Key Wisconsin Badgers: No. 14 - Tailback Chez Mellusi

Wisconsin's 2023 football season is right around the corner, so BadgerBlitz.com ranked the top 30 players who we think will be the keys to success for Luke Fickell's squad this year.

Playing time, past performance and positional depth all factored in to our staff rankings.

Chez Mellusi, a four-star recruit coming out of high school, was a highly-coveted prospect in the 2019 class. The Naples, Fla., native chose Clemson over Miami and Notre Dame, among others.

Through two seasons with the Tigers, Mellusi tallied 427 rushing yards and six touchdowns, along with five catches for 38 yards and a score. He was expected to contend with Lyn-J Dixon and Kobe Pace for the starting running back slot but rushed for only 10 yards on five carries in Clemson’s spring game.

Mellusi entered the transfer portal after his sophomore season and announced a commitment to the Badgers shortly after his official visit to the Madison. Wisconsin beat out Louisville, Purdue and Vanderbilt, among others, to land the former ACC tailback.

Mellusi was exactly what the Badgers staff hoped for when he transferred to UW in 2021. Combined with the emergence of Braelon Allen, who broke out right away as a true freshman, the two formed a formidable duo in the backfield. Through two seasons in Madison, the 5-foot-11, 210-pound back has compiled 1,288 rushing yards and scored eight touchdowns.

Coming up over the past two years, however, has been an inability to remain healthy and get through the season. After tearing his ACL late in the season in the 2021, Mellusi was sidelined for over a month after he suffered a shoulder injury against Northwestern in 2022. Mellusi returned in time for the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against Oklahoma State and rushed for 77 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries.

A goal for the backs in the new offense is to take on a larger role in the passing game. In the spring, the group was targeted on swing routes out of the backfield. In two years, Mellusi has nine catches for 91 yards and one touchdown.

"I think so," Mellusi said in the spring when asked if the backs can be receiving threats. "I think they're just doing a good job of getting us into space and letting us be an option. I think you guys can see already that we've done a lot more in the passing game."

Mellusi's presence this fall provide another dynamic option in the backfield and much-needed stability to a room that lacks depth behind its top duo. In terms of talent, Mellusi and Allen make up one of the best tandems in the nation. With no consistent third option emerging to this point, if either miss any extent of time, running backs coach Devon Spalding will have to turn a young back like Cade Yacamelli or Jackson Acker.

Mellusi and Allen have both clicked well with Spalding, who is set to begin his first fall camp with the Badgers.

"When I first met him, he immediately told me his goals, his expectations and the standard he was going to hold us to," Mellusi said. "So as we got on the field I realized what he expects out of me and the rest of the group and the standard he holds me and Braelon to. I knew he was going to be a great coach for us because he's on our ass all the time. He makes sure he gets the best out of us and that's all you can really ask."

Mellusi is looking to put together a complete and productive final season at Wisconsin before turning pro. While the revamped passing attack will draw much of the attention in the fall, offensive coordinator Phil Longo has said multiple times that they still will look to run the ball, especially given the talent they have at tailback.

"The standard that we have set when I was at Youngstown State and what we’re going to have here is we want to be the best unit in the country," running backs coach Devon Spalding said in the spring . "It’s not one guy that’s best in the conference, it’s not one guy that’s (the best) in the country. We want to say that when people talk about the running back group at Wisconsin, we want them to say that they have the best unit in the country, overall."

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