Tag: Quarterbacks

BREAKING: Wisconsin class of 2025 quarterback signee decommits from program

Wisconsin class of 2025 quarterback commit decommits from program

Wisconsin class of 2025 signee Landyn Locke announced his decision to decommit from the Badgers’ class of 2025 on Monday.

Landyn Locke — the younger brother of former Badgers’ starter Braedyn Locke — made his choice just 12 days after signing with Wisconsin during its early signing day window on Dec. 4.

His choice follows a string of movements within the room. His older brother Braedyn entered the portal on Dec. 11 following an up-and-down season as the Badgers’ starter. That followed the departure of  Tyler Van Dyke, who also entered the portal after the 2024 season concluded.

After those departures, Wisconsin landed commitments from San Diego State transfer quarterback Danny O’Neil and Maryland starting quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. Those two additions, paired with the arrival of highly-touted class of 2025 quarterback Carter Smith, would have seen Locke enter far down the depth chart in Wisconsin’s crowded quarterback room.

With the reality of the updated depth chart, the Badgers’ move to fire offensive coordinator Phil Longo in November was also likely a factor in Locke’s decision.

The Texas native committed to Wisconsin in June 2023, just months after Braedyn transferred to the program from Mississippi State. He was set to join the Badgers as 247Sports’ No. 1,108 player in the class of 2025 and the No. 64 quarterback.

Rising sophomore Mabrey Mettauer is the only remaining quarterback from Wisconsin’s 2024 squad. Redshirt freshman Cole LaCrue also departed alongside Van Dyke and both Locke brothers this offseason.

For more on UW’s departing talent, bookmark our 2024 transfer portal departures tracker.

This isn’t the first time the Saints have tried to sign Ben DiNucci

This isn’t the first time the Saints have tried to sign Ben DiNucci. Last year he passed on the chance to join them after Derek Carr was injured:

Someone in the New Orleans Saints pro personnel department is  big fan of Ben DiNucci. The Saints signed the veteran backup quarterback on Tuesday after a hand injury put Derek Carr’s status in doubt, reinforcing the depth chart behind Jake Haener and Spencer Rattler. It’s been a long time coming.

The Saints tried to sign DiNucci last year when Carr suffered a shoulder injury, but it was reported that he wasn’t open to leaving the Denver Broncos practice squad just to sit on the bench somewhere else. Here’s what we wrote at the time:

But DiNucci didn’t see a better situation on the Saints’ 53-man roster than he already had in Denver. The Saints signed Jake Luton from the Carolina Panthers practice squad and rostered him for three weeks while Carr played through his injured throwing shoulder; when rookie quarterback Jake Haener returned from a six-week suspension to start the season, Luton was waived.

That wasn’t the case this time. DiNucci hadn’t been on an NFL roster since August, when he spent a few weeks with the Buffalo Bills. Without a viable alternative, he was obviously more willing to go be a backup on another team. Hopefully he can help the team get through this rough patch while Carr is on the mend.

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Wisconsin legend leads Steelers to tenth win of 2024 season

Wisconsin legend leads Steelers to tenth win of 2024 season

Wisconsin Badgers legend Russell Wilson keeps finding different ways to win for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

A week after piloting a 44-38 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, Wilson completed 15 throws for 158 passing yards and two passing touchdowns to notch a 27-14 win over the Cleveland Browns. The UW alumnus also rushed six times for 17 yards and recorded a passer rating over 100.0 for the fifth time this season.

Unlike a bulk of his previous performances this season, Wilson did most of his damage on quick-throw sequences. According to Pro Football Focus, Wilson completed 13 of 18 quick throws for 137 yards and two touchdowns. Virtually all of his production arrived during those situations.

Wilson, who is notorious for his capacity to throw the deep ball, still showcased his arm strength several times against the lowly Browns. On his second touchdown pass of the afternoon, Wilson tossed a dart between two Cleveland defenders to tight end Pat Freiermuth for a 20-yard score.

Through seven games as the Steelers’ starter, Wilson is 6-1. He’s thrown for 1,784 yards and 12 touchdowns over that time. At 10-3, the Steelers control their own destiny in the 2024 playoff picture.

