Wisconsin football: Bold predictions for the 2025 season
The 2025 Wisconsin Football season holds unknown variables. We're challenging conventional wisdom with bold predictions that demand a closer look.
August 28th, when the Wisconsin football team kicks off its 2025 campaign, is just six weeks away. For some, it feels like we're almost there; for others, it’s still a lifetime away. Let's bridge that gap with some bold predictions for the 2025 season.
I want to preface this exercise by saying I don’t think these will actually happen. I don’t think it’s necessarily likely that any of these things will happen, but that’s why they are bold predictions. It’s fun to think about what could potentially happen in a best-case scenario.
So let’s get right into it.
Wisconsin will finish with a winning record and get back to a bowl game
A lot has been made of the Badgers’ difficult schedule. Oddsmakers set their winning total at 5.5 games, which, considering the teams they will face this season and how the program has performed over the last two seasons, I understand.
But this season we will see a lot more of the recruits that Fickell and his staff have recruited when they were hired, which have been highly-regarded classes. Assuming the defense takes a step and the offense is more successful under the new offensive scheme, I think the Badgers can be more successful this season than last season, despite their schedule.
Some games I think the Badgers will win are Miami (OH), Middle Tennessee, Maryland, and the Washington games. That puts us at four games already.
I’m not confident the Badgers beat Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State, or Oregon.
That leaves us Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, and Minnesota to get three more wins. With injuries and regression (Indiana), I think the Badgers have a shot in all four of those games, especially since the Iowa and Illinois games are at home.
If the Badgers are better than most national pundits believe, the Badgers could finish with seven or eight wins this season without having a big upset over one of the major programs on their schedule.
Billy Edwards Jr. throws for over 2,500 yards and 18 touchdowns
The Badgers are going back to what has worked for the program for the past 30 years, running a pro-style offense that is centered around running the ball, supposedly.
After an absolute flop of an experiment by implementing an Air Raid offense in Madison with Phil Longo, the Badgers went out and hired Jeff Grimes as the new offensive coordinator for the program. According to Luke Fickell, the Badgers are going to put more of a focus on running the ball (more on that later).
A large focus on the attempted revival of the Wisconsin football offense is the arrival of Billy Edwards Jr., the transfer quarterback from Maryland.
In his first season as a full-time starter, Edwards Jr. threw for 2,881 yards, 15 touchdowns, and nine interceptions while completing 65% of the passes for the Terps.
While those stats may not pop off the page and impress you, let me point this out to you. The Maryland offensive line last season, according to PFF, had the second-worst pass-blocking in all of the FBS out of 134 teams. Only Middle Tennessee was worse. Billy Edwards Jr. was sacked 17 times last season. Now he comes to Wisconsin, where the line last season ranked fifth-best in pass-blocking according to the same grades.
With Wisconsin’s offensive line and what looks to be a reliable stable of running backs (more on that later), Billy Edwards Jr. has a chance to be the first Wisconsin QB to throw for 2,500 and 18 touchdowns since Jack Coan did it in 2019.
The only reason this is a bold take is that it’s the first season in the Grimes offense. Will they be able to hit the ground running, or will it take a while for the team with a handful of new transfers, including Edwards Jr., to learn a new offense and get things going?
If they can ease into the offense relatively quickly, I think Edwards is very capable of reaching 2,500 yards and 18 touchdowns. But between the new offense and the difficult schedule, it could complicate things.
The Badgers’ top two running backs combine for over 2,000 rushing yards
This again may not seem all that bold, but the Badgers as a team didn’t even his 2,000 yards total on the ground last season. The Badgers haven’t even had a 1,000-yard rusher since Braelon Allen did it in 2022, and even then, Allen and Chez Mellusi didn’t combine for over 2,000 yards on the ground.
The last time a running back duo combined for over 2,000 yards was in 2021 with Braelon Allen (1,268) and Chez Mellusi (815), when they finished the season with 2,083 yards.
Heading into the season, it’s looking like sophomore backs Dilin Jones and Darion Dupree will be the lead backs in the offense, regardless of who will be the starter. Both were highly-rated prospects coming out of high school in the 2024 class.
With the focus of Grimes’ new offense reverting to the run, I think we are going to have a chance to see the young backs the Badgers have ready to roll this season. If all goes according to plan this season, the running game should be a reliable way to move the ball, which will, in turn, allow the offense to be more effective with play-action.
If the running and passing game can work hand-in-hand together like it can, I think there’s a realistic shot that Dupree and Jones can combine for over 2,000 yards on the ground.
The defense will have a player with 10+ sacks for the first time since 2022
I think this is going to be the boldest prediction of the three.
Since Mike Tressel has come to Madison to run the defense, they haven’t exactly been a sack-producing unit. In the two years under the current staff, the team's sack leader was Daryl Peterson in 2023 with 4.5 sacks, and Christian Alliegro last season with 3.0 sacks.
Not great.
The staff addressed the edge position this offseason, adding transfers Tyeese Fearbry (Kentucky), Mason Reiger (Louisville), Corey Walker (Western Michigan), and Micheal Garner (Grambling State) to the roster. They also brought in freshman Nicolas Clayton, Sam Leteju, and Jaylen Williams as part of their 2025 class.
With an infusion of new players and another year in the system, I’m hoping to see an effective pass rush, especially if the veteran secondary can lock down opposing receivers and force some coverage sacks as well.
Veteran Darryl Peterson would be my pick for the player to do it. But you never know, maybe one of the freshmen like Nicolas Clayton, who strung together some impressive spring practices, will get on the field and make his presence known early.
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