Following the conclusion of fall camp, BadgerBlitz.com will take a look at each position group and where they stand with the final phase of the offseason wrapping up.

We'll continue our offensive overviews with the running backs, a unit that looks extremely deep for play-caller Phil Longo's offense.

Positional Depth: Just like last season, one should feel very comfortable with Wisconsin's top two options heading into fall camp. Past that, it was anyone's best guess. What a difference a year makes. Instead of Braelon Allen, Chez Mellusi and a whole lot of question marks, the Badgers now have Mellusi, Tawee Walker and a staple of promising young backs.

Wisconsin was joined by two true freshman tailbacks this fall, both of whom immediately looked as advertised. Darrion Dupree in particular, the former Rivals175 prospect and top-five all-purpose back in the nation wasted little time putting his unique skillset on display. The tailback simply moves differently than most other football players, and is extremely fluid with his hands and route-running ability. Both Dupree and fellow blue chip signee Dilin Jones figure to provide immediate depth reinforcements.

"I think they both do a really nice job. I think like we expected, Darrion has some versatility in his ability to split out and be able to create separation route-running. I think Dillin is very decisive; he reminds me of Chez. Putting his foot in the ground, gaining extra yards on contact. Plays with a lot of physicality," running backs coach Devon Spalding told reporters this fall. "Both of those guys feed off each other really well, and we're excited about both of them."

Jackson Acker, the Badgers' resident Swiss Army Knife, also had a solid fall camp and looks like he could be a potential short-yardage and/or change of pace option at tailback. Considering his growth, coupled with the influx of young talent, this room is miles deeper than it was a season ago and that's easily its biggest strength.

Lack of a superstar: With a deep, robust assortment of halfbacks to deploy, it's hard to find negatives in this room. In the absence of Allen, the lack of a true star halfback may take the coaching staff some time to adjust to as they tinker with substitutes and formations. Still, one could argue that even this is a positive for Spalding's unit.

Allen's ability to take over a game and wear defenses down will certainly be missed. But there were also times last season where it perhaps wasn't the most advantageous that everybody in the stadium knew where the ball was going on a certain play. Especially early in the year, the Badgers' running back room should keep opposing coordinators guessing on every level — who will play, where they will line up and what they will be asked to do. There's a lot of different skillsets in this room, and if Longo and company can squeeze the most out of each of them, this could wind up being one of the deeper running back details in the conference.

How early can the freshmen contribute? There's a handful of burning questions within this room. How the oft-injured Mellusi holds up in his final season of eligibility is one of them, but it's rather cut and dry — he'll either get hurt or stay healthy. A question that carries far more intrigue is when will Dupree, Jones and potentially even Gideon Ituka log their first snaps.

Expect to see plenty of rotation at nearly every position this season. That's been made abundantly clear by the staff. Running back, especially with how banged up the unit was last season, will be no exception. With their performances in fall camp, it appears to be more of a "when" than an "if" Dupree and Jones see the field.

With three halfbacks signed in the 2024 cycle, the Badgers have taken an all-or-nothing approach with the 2025 class. More specifically, Byron Louis or nothing. Wisconsin is recruiting the South Florida product hard, but it figures to be extremely difficult to pluck him from the Sunshine State.

With that, the current future of the room resides in Madison already. With both Mellusi and Walker expected to move on at the end of the season, snaps will be widely available for Wisconsin's loaded 2024 class.

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