Wilson is slated to square off against a quarterback gauntlet to close the 2024 slate. Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles (Dec. 15), Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens (Dec. 21), Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs (Dec. 25) and Joe Burrow’s Cincinnati Bengals (Jan. 5) are the four remaining teams on Pittsburgh’s schedule.

Those contests will serve as an excellent stretch for Pittsburgh to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses before the playoffs begin. Wilson’s sole loss came in a blizzard against Cleveland on Nov. 21.

Wisconsin football legend named NFL FedEx Air & Ground Player of the Week

Wisconsin football icon named FedEx Air & Ground Player of the Week

Wisconsin Badgers’ football legend Russell Wilson was named the NFL’s FedEx Air & Ground Player of Week 13 on Thursday.

The nine-time Pro Bowler earned the honor for his stellar output in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 44-38 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. The former Badger completed 29 of 38 pass attempts for 414 passing yards and three touchdowns in the narrow victory. He also registered a passer rating of 126.4 — his best as a Steeler.

With the win, Wilson helped the Steelers secure the franchise’s 21st consecutive non-losing season, tying the 1965-85 Dallas Cowboys for a league record.

In the game, Wilson registered 257 of his passing yards in the first half — the most of any first half of his storied 13-year career. He completed passes to 10 different wide receivers on the afternoon and displayed his deep ball proficiency throughout.

On the season, Wilson has now thrown for 1,626 passing yards and 10 touchdowns in six games as Pittsburgh’s starting pass-thrower. He is also responsible for a career-high 271 passing yards per game.

Head coach Mike Tomlin’s decision to start Wilson over dynamic quarterback Justin Fields ushered outside criticism, but it has paid off incredibly well for the Steelers. The team currently leads the AFC North at 9-3 and looks like they could host a home playoff game this winter.

Wisconsin football listed as team to watch for top transfer portal quarterback

Wisconsin football listed as team to watch for top transfer portal quarterback

Wisconsin football has emerged as a potential landing spot for Texas A&M transfer portal quarterback Connor Weigman.

Weigman announced his plans to enter the transfer portal on Tuesday, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Since that decision, Wisconsin Syracuse, Louisville, Iowa and Missouri have emerged as potential landing spots for the former five-star recruit.

As a sophomore with the Aggies, Weigman completed 64-of-114 passes for 819 passing yards and three passing touchdowns in six games.

Weigman also endured his fair share of ups and downs throughout his 2024 campaign. Following a bumpy first performance against Notre Dame, he responded with a solid performance in a win over McNeese State. An injury to his AC joint in his throwing shoulder sidelined him until Week 6 against Missouri — a game in which he led the Aggies to a 41-10 blowout win.

From there, he played just three more games of the season. He finished with a 37-yard, one-interception performance vs. New Mexico State before redshirt freshman Marcel Reed took control of the job.

Still, the highly-touted recruit has flashed his brilliance. As a freshman in 2022, Weigman made the first start of his career against Ole Miss and set a school record with 338 passing yards. His 896-yard, eight-touchdown season-long output earned him 2022 ESPN Freshman All-American nods, and it appeared as if he was on a trajectory to be Texas A&M’s pass-thrower for the long haul.

Plus, 247Sports’ composite listed Weigman as No. 22 overall recruit in the 2022 class and the nation’s No. 2 quarterback. The potential is there.

Now, the Texas native is in the portal. Given Wisconsin starting quarterback Braedyn Locke’s late-season struggles and uncertainly revolving around Tyler Van Dyke’s ACL recovery, Weigman’s link to the Badgers makes sense.

The Badges are also set to roster a batch young quarterback talents including Mabrey Mettauer, Carter Smith and Landyn Locke, who may not be ready to take over the quarterback responsibility. The Badgers have acquired their last two starting pass-throwers — Tanner Mordecai and Van Dyke — in the portal. Weigman would fit that same mold.

Wisconsin football legend named 2024 Ford-Kinnick Award Winner

Wisconsin football legend named 2024 Ford-Kinnick Award Winner

Wisconsin Badgers’ football legend Russell Wilson was named the Big Ten’s 2024 Ford-Kinnick Leadership Award winner on Tuesday.

In conjunction with the Dungy-Thompson Humanitarian Award, the honor celebrates Big Ten student-athlete alumni who have showcased humanitarianism and leadership after their collegiate tenure, per the Big Ten conference.

