Forget about any questions about whether or not health issues will interfere with Alex Hornibrook at Wisconsin. Hornibrook is reportedly considering a transfer and has entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal.
“Alex informed us of his decision to leave the team earlier today,” Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst said in a released statement. “He contributed to a lot of our recent success and we want to thank him for all he did for our program. We wish him the best of luck.”
Hornibrook released a statement of his own through his Instagram account.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BuZkU08B8WJ/
Hornibrook will be a graduate transfer, which will make him eligible to play right away for any other FBS program this fall. He has one final year of eligibility at his disposal. In 35 career games played at Wisconsin, Hornibrook has passed for 5,438 yards and 47 touchdowns with 33 interceptions. Concussion concerns late last season took him out of action for a few games down the stretch of the regular season, although he did return for the regular season finale against Minnesota. He did not play for the Badgers in the Pinstripe Bowl against Miami, a year after thriving against the Hurricanes in the Orange Bowl.
Hornibrook did return to participate in offseason winter workouts with the program last month, which was an encouraging sign. But now he will likely be on the move. Entering a name in the transfer portal does not require a player to leave his current school, so a return to Wisconsin is still entirely possible. This just allows Hornibrook to evaluate and be in contact with other programs as he decides what to do next.
If Hornibrook does leave Madison, the Badgers may simply put incoming four-star freshman Graham Mertz into a starting role. Mertz enrolled early in Madison, which makes him eligible to participate in spring practices for the Badgers. If Mertz doesn’t impress enough to get the starting job in the fall and needs a little more time to be prepared for the job, then Wisconsin still has Jack Coan to rely on. Coan served as Wisconsin’s backup quarterback last season and he started in place of the injured Hornibrook when needed.