Key Wisconsin Badgers: No. 2 - Running Back Braelon Allen

Wisconsin's 2022 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 Paul Chryst's squad this year.

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

It didn't take long for Braelon Allen to break onto the scene as a true freshman in 2021. At the young age of 17 years old, Allen erupted for 1,219 rushing yards over the final nine weeks of the season. 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."

The freshman season landed Allen on the Walter Camp Freshman All-American team, along with consensus second-team All-Big Ten honors. He also earned Big Ten freshman of the week honors following an 108-yard performance against Army and a 129-yard game against Rutgers.

Heading into his sophomore campaign, Allen was recently named to the 2022 preseason watch list for the Doak Walker Award.

After Chez Mellusi went down with a torn ACL against Rutgers, Allen was asked to handle the bulk of the carries. The wear and tear showed towards the end of season, specifically during a 19-carry, 47-yard output against Minnesota.

During spring practices, Allen noted that one of his priorities during the offseason had been to work on recovery. Mellusi plans to be ready for the season opener, which should lighten the load for the sophomore. But with a full season of carries this fall, what will it look like for Allen at the end of the year?

The other area Allen worked on in the spring was his ability to catch passes out of the backfield. His impressive production on the ground in 2021 was accompanied with just eight receptions for 39 yards.

"Definitely want to catch more passes and be more of a threat out of the backfield as a receiver," Allen said. "Being able to put myself in different situations to help the team. That’s been the main point of emphasis just catching passes."

During the seven-game win streak the Badgers went on last season, Allen led the way by averaging 144.7 yards per game over the stretch. Displaying a unique ability to take over a game, he'll be the focal point for Wisconsin's offense this fall.

UW was always going to rely on the run game, but with a number of unproven pass catchers, along with a shaky situation at quarterback, the production on the ground becomes that much more important this fall.

The former four-star recruit has all the makings of the next star for Wisconsin at the running back position. Starting as a true freshman and now with a year in the program under his belt, Allen is in line to take a leap in his game. Any kind of jump should make him one of the better backs in the country, especially if Mellusi and Isaac Guerendo are available to spell Allen as needed.

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