As Luke Fickell's first season in Madison draws closer, the Badgers will hit the field for spring practice starting in late March.

Following its Pro Day on March 23, UW will run spring ball between March 25 and April 27 this year, according to a recent social media post. With a completely revamped coaching staff, a few key incoming transfers and brand new schematics, Wisconsin football will look plenty different in 2023. Spring ball will be the first glimpse at this new era.

BadgerBlitz.com is once again expected to watch any open practices available for reporters to attend. Thus, our position previews start on Monday with the quarterbacks, a position group that looks completely different from a year ago.

Wisconsin's new coaching staff made short work of completely reimagining the Badgers' quarterback room. Graham Mertz, Wisconsin's starter for the past three seasons, saw the writing on the wall and transferred to Florida this winter. Now, the position appears to be headed by SMU transfer Tanner Mordecai.

Mordecai was one of the hottest names in the transfer portal at quarterback after facilitating a prolific offense in Dallas over the past two seasons. Wisconsin will be his third stop after spending his first two seasons at Oklahoma, where he shared a locker room with Jalen Hurts and Spencer Rattler. Mordecai's prolific numbers are well documented, but just as a reminder, he threw for 7,152 yards and 72 touchdowns in two seasons as a starter for the Mustangs. With his elite pedigree and experience, Mordecai is the overwhelming favorite to win the starting job for Wisconsin.

There exists plenty of competition behind the SMU transfer, however, competition that Wisconsin's quarterback room hasn't seen in several years. Another passer initially recruited by quarterback whisperer Lincoln Riley, Sooners transfer Nick Evers projects to be one of the Badgers' top backups. Evers threw just one pass in his first collegiate season a year ago, but the Texas native has a rocket arm and flirted with running 20 miles-per-hour in high school. He's a true dual threat, and he looks like the future of the position for Wisconsin.

The Badgers also added former four-star Braedyn Locke, a transfer from Mississippi State. Like Evers, Locke is unexperienced and likely won't get his chance to truly compete for a starting job quite yet. However, his addition to the quarterback room adds another blue-chipper and can only be beneficial for the overall competition within the group.

Myles Burkett, who at times acted as Mertz's backup for Wisconsin, and Cole LaCrue, a true freshman, are also in the mix. They're buried on the depth chart, however, and likely won't get many reps this spring.

After completely re-tooling its quarterback room, Wisconsin has a lot of talent and a lot of competition at the position. There's four guys that could realistically compete for a starting spot at a Power 5 school. The competition won't be wide open for any quarterback on the roster, however.

“There really aren’t enough reps in spring ball to give reps to more than three if you want to properly develop them for the fall,” new offensive coordinator Phil Longo said of his quarterback situation.

"Some of them are different, like Cole LaCrue is brand new, so before he does anything he’s got to learn it, the fundamentals and material and all that stuff," Longo added. "So he’s in a different boat because he’s brand new. There’s also a walk-on here (Marshall Howe), and there’s also Myles Burkett here. So we’ll evaluate them to see where they are from a talent standpoint.”

How exactly Longo will divvy up the reps remains to be seen, but it's fair to assume the three that will get the most attention are Mordecai, Evers and Locke. With one season of eligibility remaining, Mordecai came to Madison to be the starter and it would take a big upset for him to lose the job. He's no stranger to quarterback competitions, having lost one to Rattler in 2020 in Norman after watching Hurts pilot the Sooners' offense in the year prior.

Even with Mordecai as the probable starter come Sept. 2, how the position group shakes out behind him will be fascinating. How many first-team reps do Evers and Locke receive? How frequently do they receive them? Who looks the most comfortable running a new offense?

As Longo sorts through his loaded quarterback room this spring, expect him to be extremely deliberate in how snaps are distributed. Wisconsin's quarterbacks have the pedigree; now they need to put on a show for the new coaching staff.

As mentioned, Mordecai is the heavy favorite to win the job. That doesn't necessarily make him the most intriguing player in Wisconsin's quarterback room. That would go to Evers, who is simply dripping with potential.

A quick glance at his Hudl tape reveals just how special Evers could be in Madison. The first two plays of his senior season highlight reel offer a good taste of what the quarterback can do. On the first, he stands tall in the face of pressure and drops a dime about 40 yards downfield to his receiver. On the next, he keeps the ball on a read option, reverses field, and sprints untouched right through the teeth of the defense about 60 yards for a score.

Evers might be the most mobile quarterback to come to Madison since Russell Wilson compiled 338 yards and six touchdowns on the ground in 2011. If he can learn Longo's air raid offense and combine that with his elite athletic ability, Evers could nip at Mordecai's heels all season and would likely be the immediate favorite to succeed him.

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