Tag: Tanner Koziol

PFF: Wisconsin to enter 2025 with one of best tight ends in the college football

PFF: Wisconsin to enter 2025 with one of best tight ends in the college football

Wisconsin’s busy winter transfer portal cycle was headlined by a few key offensive additions.

Two were at quarterback, the most important position on the field: Maryland starter Billy Edwards Jr. and San Diego State starter Danny O’Neil. Another key addition fulfilled arguably the next-biggest positional need on the unit: Ball State tight end Tanner Koziol.

Related: Early Big Ten football starting quarterback rankings for 2025 season

Koziol, a four-star transfer prospect, is the team’s highest-rated addition: the No. 72 overall player in the portal and No. 3 at his position. 247Sports may even be conservative with its ranking, as Koziol will enter 2025 as ProFootballFocus’ top-ranked tight end.

The Ball State standout finished the 2024 season ranked No. 3 in PFF’s sport-wide ranking with an overall grade of 87.9. No. 1 Harold Fannin Jr. (Bowling Green) and No. 2 Tyler Warren (Penn State) are both off to the 2025 NFL draft. That leaves Koziol as the service’s best returning player at the position.

The rising senior tallied 94 receptions, 839 yards and eight touchdowns for Ball State in 2024, leading the team in every receiving category. He won’t have trouble besting Wisconsin’s recent production from the position — the team got just 23 combined catches for 156 yards and one touchdown from Tucker Ashcraft and Riley Nowakowski in 2024.

Other notable returning tight ends include Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers (87.4 PFF grade), Louisiana’s Terrance Carter (83.6) and Oregon‘s Kenyon Sadiq (80.9).

Wisconsin enters 2025 with a new-look offense under coordinator Jeff Grimes. Edwards and Koziol should form Wisconsin’s best quarterback-tight end duo since QB Alex Hornibrook and TE Troy Fumagalli combined for 46 catches, 547 yards and four touchdowns in 2017.

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BREAKING: Wisconsin lands commitment from top transfer portal tight end

Wisconsin gets a major transfer commitment

Wisconsin landed a commitment from Ball State transfer tight end Tanner Koziol on Saturday.

He is the program’s second transfer commitment of the cycle, joining Louisville edge rusher Mason Reiger.

Related: Tracking Wisconsin football’s transfer portal offers, interests and commitments

247Sports ranks the talented tight end as a four-star transfer recruit, the No. 48 overall player in the portal and the No. 3 player at his position.

His commitment is significant news for a Wisconsin team that saw starters Riley Nowakowski and Tucker Ashcraft combine for just 23 catches, 156 yards and a touchdown in 2024. The position never played a big role during Phil Longo’s tenure as offensive coordinator. With new hire Jeff Grimes reshaping the unit, Koziol should immediately fill a primary role in the receiving game.

The multi-year starter totaled 94 catches, a team-high 839 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in 2024. His career-long numbers are an impressive 163 catches, 1,507 yards and 18 total touchdowns.

Koziol fits the mold of Grimes’ pro-style offense and immediately gives the program its best receiving threat at the position since Jake Ferguson.

Wisconsin now continues its transfer recruiting with a major position checked off. Defensive line, quarterback, wide receiver, cornerback, safety and linebacker remain some of the team’s biggest needs.

Bookmark our transfer offer, visit and commitment tracker for the latest updates.

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Report: Wisconsin lands visit with one of transfer portal’s top tight ends

Report: Wisconsin lands visit with one of transfer portal’s top tight ends

Wisconsin has a visit scheduled with top transfer portal tight end Tanner Koziol, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

The Badgers will host Koziol on Friday, following his earlier visit to Houston.

Related: Tracking Wisconsin football’s transfer portal offers, interests and commitments

247Sports ranks the Ball State transfer as the No. 41 overall player in the portal and the No. 3 tight end. The multi-year starter is off an exceptional 2024 season that included 94 catches, a team-high 839 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. Those numbers bolster his impressive career tallies of 163 catches, 1,507 yards and 18 scores.

The rising is in the portal with one year of eligibility remaining.

A potential commitment would give Wisconsin its best receiving threat at the position since Jake Ferguson left for the NFL.

The 6’7″ tight end’s recruitment is sure to pick up over the next week. He was one of the top tight ends in college football in 2024, regardless of level. Difference-makers at the position are hard to find, especially transferring from a mid-level FBS program.

Wisconsin is in the market for an established pass-catching tight end as new coordinator Jeff Grimes works to recraft the unit. The Badgers got only 23 combined catches, 156 yards and a touchdown from starters Tucker Ashcraft and Riley Nowakowski in 2024. The lack of receiving threat at the position was part of the offense’s broader struggles over the second half of the season.

Bookmark our offer and visit tracker for more information on Wisconsin’s top portal targets at this stage of the process.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion.

Most intriguing transfer portal options at tight end for Ohio State

Most intriguing transfer portal options at tight end for Ohio State #GoBucks

We already broke down our expectations for how Ohio State could handle the quarterback position and then dived into the possible running backs and most recently covered the wide receiver position (if things break a certain way), but I also wanted to take a look at the available wide receivers in the transfer portal.

With Cade Stover out the door, the Buckeyes are left with an underwhelming Gee Scott Jr. and inexperienced Jelani Thurman. Scott was a former highly-rated recruit and played well towards the end of the season. Still, with the tight end position playing such a prominent role recently, Ohio State may explore the portal to find a more experienced playmaker to replace Stover.

There are a few intriguing pieces that can help, but most of the prominent stars who entered have committed to new teams already. The following are the top five most interesting tight ends that the Buckeyes could reach out to.