Madison — When Wisconsin added three new quarterbacks and four new wide receivers via the transfer portal this offseason, there wasn’t a lot of familiarity between the gunslingers and pass-catchers. Wide out Bryson Green, however, needed no introduction to quarterback Braedyn Locke.

“Man, I played him in high school,” Green said. “He was the Rockwall quarterback. He actually kicked me out of the playoffs my junior year, and he had Jaxson-Smith (Njigba) as his wide receiver…I knew he was a good QB.”

With Tanner Mordecai out indefinitely with a broken hand, Locke is set to be the Badgers’ starting quarterback for the foreseeable future. Of the three signal callers to transfer to Madison in the offseason, Locke was the third and perhaps most surprising. Nick Evers’ raw talent was tantalizing, and Mordecai’s experience practically guaranteed that he would be the starter.

And yet, when spring ball kicked off in late March, Locke trotted out as the second-string quarterback, a position he would hold onto for the duration of the offseason. Locke’s sharp football mind and understanding of Phil Longo’s offense helped him earn that spot from the staff, but his work ethic and leadership qualities earned him respect from his teammates.

Quarterbacks aren’t always expected to be gym rats. But according to his receivers, Locke got after it in the weight room this offseason.

“We worked out with him every single day in the offseason as receivers. Being able to see him work, in a space that’s not necessarily where QBs are known to be working,” Chimere Dike said. “It’s impressive and it builds respect from your teammates.”

“I didn’t know too much about him, but I got to see him in the weight room, got to see how hard he was working in the weight room,” Will Pauling said. “Spring ball comes around, he was balling out, throwing beautiful balls throughout spring. That carried on into camp, and as his confidence grew the offense got even better.”

“He’s definitely a hard worker,” Green agreed. “Whether it was meeting with Longo, getting the offense down this spring, staying after to throw with us…you can tell he does a really good job.”

When an untested backup quarterback is suddenly thrown into the fire, it’s natural for questions to arise about how smoothly he can operate the offense and what kind of chemistry he’ll have with his pass-catchers. But with the unique way Wisconsin practiced this offseason, Badgers’ wide receivers have little doubt that they’ll be on the same page.

With a litany of game-ready wide outs at their disposal, Longo and the offensive staff rotated receivers at a breakneck pace within the second and first-teams throughout spring and fall camp. In essence, every receiver got plenty of time catching passes from both Mordecai and Locke.

“Obviously, our whole receiver core shuffled in during spring ball and fall camp. That allowed us to be able to understand we have to build chemistry with more quarterbacks. In a scenario like this where Braedyn’s coming in and getting the start, that’s a huge advantage that we have those reps in our bank,” Dike said.

“He definitely got a chance to throw it to every single one of us,” Green added.

By all accounts, Locke has gone about his business the right way since he got to Madison. But as much as his teammates rave about his work ethic, they might rave even more about his swagger.

“He wears all Lululemon every single day,” Dike said with a smile.

Naturally, BadgerBlitz.com had to confirm this. It wasn’t difficult.

“Man, we call him the Lululemon Warrior,” Green laughed.

Pauling went even more in depth. “Yeah, Braedyn’s clean. He comes in clean, doesn't matter what day of the week it is. He’ll always come in with brand new Lululemon joggers, Lululemon sweatshirt,” he said. “I don’t know if you guys know this, but Lululemon makes socks. Bradeyn Locke’s got some lululemon socks…that’s definitely a part about him he takes very seriously. He rocks it confidently, for sure.”

Pauling’s case is an especially interesting one as Wisconsin breaks in a new starting quarterback. Over the past two games, the slot receiver had piled up 16 catches as Mordecai’s security blanket and go-to receiver. With a less experienced quarterback, it’s easy to imagine that production falling off. Pauling, though, doesn’t see it.

“Honestly when I first came in, I was with Braedyn a lot more. I was getting second-team reps with Braedyn pretty much every practice for that first part of spring,” he said. “I feel like Braedyn’s got a good feel for when I’m gonna break things off, how I’m gonna set guys up certain ways.”

In many ways, Locke is being thrown into the fire. His first serious collegiate action came against Iowa’s defense, and his first start will be on the road against a rejuvenated Illinois team. Still, his receivers have the utmost confidence in their new starting quarterback.

“Once he’s out there and he gets those reps, I feel like his confidence is gonna go up and his play is gonna go up as well,” Pauling said. “ I think Braedyn’s got a lot of abilities people aren’t aware of yet cause they haven’t seen him out there.”

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