What is Colton Joseph’s ceiling in 2026?
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The Wisconsin Badgers brought in top quarterback transfer Colton Joseph in the offseason, providing one of the better dual-threat quarterbacks in the nation for offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes’s scheme.
Joseph, a redshirt sophomore last year, threw for 2,624 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, while running for 1,007 yards and 12 scores on the ground. He consistently looked to move the ball down the field, while extending plays with his legs, making him a perceived good fit for Grimes’s scheme.
Now, he arrives in Madison with high expectations, as Wisconsin looks to improve its offense after a lackluster campaign in 2025. The Badgers were in the bottom five of the country in both scoring and yards per game last season, while the quarterback position was a disaster.
Injuries played into that, but Wisconsin has yet to field a successful offense under head coach Luke Fickell, mounting the pressure for the 2026 season after the program made a significant financial investment into the roster.
The Big Ten does have a strong group of quarterbacks coming back for next season, which includes Oregon’s Dante Moore, Ohio State’s Julian Sayin, USC’s Jayden Maiva, Washington’s Demond Williams Jr., and Indiana’s Josh Hoover, among others.
How does Joseph fit into that group? In our weekly Reacts poll, we asked where Joseph would rank among Big Ten quarterbacks this season, and there was a notable majority.
Over 50 percent of fans said that Joseph would be in the top third to top half of the Big Ten at the quarterback position. Another quarter of the vote believed that the Badgers quarterback could even be a top-five signal caller in the Big Ten next year.
If that comes to fruition, that would be quite the storyline for the Badgers, especially given the names considered at quarterback. Dante Moore is a potential top-five pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, while Julian Sayin has also been named in first-round considerations ahead of the season.
Maiava was a quarterback who could’ve been drafted this season, but elected to come back and now has multiple years of starting pedigree under his belt. He threw for 3,711 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions last season.
Hoover is one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in college football this season. He’s thrown for 9,629 yards, 71 touchdowns, and 33 interceptions over his career as a three-year starter. And he now replaces Fernando Mendoza with another high-quality Indiana team.
Demond Williams, Roccho Becht, Bryce Underwood, Nico Iamaleava, and Drake Lindsey are some of the other quarterbacks who have been strong starters already or could take an even bigger step forward in 2026. So, there’s quite a bit of competition at the position in 2026.
When it comes to Joseph’s ceiling, there’s definitely a scenario where he could explode to be in the top third of signal callers in the Big Ten next season. But, in order for that to happen, the Badgers quarterback would need to refine his accuracy more, become a better decision-maker in the pocket, and be on time with reads.
Wisconsin also does have a lot of moving parts on offense with a new-look running back and receiver room. In addition, they will have multiple new starters on the offensive line and a couple of new tight ends in the fold as well. There’s a lot to figure out this season.
It all starts with a bang in Week 1, as the Badgers will host the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Lambeau Field. And that’s where we’ll get the first glance of this new-look Wisconsin team with Joseph at the helm.
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