Wisconsin Badgers Stock Up, Stock Down: Week 2

BadgerBlitz.com returns the weekly 'Stock Up, Stock Down' for the 2023 season. In this series, we'll offer evaluations of players on Wisconsin's roster in the context of their 'stock.' Performance, playing time and opportunity are all factored into the movement of a player's stock.

The world already knew about Braelon Allen and what he could do, but Chez Mellusi reminded the nation that Wisconsin has two game-breaking halfbacks. He ran for a career-high 157 yards on the ground and two scores, including a breathtaking 89-yard touchdown. Luke Fickell named Mellusi the offensive player of the game on his twitter account, an honor well-deserved.

Allen topped him in carries, but expect Mellusi to be heavily involved in the offense moving forward. When things aren't running smoothly offensively, as they weren't for much of Wisconsin's opener, look for those two tailbacks to be the go-to weapons for Phil Longo.

Yes, Wisconsin's pass rush was underwhelming on Saturday as they failed to record a sack. Darryl Peterson saw his stock rise after Week 1 however, for several reasons.

The outside linebacker didn't manage to take down Bulls' quarterback Cole Snyder on Saturday, but he did generate four pressures and four hurries, according to Pro Football Focus, both of which were best on the team. His pass rush started to heat up especially late in the game, as Snyder had to bail out of the pocket more and more and was running for his life during much of the second half.

What's more, with all of the talk about rotation at outside linebacker, Peterson held firm and played 40 snaps, the second-highest behind CJ Goetz. Wisconsin did rotate in Jeff Pietrowski and to a lesser extend Kaden Johnson, but they clearly trust Peterson on every down.

Jake Chaney made this section last week, and he backed it up Saturday with his play. He got a bit more action than anyone planned, as fellow inside linebacker Jordan Turner was ejected for targeting and Chaney had to take his place. The two ended up with the exact same number of snaps with 43.

"Jake did a great job, I thought he played a really good football game. I know he wasn't as fired up as I was about I was about his game. I called him up after the game and he was kinda curious as to why he was up there, he said 'I don't think I played that well.' But what he provides energy-wise, what he provides in flexibility for us, he provides a lot," Fickell said on Monday. "So, excited for him, it's another opportunity for him, but he also knows we need Jordan too, and it looks like we'll get him back in the second half."

Chaney played very well against Buffalo, logging seven tackles including four stops, or tackles that constitute a failure for the offense. He'll see plenty of action once again when the Badgers travel to Washington State.

Kamo'i Latu had one of the more forgettable performances of his career on Saturday. Pro Football Focus credits him with a staggering five missed tackles. He was often around the ball, but much less often did he make the play.

"It was not a lack of effort. I think it probably overtook him a little bit in the first half, he had some missed tackles, missed leverage," Fickell told reporters. "The good thing is when you look back at the second half he was much more under control. He had some sure tackles, made some good plays, and did a lot more things that he's gonna need to do for us to continue to grow."

Despite his poor showing, Latu played 59 snaps agains Buffalo and is going to continue to be a major part of what Wisconsin wants to do on the back end. He simply needs to clean it up, because the Badgers are counting on his abilities.

It was a rough start to Tanner Mordecai's 2023 campaign. Besides the two interceptions, Wisconsin struggled to move the ball for much of the first half and the offense had to punt on four of its first six drives. He did make some very nice plays, such as his touchdown pass to Chimere Dike, but overall it wasn't the debut the gunslinger envisioned.

"It wasn't to my expectations and this week I learned from it. I'm gonna get better and try to execute at the highest level possible for whatever coach Longo puts out in front of me," he said on Tuesday.

Mordecai is a highly decorated quarterback, but he still has much to prove playing at the Big Ten level. He'll get his second shot on the road in a hostile environment in Week 2.

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