Wisconsin football is about to have some significant changes on offense, which is to be expected after their decision to move on from Phil Longo and hire Jeff Grimes as the Badgers offensive coordinator.
One change that can happen on offense under the watch of Grimes concerns the quarterback’s ability to make plays with his legs.
New Wisconsin football OC Jeff Grimes sounds off on what he wants in a QB
“I think they’ve got to be able to provide some sort of athleticism, and I think in two ways,” Grimes said about what he wants to see in a quarterback (h/t Rohan Chakravarthi of Bucky’s 5th Quarter). “One, they have to have the ability to escape and get out of trouble when you’re throwing the football. And then I’d like for them to present some level of run threat to the defense. How much that is depends on a number of other factors. I look at it on a sliding scale,” Grimes added.
Wisconsin football’s quarterbacks were protected well in the 2024 season, as suggested by the fact that the Badgers were 10th nationally with a 3.15 percent offensive quarterback sack rate. However, even with that kind of pass protection, the Badgers were 86th in the natio with a 2.96 percent offensive interception rate. Additionally, the Badgers were just 109th in the FBS with 56.51 percent pass completion rate.
Perhaps a more mobile quarterback could have better accuracy in passing the ball while also being on the run from defenders.
“Ideally you got a big guy who’s a great thrower and a good runner,” Grimes added. “But I think there are very few teams that are talented enough everywhere to play with a quarterback that can’t move around much anymore.”
Grimes made his point even clearer.
“I would not take a guy that I didn’t think could run some.”
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