According to a report from Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel multiple sources say that Danny O’Brien is becoming a Wisconsin Badger, which was recently confirmed by the Badgers themselves. O’Brien will be graduating from Maryland this Spring and under NCAA rules will be eligible to play immediately at Wisconsin. He’s also got two years of eligibility to bring to the Badgers.
“We’re excited that Danny has chosen to attend Wisconsin,” Badgers Head Coach Bret Bielema said in a statement. “The first thing we did when we were aware of Danny’s interest was to try and find out what type of person he was and if he would fit into our program. From our dealings with him and the things I have heard from those who have been around him, he is a tremendous person and has great character. He had a fantastic visit and our current players who met him came away impressed. Having graduated from Maryland in just three years, you know right away that he is a smart kid.”
Bielma also indicated that nothing was promised to him. “As is the case with any player who joins our program, whe have not promised Danny anything other than the chance to come in during the fall and compete for the starting quarterback position,” said Bielema. “He understands that and is excited for the opportunity.”
He chose Wisconsin after visiting just three schools (Wisconsin, Penn State, and Ole Miss) and considered Vanderbilt as well, which didn’t get a visit by O’Brien. His arrival this summer seemingly solves a glaring issue at quarterback for the Badgers. But is it time to let out a collective sigh of relief just yet?
One would have to assume it’s time for Badger Nation to at least let go of some of the concern surrounding the QB position. After all the Badgers are bringing in someone who’s got a combination no other QB that will be in fall camp has in 1) actual starting experience in a college football game and 2) he’s completely healthy.
Curt Phillips, Jon Budmayr, and incoming freshman Bart Houston all will be coming off of surgery or in the case of Budmayr there’s no clue as to what his situation will be health wise come the fall camp let alone next week.
The only QB’s that are healthy for Wisconsin will be Redshirt Sophomore Joe Brennan and Redshirt Freshman Joel Stave. Neither have started a game at the college level, but Brennan had a pretty underwhelming performance playing back up to Russell Wilson. He was 6-of-15 for just 48 yards with 1 interception.
O’Brien leaves Maryland after an interesting but brief career as a Terrapin. He came in as a QB that excelled in his freshman season running the pro-style offense of James Franklin under the leadership of Head Coach Ralph Freidgen.
After that season, in which he was named the ACC Newcomer of the Year and FWAA Freshman All-American for his 2,438 yards, 22TD’s, 10INT’s and 57% completion rate performance, Friedgen was let go and Franklin left to take over the Vanderbilt program.
Last year O’Brien struggled adapting to the more spread style of offense that new Head Coach Larry Edsell played under Gary Crowton. His completion percentage stayed about the same, but his overall numbers dropped to 1,648 yards and just 7TD’s and 10INT’s. That performance ultimately cost him his job along with a left arm fracture late in the season that is fully healed and he requested his transfer early in the offseaon.
That request and his link to Wisconsin was reported in mid-February by us. Since then there was a prevailing though that Wisconsin was in the mix but wasn’t the front runner.
After paying the Badgers a visit this past weekend O’Brien went back to Penn State for a second visit and some took that as a sign he may be leaning that way. However, a report from BadgerNation.com indicated just how impressed he was with his visit to Madison and with the football program as a whole.
But what does his transfer mean for the Badgers in 2012? Well, let’s start by getting one thing straight – O’Brien isn’t Russell Wilson and expecting him to be that is unrealistic at the very minimum. His situation is totally different in that we only have one real season of production in the pro-style offense to go off of.
O’Brien adds a ton to the QB staff and with his availability for the next two seasons should he win out in fall camp it could end up being an ideal situation. He can ease into the offense and won’t be forced to be “the man” right away thanks to the proven running attack of Montee Ball and James White. He also offers the Badgers a chance, should he stay totally healthy, to really develop Bart Houston or even Joel Stave to become the eventual starter without having to throw them to the wolves.
The announcement of Danny O’Brien’s transfer to Wisconsin really does wonders for the biggest question mark for the Badgers and could very well do what the Badgers addition of Russell Wilson did – vault the Badgers into the frontrunner position of the Leaders division (let’s not forget that Ohio State isn’t eligible so they don’t even count really). All the other players in the division have issues and/or new coaches and at this point you’d have to think that Purdue or Penn State could be the only challenge to the Badgers and that’s really not scaring me all that much at this point.
Also, don’t think the Badgers are going to be doing this all the time from hear on out. They are doing this move with the future success of their young QB’s in mind. Eventually we’ll see our own home grown QB taking over for more than a season and it may even happen as soon as the 2013 season.
Either way, Wisconsin fans have to be feeling a lot more confident about their chances in 2012 now than they did when they woke up this morning and that’s because we’ve got ourselves a proven and solid quarterback once again.
If you want an outsiders look at the situation take a look at Kevin McGuire’s work for Bloguin’s national college football site Crystal Ball Run, it’s worth the read!
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