Wisconsin football saw its season end without bowl practices for the first time since 2001. The Badgers hit a new low this century in year two of the Luke Fickell era, and will face a critical get-right year in 2025.

Over the next two weeks, BadgerBlitz.com will examine the 2024 Badgers position by position. Today, we'll continue with the wideouts, a group that largely underwhelmed once again.

POSITIONAL REVIEWS: Quarterbacks | Running Backs

Vinny Anthony has possessed an infatuating skillset since he stepped on campus, but the wideout finally got a chance to put his talent on display in 2024. After seeing just 18 targets last season in his sophomore year and the first year of the Fickell era, Anthony racked up 56 targets this fall and didn't disappoint.

The ex-track star amassed 39 catches for 672 yards and four touchdowns, including 17.2 yards-per-catch, which placed him in the top 40 nationally in that category. Anthony had big play threat written all over him. He beat defensive backs over the top on go balls, and also beat them with his speed after the catch on shorter completions.

"Truthfully, there are some balls that I’ve thrown to him in practice and even in games at this point where I look at it in the air like, ‘there’s no way he’s getting to that,' former Wisconsin quarterback Braedyn Locke said. "And then he just runs underneath it."

Anthony still isn't the most refined route-runner, and he's not dominant at the catch point — if the defensive back did manage to stay on his hip, he wasn't going to make a wild contested catch. Still, he developed mightily in his junior season and is now slated to be a staple at the X receiver position in his senior year in Madison.

Anthony's growth was a bright spot, but it was more of a silver lining. Other than Trech Kekahuna, who displayed development despite not being nearly as involved as he should've been (25 catches for 339 yards and two touchdowns), no other receiver took the necessary steps forward to keep this passing game growing.

Will Pauling, the top returner from 2023, seemed to regress. He did miss the last two games of the season, but saw his production drop from 74 catches for 837 yards and six scores to 42 catches for 407 yards and three touchdowns. Pauling also dropped nine passes, a career high. His chemistry with Locke, which was a key catalyst for his breakout season, also suffered immensely.

Bryson Green also missed time, as the senior wideout was sidelined for four straight games. Still, he also failed to take the leap development-wise that Wisconsin needed. Green projected as a reliable, big, physical target on the perimeter for the Badgers, but it just never came to fruition. Another transfer wideout with great expectations, CJ Williams, had a career year statistically (16 catches, 248 yards, two scores) but was hardly a factor week in and week out. Other transfers, such as Tyrell Henry and Quincy Burroughs, did next to nothing.

A highly problematic passing game certainly didn't help, but Kenny Guiton's room didn't display the collective development that was necessary to help this offense grow in 2024.

With Pauling slated to return for his redshirt senior season, and Kekahuna having withdrawn from the portal, Wisconsin once again has no shortage of talented options in the slot. Throw in freshman Kyan Berry-Johnson, who saw a handful of snaps in 2024, and the Badgers have legitimate playmaking and depth at slot receiver.

On the outside, it's a different story. Anthony's return is huge, because he gives Wisconsin a vertical threat that can stress defenses over the top. He'll likely hold down one of the boundary receiver spots, but who will line up opposite him?

As the roster currently stands, there's a litany of unproven options that will compete for that spot. Williams, Burroughs, Chris Brooks Jr. and Joseph Griffin Jr. all remain on the roster at the time of writing, but that's a whole lot of question marks.

Barring a rapidly accelerated development process from incoming blue-chip freshman Eugene Hilton, Wisconsin will likely need a transfer — or two or three — at wideout to shore up the outside receiver position. Several offers have been sent out, including Javon Tracy of Miami (OH), Caleb Goodie of Colorado State and Trey Spivey of Kansas State. Of the receivers Wisconsin has offered, most stand above 6-foot-2, affirming the notion that the staff is targeting perimeter weapons.

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