Luke Fickell gets first huge transfer portal pickup at Wisconsin

Luke Fickell has his Wisconsin quarterback with Nick Evers transferring over from Oklahoma.

With Graham Mertz transferring out, Luke Fickell needed to find his new quarterback at Wisconsin.

No, it did not take long, as the former Cincinnati head coach was able to land Nick Evers by way of the transfer portal. Evers, who initially committed to play for Dan Mullen at Florida, spent his freshman season at Oklahoma playing for first-time head coach Brent Venables. OU had a rough go of it in Venables’ first year back in Norman. Thus, Evers hit the portal and is landing in Madison.

Evers tweeted out a sweet graphic of him committing to play for Fickell at Wisconsin on Saturday.

Former Oklahoma QB Nick Evers commits to play for Luke Fickell at Wisconsin

Since Evers only appeared in one game for the 2022 Sooners as Dillon Gabriel’s backup, he retains all four years of collegiate eligibility. More importantly, he was able to use his one-time free transfer and will not have to sit out for the Badgers this season. He will be in a fantastic position to compete for, and possibly win, the starting job out of camp at Wisconsin. It was a smart move.

Evers was a former four-star quarterback prospect from Flower Mound, Texas. While it made sense to commit to Oklahoma in the same geographical footprint as his home state, keep in mind that he was all set to go play for the Gators in Gainesville, Florida. Furthermore, Evers is aligning himself with one of the most well-respected, up-and-coming head coaches in the game in Fickell.

Truth be told, it remains to be seen how prolific the Badgers’ passing offense will be with Fickell in charge. He is not a former offensive player, as he played nose guard for the Ohio State Buckeyes collegiately. Ground-and-pound had been the Badgers’ bread and butter for years, ever since Barry Alvarez first came to Madison. Vertical passing attacks have rarely worked out at Wisconsin.

Oklahoma may be trending down, but it will be fascinating if Evers can uplift Wisconsin’s offense.

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