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.
STRENGTHS
Wisconsin projects to have one of the better running back tandems in the nation this fall if Chez Mellusi can bounce back from a serious knee injury. Mellusi started nine games in 2021 and rushed for 815 yards and five touchdowns before he tore his left ACL against Rutgers in November.
“It was kind of one of those things where I believe it happened earlier in the game, and my knee kind of felt kind of funny," Mellusi told reporters in the spring. "And just being a ballplayer, I was just like, ‘Yeah, whatever.’ So I went back in, and it kind of progressively got weaker, maybe like unstable, was kind of the feeling that I had.
“Then did the ACL tests, and that's kind of what determined to come out of the game.”
From the season opener against Penn State, in which he ran for 121 yards and one score, the Clemson transfer displayed what he can bring to the position. And having caught passes in five of nine games, the 5-foot-11, 220-pound back brings a receiving element out of the backfield that Braelon Allen is still working to add to his game.
Given his recovery, Mellusi, who was recently named to the 2022 preseason watch list for the Doak Walker Award, said his goal is to be available for the season opener against Illinois State on Sept. 3. He will return as a bigger back after adding close to put 15 pounds during the offseason.
"My goal is to be available Sept. 3, so that’s the plan," Mellusi said this spring.
WEAKNESSES
The question with Mellusi revolves around his health after the ACL tear. If he can resemble the player he was in 2021, Mellusi will impact the offense in a major way. And if fully recovered, how will first-year assistant coach Al Johnson divide reps between Mellusi, Allen and Isaac Guerendo this fall.
"I think a lot of it is, and this goes in general for whoever, whenever someone comes back for injuries, it's how fast can we get them back to the player we remember," Johnson said. "And so from there, I think the depth will be really good.
"But a lot of that to then is just reps. There's a reason why we have so many practice reps. There's a reason why because it takes time to get back into the full flow. So a lot of it'll be how fast can we get them (Mellusi and Guerendo) back there, and if that does happen for all of them, that running back room, it'll be very dangerous, and they'll have a lot of depth and a lot of experience."
WHY HE'S No. 9
Allen emerged as the workhorse after Mellusi went down with the injury, but the true freshman showed signs of fatigue during the final weeks of the season. A healthy Mellusi should allow Paul Chryst to rotate snaps while maintaining the level of production in the backfield. Whether or not he is able to return for the start of the season, Mellusi and Allen should form a dynamic duo in the backfield for the better part of the season. His skill-set also adds another safety net for Graham Mertz as someone he can dump it off to in the flats.
OVERALL
Allen's breakout season paired with a (potentially) healthy Mellusi has elevated expectations going into fall camp. The last time Wisconsin had two 1,000-yard rushers in the same season was 2013 with Melvin Gordon and James White. Allen has already posted what he believes the potential is with a recreation of the photo next to Gordon, Montee Ball and White, and that’s exactly what Wisconsin fans are hoping to see come the fall.
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