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The Wisconsin Badgers enter the 2024 football season with a lot more questions surrounding the team than answers.
There are legitimate unknowns including whether Phil Longo’s air raid offense can click in year two, what veteran transfer quarterback Tyler Van Dyke brings to the team, the performance of Mike Tressel’s defense after a transfer-heavy offseason and, importantly, how the team will perform against a gauntlet schedule.
Related: Phil Steele ranks Wisconsin football’s 2024 position groups compared to rest of Big Ten
Along those lines, there is a thought that is constantly used when previewing the Badgers’ upcoming season: “Wisconsin lost star running back Braelon Allen, which will hurt the team’s rushing output.”
Allen is a well-known name across the country, and rushed for 984 yards and 12 touchdowns on 181 carries in 2023. He became a star after a breakout freshman season in 2021. But his 2023 production didn’t necessarily add up to that billing.
The loss of a star-level name like Allen will find its way into every preview magazine and paragraph. But those previews will inevitably ignore what the team has returning in super-senior Chez Mellusi and Oklahoma transfer Tawee Walker.
I project Mellusi and Walker to out-perform Allen and Jackson Acker’s 2023 season in the aggregate (1,306 combined yards, 14 rushing touchdowns). In other words: they form a 1-2 punch that makes this running back corps an upgrade over last season.
Mellusi is back for a final collegiate season after suffering a demoralizing season-ending injury in the Badgers’ win over Purdue in Week 4, 2023.
The former Clemson Tiger has been as productive as they come when on the field (5.0 career yards per carry, 6.0 yards per carry in 2023 before the injury). But the big question is his health, which must be taken into account when…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/wisconsin-running-back-room-underrated-120126232.html
Author : Badgers Wire
Publish date : 2024-06-27 12:01:26
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