Sophomore Braelon Allen and senior Chez Mellusi represent the Badgers for the honor

Published Jul 20, 2022

Doak Walker Watch List includes two Wisconsin tailbacks

Jon McNamara • BadgerBlitz

Editor

The 2022 preseason watch list for the Doak Walker Award, given annually to the nation's top college running back, included two Wisconsin tailbacks.

Sophomore Braelon Allen and senior Chez Mellusi represent the Badgers for the honor, presented by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum.

As a true freshman, Allen, 6-foot-2, 240 pounds, played in 12 games and started four contests. He led Wisconsin and ranked No. 3 in the Big Ten with 1,268 total rushing yards. The former four-star prospect was one of just four backs, along with Ron Dayne (1996), James White (2010) and Jonathan Taylor (2017), to run for over 1,000 yards as a true freshmen in school history.

"There's moments where you feel like, 'Yeah, I can really help him with that.' And then there's moments where it feels like dad let you take the Lamborghini out, and you don't want us crash that baby," position coach Al Johnson said of Allen this spring. "So there's all kinds of things, but at the end of the day, the best part of working with him is the fact that he always wants to be great. He wants to push himself, he wants to get better. He wants to find the things that can keep moving him forward and keep elevating his game."

Mellusi, who transferred to UW from Clemson, ran for 815 yards on 4.7 yards per carry with five touchdowns last fall. He tore his ACL against Rutgers and had surgery on his knee on Nov. 24. Prior to that, he started nine games for the Badgers.

"My goal is to be available Sept. 3, so that’s the plan," Mellusi said this spring.

Past Wisconsin Doak Walker Award winners include Dayne (1999), Montee Ball (2012), Melvin Gordon (2014) and Taylor (2018, 2019).

Embed content not availableManage privacy settings

Complete List

Devon Achane (Jr.), Texas A&M

Braelon Allen (So.), Wisconsin

Rasheen Ali (So.), Marshall

Ronald Awaft (Sr.), UTEP

Tank Bigsby (Jr.), Auburn

Isiaih Bowser (Sr.), UCF

British Brooks (Sr.), North Carolina

Jarek Broussard (Sr.), Michigan State

Antario Brown (So.), Northern Illinois

Chase Brown (Jr.), Illinois

Jermaine Brown (Jr.), UAB

Nate Carter (So.), UCONN

Zach Charbonnet (Sr.), UCLA

Blake Corum (Jr.), Michigan

Travis Dye (Sr.), USC

Justice Ellison (So.), Wake Forest

Samson Evans (Jr.), Eastern Michigan

Deshaun Fenwick (Jr.), Oregon State

Alex Fontenot (Sr.), Colorado

Pat Garwo (Jr.), Boston College

Frank Gore, Jr. (So.), Southern Miss

Eric Gray (Sr.), Oklahoma

Gerald Green (Jr.), Georgia Southern

Tucker Gregg (Sr.), Georgia State

Hassan Hall (Sr.), Georgia Tech

Deion Hankins (So.), UTEP

TreVeyon Henderson (So.), Ohio State

George Holani (Jr.), Boise State

Evan Hull (Sr.), Northwestern

Mohamed Ibrahim (Sr.), Minnesota

Dillon Johnson (Jr.), Mississippi State

Roschon Johnson (Sr.), Texas

Austin Jones (Sr.), USC

Johnnie Lang, Jr. (Sr.), Arkansas State

Keyvone Lee (So.), Penn State

Joquavious Marks (Jr.), Mississippi State

DeWayne McBride (Jr.), UAB

Chez Mellusi (Sr.), Wisconsin

Kendre Miller (Jr.), TCU

Jordan Mims (Sr.), Fresno State

Keaton Mitchell (So.), East Carolina

Damien Moore (Jr.), Cal

Devin Neal (So.), Kansas

Lew Nichols, III (So.), Central Michigan