Wisconsin’s head coach named a surprise player as team’s biggest riser over the past two years.
The Wisconsin Badgers are in the back half of their spring ball program, and there’s been a lot of news recently, with certain players expected to enter the transfer portal, while injuries have led to more questions.
But, amidst the shakeups, there’s been a lot of growth from a new-look team incorporating a new scheme on both sides of the ball. Offensively, the Badgers hired a new coordinator, Jeff Grimes, to return the Badgers to a physical, smashmouth style of football, while Mike Tressel changed his defensive identity to become bigger up front.
When it comes to growth, many anticipate the younger players taking the next step, and rightfully so, as several underclassmen are jumping into bigger roles for the Badgers in 2025.
However, when revealing the player who has grown the most since he arrived in Madison, head coach Luke Fickell had a surprising name: Jackson Acker.
Acker has worn a lot of hats during his tenure in Madison, coming in as an in-state running back from Verona, Wisconsin. He then moved to fullback under Wisconsin’s old offense, switched back to running back when the Badgers hired Fickell and former offensive coordinator Phil Longo, and now moved to tight end this offseason.
Now seeing reps at tight end, Acker has been in the mix with offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes’s heavier personnel sets, which regularly feature multiple tight ends.
“I love where Jack (Jackson Acker) is, and I think [that] in my two and a half years [I] have seen somebody grow, Jackson has grown, in my opinion, as much as anybody in the program,” Fickell said on Tuesday.
“And, I think there’s some new things for him [moving over to tight end], obviously, maybe just on how we’re able to use him and some things he’s asked to be able to do. And even from the start of spring, you’d say [a fourth] or fifth-year guy, how much are they going to grow in spring football? And he’s continued to grow in spring football, and I love where he’s at.
“I’m excited to see what else we can do with him and how we’ll be able to use him, and I think it’ll be quite unique with his skill set as well.”
In an era of constant movement in college football with the transfer portal, Acker has worn whatever hat the coaching staff has asked of him, and now could be in line for a bigger role in 2025 after the expected departure of transfer tight end Tanner Koziol.
Currently, Tucker Ashcraft leads the tight end room, with Acker, 2024 four-star Grant Stec, and J.T. Seagraves in the mix behind him. Wisconsin could also look to add a tight end in the spring portal, but the Badgers aren’t usually big players during the second portal window.
Nonetheless, it’s not always that you see significant growth from an upperclassman like Acker, but Fickell has been pleased with what he’s seen so far this offseason amid the transition to a brand new position.