Wisconsin Football: Michael Furtney to return to Wisconsin

Last week, Wisconsin got some good news as they retained promising young wideout, Markus Allen, to the team after he initially hit the portal and committed to Minnesota. Unless you’re a disgruntled former Badger linebacker you probably saw this as a good thing, or at least I hope you did!

Anyway, this week Wisconsin got another nice piece back from the portal in lineman Michael Furtney. Furtney initially entered the portal but it appears after some conversation with Fickell and offensive coordinator Phil Longo Furtney has decided to return to Madison instead. Furtney will have one season of eligibility left. With other turnovers along the offensive line I think it's good to be getting a piece like Furtney back in Madison. He’s proven to be a stable piece and has shown potential to be a strong player at the division one level.

One interesting name to watch in regard to this situation is tight end Evan Furtney, Michael’s brother. Evan previously played at Eastern Michigan University but has opted to enter the transfer portal. He previously tweeted that he hoped to play at the same place as his brother when they entered the portal but that tweet has since been deleted.

What does that mean? Could be nothing, but it’s interesting to ponder if both Furtney brothers could end up in Madison. Wisconsin is a little thin at tight end so adding some depth to that room via the portal or via recruiting will be important for that spot. If that were to happen, I would imagine it would have to be in a walk-on capacity. Evan Furtney previously walked on at EMU and likely hasn’t seen enough action to warrant an offer from a power five school but certainly something to keep an eye on.