Joe Ferguson

Safety for Wisconsin. 2017: 4 interceptions, 2 pass breakups, 16 tackles.

S · Wisconsin · #8

6′1″ · 195 lb · Madison, WI

Wisconsin 2017 alumnus

The story

2017 safety for Wisconsin. 2017: 4 interceptions, 2 pass breakups, 16 tackles.

Signed as a 2-star recruit to Wisconsin in 2013.

His career, year by year

Recruiting

2★

DUAL recruit

No. 3312 nationally · Signed with Wisconsin

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

How it ended

Two seasons at Wisconsin, 23 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

2013

Signed with Wisconsin2-star out of Memorial

Career arc

Recruit

★★

#3312 national

CFB

College

Wisconsin

2016–2017

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

2017 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2 seasons under Paul Chryst, all run-heavy offenses — 24-4 over that span.

2016Wisconsin11-3HC: Paul Chryst · Run-heavy

2017Wisconsin13-1HC: Paul Chryst · Run-heavy

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: interceptions (94th percentile). Concern: tackles for loss (8th percentile).

Box-score production (8)

Interceptions#27 / 795 · 94th pct

Passes defended#746 / 2682 · 66th pct

Forced fumbles#69 / 715 · 45th pct

QB hurries#1249 / 2682 · 27th pct

Sacks#1345 / 2682 · 25th pct

0.0

Solo tackles#2082 / 2682 · 20th pct

Tackles#2142 / 2682 · 19th pct

Tackles for loss#2274 / 2682 · 8th pct

0.0

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2017 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.3
Road4g	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-73g	1.7	0.0	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+7g	1.6	0.0	0.0	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Luke Fickell

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2017

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2017	Wisconsin	16	9	2	4	--
2016	Wisconsin	7	4	--	--	--
Career		23	13	2	4	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 12 · 2017

W 24–10

vs Michigan

4 TOT · 2 SOLO · 1 PD

With A. Lotti — 37 AVG · 53 LONG · 8 NO · J. Taylor — 132 rush yds (19 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week