As Luke Fickell enters his second season at Wisconsin, there is another quarterback competition in front of the head coach. Braedyn Locke could be considered the returning guy, being a part of the program last season. Wisconsin also went and got Tyler Van Dyke out of the NCAA transfer portal, with those two battling.
Assuming Van Dyke would win the job could be easy but Fickell recently confirmed no decision has been made. Fall camp is where he ultimately decides who takes the first snap of the season opener against Western Michigan.
“There will be,” Fickell said about a competition. “There was an open competition in spring.”
When comparing this year’s battle to last season, Fickell admitted there was a small gap between the two. Tanner Mordecai was Wisconsin’s starter for the majority of 2023 and had plenty of experience between his time at Oklahoma and SMU.
Van Dyke is playing from behind, spending most of the spring learning the system. Locke is entering his second season in Madison and already knows the ropes. Fickell has seen the respective quarterback’s knowledge of the system during spring play a role.
“There was a bigger discrepancy last year with Tanner Mordecai,” Fickell said. “The thing coming in with Tyler — to me, he had a lot greater challenge because Braedyn Locke had been in the system, could teach and coach the system. So, all through spring ball, it was a great battle. We’ll do the same thing going into fall camp.”
Fickell believes if everything goes well, Van Dyke will go out, perform during fall camp, and eventually be named the starter. Locke will still have the chance to impress but Wisconsin brought the experienced quarterback in for a reason.
“There is an expectation that Tyler is continuing to grow and rise and has an opportunity to win it on the field,” Fickell said. “But that’s not saying Braedyn didn’t do a really good job last year in his opportunities. It’s going to be a really competitive situation for us.”
Absolute worst case, the competition could string into the season. Wisconsin does not have the toughest schedule to start out, facing Western Michigan and then FCS opponent South Dakota. Week 3 is when things need to be sorted, with Alabama coming to town for a premier nonconference game.
Fickell will have a decision to make at some point. For now, the competition will play out for at least a couple more months.
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