Wisconsin Declares Winner of Badgers' Most Important Position Battle

The Wisconsin Badgers are in the middle of various position battles as the 2024 NCAA college football season looms. While each showdown is important for its own reason, few battles are as crucial as the one surrounding Wisconsin's starting quarterback job.

With last year's QB1 Tanner Mordecai pursuing his NFL dreams, Badgers enthusiasts have been wondering who'll be the starting arm in 2024. After all, the competition was down to Miami transfer Tyler Van Dyke and Braedyn Locke, who joined the program following a year at Mississippi State.

On Wednesday, the Badgers' latest No. 1 quarterback was named.

Wisconsin Football News: Badgers Name Trevor Van Dyke as QB1

Wisconsin offensive coordinator Phil Longo has announced that Van Dyke will be the Badgers' starting quarterback this season, per On3's Griffin McVeigh.

It's going to be interesting to see what Van Dyke does in his first season outside of Miami. The former ACC Rookie of the Year made 29 starts across the last three NCAAF campaigns, completing 63.7% of passes for 7,469 yards with 54 touchdowns to 23 interceptions. The Hurricanes played to a 15-14 record in those contests.

Even though Locke showed promise during the summer, his time will eventually come. He's only a sophomore, after all, while Van Dyke is a senior. Besides, OC Lingo even went as far as saying that the Badgers would still "feel great" even if they decided to roll with Locke as the starter.

The Rockwall, TX native appeared in parts of five games with Wisconsin last season. Although his 50.0% completion rate left much to be desired, he still threw for 777 passing yards and five touchdowns while only handing out one interception.

Regardless of who remains the starter throughout the 2024 season, it'd be hard for the Badgers to be worse under center than they were last year. Mordecai didn't get much done from a passing perspective as he finished the year with just over 2,000 passing yards with nine TDs to four INTs in 10 starts.

The lackluster showing was a big reason why the Badgers ranked 87th in points, 69th in passing yards, and 85th in offensive TDs per game across the nation last year.

Fortunately, Badgers fans won't have to wait long to see what their new QB1 can do on the gridiron. Wisconsin opens the 2024 NCAAF season at home against the Western Michigan Broncos on Aug. 30 in a game where the Badgers are projected as 23.5-point favorites, per FanDuel Sportsbook.