t any guarantees he’d be full strength by preseason practices or the start of next season. How the injury impacts his ability as a runner also remains to be seen.
Wisconsin could use some certainty at quarterback in Year 3 of the Fickell era. If Van Dyke comes back for another season, which was unanticipated when this season began, perhaps it could lead to a roster shakeup with other quarterbacks entering the transfer portal. It also would mean Wisconsin would be relying on a player with just one season of eligibility remaining, which may not be ideal for developing the room.
Braedyn Locke
Pros: There have been moments in which Locke has delivered some impressive deep shots since replacing Van Dyke. He threw a 63-yard touchdown pass to receiver Vinny Anthony against USC on a pretty ball down the left sideline and had other touchdown passes of 52 yards to Anthony and 69 yards to receiver Trech Kekahuna. Locke also threw a 47-yard strike to Anthony down to the 2-yard line against Rutgers that set up a score. He has the ability but also mixes in too many mistakes.
Locke would be entering his third season at Wisconsin and have 12 or 13 starts under his belt, assuming he remains healthy the rest of this season. His knowledge of the offense is one of his greatest strengths and allows him to stand out from some of the younger quarterbacks on the roster.
Cons: Locke has shown he has limitations that hold Wisconsin back from consistently taking another step as an offense. That doesn’t mean he can’t demonstrate improvement in his third year with the program. But some trends have emerged that are big concerns.
Locke has thrown at least one interception in all five of his starts this season and has seven total turnovers. He is not a mobile quarterback, which is something Longo would prefer. He has had 13 passes batted at the line of scrimmage in two seasons, according to Pro Football Focus, and has a low completion rate (54.1 percent), though he hasn’t been helped by 12 dropped passes this season. Picking Locke as a redshirt junior next season could limit Wisconsin’s ceiling if he doesn’t demonstrate more growth.
Mabrey Mettauer
Pros: Mettauer was the first high school prospect to commit to Fickell and Longo as a member of the 2024 recruiting class, a four-star player from Texas who fits the mold of what Longo wants. He is 6-foot-4, 230 pounds and has dual-threat ability. Mettauer threw for 7,550 yards with 88 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in high school and also ran for 1,717 yards and 31 touchdowns.
Fickell has said he wants to develop from within at quarterback, and Mettauer represents the perfect example of that approach. He is gaining valuable practice snaps as the backup after Van Dyke’s injury. He also has played 16 snaps across three games, including 11 snaps against Purdue that featured a 2-yard completion and a 2-yard run. Mettauer noted how much his understanding of defenses had improved in his first year as a college player, and his growth figures to continue to accelerate entering the offseason.
Cons: Would Mettauer be ready to be a Big Ten starting quarterback as a redshirt freshman? He wasn’t better than Van Dyke or Locke this season, so it seems difficult to believe he would surpass either player if they remain on the roster.
Mettauer also figures to take his share of youthful lumps, which is typical, and Wisconsin likely won’t want to be in that position with a schedule that features road games against Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Oregon, not to mention home games against Ohio State and Iowa. He may still be a year or two away, and having a veteran quarterback lead Wisconsin would be ideal.
Transfer portal player
Pros: Wisconsin needs a difference-maker at quarterback, and if the Badgers can find one (and have the financial resources to entice one), then it makes sense to explore this avenue. Transfer portal quarterbacks are the new norm. When this season began, 14 of the 18 Big Ten teams had started a transfer QB, including Wisconsin.
The fact Wisconsin has gone the transfer portal route the past two seasons at quarterback under this coaching staff means the Badgers at least have experience in handling the transition. The first transfer portal window runs from Dec. 9 through Dec. 28, which means Wisconsin could determine its potential quarterback for next season before spring practices begin.
Cons: Going the transfer portal route for the third consecutive offseason would send the exact opposite message of what Fickell has said he wants to do at quarterback. Wisconsin very clearly will need at least a dozen transfers in most offseasons based on how the past two have gone under Fickell. But doing so yet again at quarterback, especially if he has just one year of eligibility remaining, makes it difficult to have continuity at the position.
Wisconsin’s coaching staff has demonstrated that it’s going to do everything to find the best players at a given position. Of course, doing so means a program runs the risk of alienating those players already on the roster and could lead to transfers out. Young quarterbacks on the roster include Cole LaCrue and Mettauer, with Locke’s younger brother, Landyn, committed in the 2025 class. LaCrue hasn’t played at all in two seasons while battling injuries, and Landyn Locke will be coming off a torn ACL sustained during his senior season.
(Photo of Tyler Van Dyke: Jeff Hanisch / Imagn Images)
