Tyler Van Dyke's consistency standing out to Luke Fickell

Tyler Van Dyke has made his presence felt early as a quarterback competing for the starting job at Wisconsin. Now, with the spring come and gone in Madison, Luke Fickell has a better idea of what his transfer can do for them on offense.

Fickell spoke about Van Dyke’s development thus far with the Badgers during a media availability at the team’s final spring practice. The top overall takeaway for him was the constant play each outing from the redshirt senior.

“The number one thing is consistency,” said Fickell.

Van Dyke had spent the past four seasons at Miami in Coral Gables. He threw for nearly 7,500 yards, 54 touchdowns, and 23 interceptions on 63.7% completion as the Hurricanes starter. However, the past two didn’t go as well as his first as a redshirt freshman. In that first opportunity, he went on to win ACC Rookie of the Year.

In order for Van Dyke to work out at Wisconsin, the Badgers will need the 2021 version of him. That includes getting him more into the offense, which Fickell is hoping to do by using all aspects of the quarterback’s game.

“I think the unique thing that we’re starting to see with him a little bit is the ability to let him play a little more, even run a little bit because he is a big, physical kid. If you really look back into, maybe, his first year at Miami, he ran a lot more. He made some plays, he did some things with his feet,” Fickell recalled. “Just by nature, that gets you, I think, into the flow of the game. We did that a little bit more in the second half here of spring. I think all that kind of works together with the comfort level of what he has got and what he’s doing.”

Even so, Van Dyke isn’t the starter just yet. He’s still competing against names like Braedyn Locke along with the others at their position for the nod. That is also having an effect on how Van Dyke is performing according to Fickell.

“The competition makes everybody better,” Fickell said. “I think the uniqueness of those guys legitimately competing with each other does a lot for that entire room.”

Wisconsin got a Top-15 QB transfer in Van Dyke per On3’s 2024 Transfer Portal Top Players. It’s now about getting the most out of that player with how they help him to adjust to his new team heading into next season.