Wisconsin will need big seasons from several key players in 2025.
Happy 4th of July weekend Wisconsin Badgers fans! We are under two months away from the Badgers’ football season opener against the Miami (OH) Redhawks.
With the influx of new transfers, the Badgers will feature some new faces to pick up what was a disappointing offense last season. It was clear down the stretch last season that the Phil Longo’s offense was like trying to fit a square peg through a circle hole. Under new offensive coordinator, Jeff Grimes, Wisconsin’s offense will feature a much heavier emphasis on running the football.
Here are the five most important Badgers on offense for the 2025 season.
Riley Mahlman
You can make the argument that the fifth-year right tackle is Wisconsin’s top overall player on the team. Last Tuesday, Mahlman was named to Athlon Sports’ 2025 Big Ten First Team Offense.
Despite receiving interest from the NFL Draft, Mahlman experienced some inconsistencies in 2024, particularly in pass protection. With Jeff Grimes operating a pro-style offense instead of an Air-Raid attack, this should play into Mahlman’s strengths as a run blocker.
While Mahlman has manned the right tackle position the last two years, it’s also possible he could switch to left tackle this year. Projected starter Kevin Heywood is out for the season with a torn ACL, so we could see Mahlman move to the other side of the line.
Billy Edwards, Jr.
Quarterback play was a massive issue that plagued the Badgers throughout 2024. Miami (FL) transfer Tyler Van Dyke failed to impress in his first two games before his season ended with a torn ACL against Alabama. Braedyn Locke threw for thirteen touchdown passes but had eight straight games with at least one interception. Following the firing of Phil Longo, Locke transferred to Arizona.
Enter Billy Edwards, Jr.
The Maryland transfer is, at the very least, an upgrade at the quarterback position. His statistics, 2881 yards, 15 touchdowns, nine interceptions, are not eye-popping by any stretch, but it eclipsed what Locke and Van Dyke produced last year. I’m sure Badger fans will take those numbers after the quarterback play we saw last season.
Vinny Anthony II
Last year’s leader in receiving yards was Wisconsin’s only other offensive skill position representative on Athlon Sports’ All-Conference preseason nominees, landing on the fourth-team offense. We started to see Anthony II emerge as the WR1 late last year, despite the Badgers’ five-game losing streak to end the year, including his first 100+ receiving yard game at Nebraska.
This offseason, the Badgers lost three wide receivers to the transfer portal: Will Pauling (Notre Dame), Quincy Burroughs (Western Kentucky), and Mark Hamper (California). Therefore, Anthony II is expected to be the go-to receiver for the Badgers in 2025.
Cade Yacamelli
Yacamelli looked to be a major part of the Badgers’ offense but was inexplicably underutilized last season. Despite a team-high 8.3 yards per carry, Yacamelli failed to register a carry in the Badgers’ last five games of the season. It was speculated that Yacamelli would enter the transfer portal after the season, but the junior running back decided to stay in Madison.
With a heavier emphasis on the run game and Darrion Dupree currently sidelined with injury, Yacamelli is getting most of the attention at RB1.
Tucker Ashcraft
The tight end was not a major part of Wisconsin’s offense the last two years, but under Grimes, expect the tight end to be a major part of 2025. Tanner Koziol was supposed to be a contributor this year, but the All-American from Ball State left the program and is now at Houston.
Ashcraft, despite not being physically ready to start in his freshman year, managed 168 yards in two seasons at Madison. With a new offensive system and no Koziol, Ashcraft should make the tight end position much more valuable in 2025.
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