Wilson’s on-field contributions speak for themselves. The nine-time Pro Bowler won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks in 2014 and has thrown for at least 3,000 yards in 12 consecutive NFL seasons. His Pittsburgh Steelers now sit at 9-3 atop a tough AFC North conference.

Off the field, Wilson is just as impactful. He won the 2020 NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year award and the 2022 Bart Starr Award. He also founded the Why Not You Foundation in 2014, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating real and lasting change in the world by motivating and empowering today’s youth.

His nonprofit opened a tuition-free public high school near Seattle and he helped donated 10 million meals to food insecure families following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

For more information of Wilson’s humanitarian contributions, click here.

At Wisconsin, Wilson pocketed the 2011 Griese-Brees Big Ten Quarterback of the Year award and captained UW to the Big Ten Championship title in his sole season as a Badger in 2011. After setting breaking the school record for single-season passing yards (3,175), touchdown passes (33) and completions (225), Wilson earned consensus first-team All-Big Ten nods.

All 32 NFL quarterbacks (including Jayden Daniels) ranked by Total QBR

The latest QB rankings heading into Week 14, using the Total QBR metric.

The Washington Commanders had lost three straight games heading into the Week 13 matchup against the Tennessee Titans. Part of Washington’s recent struggles were due to the previously red-hot offense’s struggles. Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels finally looked like, well, a rookie.

On Sunday, the Commanders smashed the Titans 42-19, ending the losing streak and piling up close to 500 yards of total offense against a Tennessee defense ranked No. 2 at the time. Washington’s running game was even more impressive, gaining a season-high 267 yards and scoring three touchdowns.

Daniels completed 25 of 30 passes for 206 yards, with three touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed for a touchdown.

How does Daniels measure up to other NFL quarterbacks after 13 weeks? We look at ESPN’s Total QBR metric, which differs from the traditional QB rating. Here’s how ESPN defines QBR:

ESPN’s Total Quarterback Rating (Total QBR), which was released in 2011, has never claimed to be perfect, but unlike other measures of quarterback performance, it incorporates all of a quarterback’s contributions to winning, including how he impacts the game on passes, rushes, turnovers and penalties. Also, since QBR is built from the play level, it accounts for a team’s level of success or failure on every play to provide the proper context and then allocates credit to the quarterback and his teammate to produce a clearer measure of quarterback efficiency.

NFL QBs ranked by Total QBR after Week 13

  1. Kyler Murray: 75.1
  2. Josh Allen: 74.5
  3. Joe Burrow: 73.9
  4. Lamar Jackson: 73.4
  5. Jayden Daniels: 71.8
  6. Derek Carr: 65.0
  7. Brock Purdy: 64.7
  8. Jalen Hurts: 64.6
  9. Patrick Mahomes: 64.4
  10. Matthew Stafford: 60.8
  11. Jordan Love: 60.4
  12. Tua Tagovailoa: 60.2
  13. Trevor Lawrence: 60.1
  14. Drake Maye: 58.0
  15. Jared Goff: 57.7
  16. Sam Darnold: 56.0
  17. Bo Nix: 55.5
  18. Geno Smith: 55.0
  19. Justin Herbert: 55.0
  20. Kirk Cousins: 54.6
  21. C.J. Stroud: 53.6
  22. Baker Mayfield: 52.9
  23. Justin Fields: 51.9
  24. Anthony Richardson: 49.5
  25. Aaron Rodgers: 48.2
  26. Caleb Williams: 47.1
  27. Daniel Jones: 47.1
  28. Dak Prescott: 46.4
  29. Bryce Young: 39.1
  30. Gardner Minshew: 38.0
  31. Will Levis: 32.9
  32. Deshaun Watson: 22.6

Former Wisconsin legend might be the best deep-ball thrower this season

Former Wisconsin legend might be the best deep-ball thrower this season

Former Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson is Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded quarterback on throws of 15+ yards this season.

Wilson’s 2024 output with the Pittsburgh Steelers is somewhat of a resurgence. After going 11-19 as the Denver Broncos starting quarterback from 2022-2023, the UW alumnus is playing some of the best football of his career this season.

In six games as the Steelers starter, Wilson has totaled 1,626 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 104.3. His 271 yards per game clip would be the highest of his career.

