Colton Joseph ranked in top 10 in one major category by CBS Sports
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We are just over one month away from the season opener for the Wisconsin Badgers, where they’ll take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Lambeau Field in Week 1.
That will be the official start for new Badgers quarterback Colton Joseph, who was brought in from Old Dominion this offseason to run the show after being one of the top signal-callers in the Sun Belt last year.
Making the jump to the Big Ten, Joseph will have a lot to prove this season as Wisconsin looks to improve dramatically on offense following a rough 2025 campaign. He’ll have a new group of pass catchers to throw to, but it’s his rushing ability that is the most tantalizing.
With Joseph’s dual-threat ability, Wisconsin should be able to run the football better in 2026, although that will also be dependent on growth from the offensive line. Joseph had over 1,000 yards and double-digit touchdowns on the ground last year, including 179 rushing yards and three touchdowns against the Indiana Hoosiers in the season opener for Old Dominion in 2025.
So, it isn’t much of a surprise that the Badgers quarterback was ranked as one of the Top 10 most elusive quarterbacks in College Football this season by CBS Sports’s Cody Nagel.
“Here’s a name that wasn’t expected to appear on a list of the most elusive quarterbacks in college football. But a closer look at the numbers shows why Wisconsin and several others pursued the former Old Dominion star in the transfer portal,” Nagel wrote about Joseph.
“No qualified Power Four quarterback enters the 2026 season with a higher career explosive rush rate than Colton Joseph (19.3%). Only one player in the entire FBS had more runs of at least 20 yards over the past two seasons than Joseph, who has 26 such carries in his career.
“There’s a bit of a trade-off with Joseph, who is also top 15 in yards after contact per rush (4.0) and yards per scramble (8.2). He may not consistently make defenders miss at the same rate as some of the quarterbacks ahead of him, but his ability to create explosive plays with his legs separates him from most quarterbacks in the country.
“Wisconsin has spent the past few seasons searching for stability at quarterback, with injuries playing a major role in limiting its options. If Joseph can buck that trend and stay healthy, the Badgers may finally have a quarterback capable of providing the explosive element their offense has been missing.”
At No. 10, Joseph made the list over Auburn’s Byrum Brown, Wake Forest’s Gio Lopez, USC’s Jayden Maiava, Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker, and Houston’s Connor Weigman.
Here’s the full Top 10:
1. Malik Washington (Maryland)
2. Kamario Taylor (Mississippi State)
3. Sam Leavitt (LSU)
4. Arch Manning (Texas)
5. Devon Dampier (Utah)
6. Will Hammond (Texas Tech)
7. Bryce Underwood (Michigan)
8. Demond Williams Jr. (Washington)
9. LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina)
10. Colton Joseph (Wisconsin)
Of course, with a rushing quarterback, there is the natural worry of injury, which Wisconsin has had plenty of at quarterback over the last few seasons. But Joseph’s rushing ability should force defenses to respect the quarterback and, in turn, open up the run game more.
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