Wisconsin Football: Is Transfer QB Danny O'Brien a Real Option for the Badgers?

One man's transfer could be another man's star, or so was the case when Russell Wilson transformed himself into a Madison magician after leaving NC State for Wisconsin. 

Another ACC transfer may be turning his gaze his west as Danny O'Brien was granted a release from his scholarship from the University of Maryland. He plans to graduate in the spring which makes him eligible to play this fall.

After Wilson's season, it seems as though the Badgers are perpetually on the short list of players looking to make an immediate impact in a new school. O'Brien is proving the rule, and not the exception in this latest trend, at least according to The Baltimore Sun:

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Those close to O'Brien said Wisconsin, Stanford and Vanderbilt could be among his transfer options. It's not known whether those schools are interested. 

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Vanderbilt has already been eliminated as an option because the Terps refused to allow him to transfer there. So that leaves only a handful of schools to vie for O'Brien's talents. 

Those talents seem a bit fleeting though. 

While O'Brien was the ACC Rookie of the Year in 2010, 2011 was decidedly less kind to his stat sheet. O'Brien played in nine games and threw for seven touchdowns, but he was also picked off 10 times during that period, a ratio that does not bode well for aspiring star quarterbacks. 

O'Brien supporters will point to the fact that 24 players that have left under new head coach Randy Edsall's short reign. Something must be rotten in College Park, right? Maybe, but Wisconsin should not be the place where the O'Brien experiment continues.

Wilson was a star at NC State until the very moment he left the campus. In his final season with the Wolfpack, he played in every game, threw for more than 3,500 yards and accounted for 28 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

While the Wilson experience was incredibly positive, Wisconsin runs the danger of becoming the collegiate island of misfit quarterbacks. Former Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist, who also held interest in the Badgers, threw for 164 total yards in his last year for the Irish. His decision to go to Kansas may very well be a good omen in hindsight. 

Wisconsin does have a challenge filling its quarterback spot but players like O'Brien may have more opposition than upside as a Badger. The former Terp could represent a shot of experience and a flash of brilliance, but Bret Bielema could also hurt team chemistry in a gamble not worth taking.