Wilson most recently showcased his deep ball prowess in the Steelers’ 44-38 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. The nine-time Pro Bowler went 29-of-38 for 414 yards and three touchdowns to earn his fifth win as a starter.

In that contest, Wilson made several high-level deep throws. His most significant came when he a 23-yard laser to wide receiver Calvin Austin III at the beginning of the second quarter, plus a 25-yard dime to tight end Pat Freiermuth for a touchdown later in the third quarter.

Wilson might not be as dynamic of a rusher as he once was, but he can still throw the deep ball as well as any quarterback in the NFL.

At 9-3, the Steelers are in position to win the AFC North and clinch a home playoff game. They will return to the gridiron on Dec. 8 vs. the division rival Cleveland Browns.

PFF: Max Brosmer, who dominated Wisconsin, was the highest-graded quarterback of Week 14

PFF: Max Brosmer, who dominated Wisconsin, was the highest-graded quarterback of Week 14

Minnesota’s Max Brosmer earned ProFootballFocus’ highest grade of any quarterback for Week 14.

Brosmer notched a 94.0 overall grade for his performance in Minnesota’s 24-7 blowout win over Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium. The Roswell, Georgia native completed 17 of 26 attempts for 191 yards and two passing touchdowns in the win. He also rushed four times for 11 yards and one touchdown in the effort.

To put Brosmer’s three-touchdown game into perspective, he finished with a higher grade than Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke (93.7), NC State’s CJ Bailey (93.3), USC’s Jayden Maiava (91.9), Syracuse’s Kyle McCord (90.9) and Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel (90.7).

Rourke captained the Hoosiers to a 66-0 victory, Maiava dropped 360 yards and three touchdowns vs. Notre Dame, McCord tossed nearly 400 yards in the Orange’s upset win over No. 6 Miami and Gabriel registered three touchdowns in a 28-point blowout win over rival Washington.

While Brosmer didn’t play a top-tier defense or throw for a substantial number of yards, he did pilot a dominant offensive attack for the Golden Gophers throughout the contest. Minnesota out-gained Wisconsin by over 200 yards in the win, controlled the time of possession and built a 21-0 edge by the eight-minute mark of the third quarter.

Brosmer’s grade is yet another blemish in Wisconsin’s defensive effort to end the season. The Badgers were unable to generate any momentum on defense and recorded just one sack during their final game of the year.

The Golden Gophers, meanwhile, appear to be headed in the opposite direction. P.J. Fleck’s group secured impressive wins over UW, Illinois and USC this season, while the Badgers failed to record a single win over a respectable opponent.

Former Wisconsin quarterback throws for over 400 yards in narrow divisional win

Former Wisconsin quarterback throws for over 400 yards in narrow divisional win

Former Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson threw for over 400 yards in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 44-38 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

Wilson looked as dynamic as ever in the Steelers’ ninth win of the 2024 season. On the day, the UW alumnus completed 29 of 38 pass attempts for 414 passing yards and three touchdowns for a 126.4 quarterback rating.

The Seahawks legend recorded 257 of those passing yards before halftime, the most of any first half of his storied 13-year career.

Wilson made virtually every type of throw throughout the afternoon. He found ten different Steelers receivers and captained the team to seven scoring drives.

Arguably his most impressive throw came with under 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Up 27-24 at the Bengals’ 25-yard line, Wilson evaded pressure and launched a sidearm bullet to tight end Pat Freiermuth for a 25-yard touchdown. That extended the team’s lead to 10 entering the fourth quarter.

Wilson also found wide receiver Van Jefferson for a 43-yard gain late in the fourth frame to essentially ice the contest.

The former Badger great reminded fans of what he’s capable of. After enduring over two years of criticism for his performance as a Denver Bronco, Wilson looks like he could provide stability to a franchise in desperate need of a quarterback since the departure of future Hall of Fame QB Ben Roethlisberger.

Wilson is now 5-1 as the Steelers’ starting quarterback in 2024. His sole loss came a week ago during the Thursday night snowstorm against Cleveland Browns, a game in which he completed a whopping 12 of 13 pass attempts for 203 passing yards and one touchdown on third and fourth down scenarios.

Wilson’s 9-3 Steelers will be back in action against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, Dec. 8.