Luke Fickell 'probably will never truly announce' starting QB before Week 1

Fickell might keep his QB1 decision under wraps until the opener.

Jul 23, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell speaks to the media during the Big 10 football media day at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

Since Wisconsin added Miami (FL) transfer Tyler Van Dyke, it has been presumed that he will be the team's starting quarterback this season. Head coach Luke Fickell has not officially named him the starter, but all signs point to him being the man for the Badgers.

Despite Van Dyke having 10 times as many college starts as the top returning option, Braedyn Locke, Fickell seems to want to keep the competition open heading into the fall.

"We'll continue to push that competition into fall camp," Fickell said in Indianapolis, site of this week's Big Ten Media Days. "We probably will never truly announce you a starting quarterback, but those who are practice will see as these first couple of weeks really start to see Tyler see to take all of the one reps, but we're going to have both of them, we're going to need both of them and want to continue to develop both of them."

Van Dyke comes to Madison with nearly 7,500 career passing yards and 50+ touchdowns. Locke transferred to the program last offseason after one season at Mississippi State in 2022. He made three starts for the Badgers, totaling 777 yards, five touchdowns and only one interception.

Fickell continues to say he's been impressed with Van Dyke, so this could simply be a situation where he wants to show his confidence in Locke as a long-term option and keep him tied to the program, as he does have three seasons of eligibility remaining compared to Van Dyke's one.