BadgerBlitz.com returns the weekly 'Stock Up, Stock Down' for the 2024 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.

Vinny Anthony's stock is on the rise for the second consecutive week. After reeling in a 63-yard score on a go ball against USC, Anthony followed that up with a 52-yard catch-and-run touchdown against Purdue. The wideout's score against the Boilermakers was especially eye-popping. Anthony found the soft spot between the flat defender and the high safety along the sideline, reeled in the pass and turned on the jets, cruising essentially untouched right through Purdue's secondary. Anthony has true game-breaking speed, and it would behoove Wisconsin to continue to utilize it regularly.

Whenever Trech Kekahuna touches the football, he looks like Wisconsin's best receiver. That was extremely evident against Purdue, as the Badgers finally made a concerted effort to get him the football and he finished with six grabs for 134 yards and two scores. Kekahuna is electric with the ball in his hands, a known fact but nonetheless one that was nice to see confirmed when he scampered 69 yards for a touchdown. Even more impressive, however, were the ball skills Kekahuna displayed on his second touchdown, reeling in a heavily contested ball in the end zone with a defensive back right on his hip. From a pure talent perspective, the redshirt freshman might be the best the Badgers have to offer at the position.

The Wisconsin Football Twitter account posting a graphic captioned "Welcome to Locketober" certainly wasn't on anyone's bingo card, but the quarterback deserves the recognition after a stellar performance against Purdue. Braedyn Locke tossed for 359 yards and three touchdowns while completing 64.5 percent of his passes, all of which were career highs. What's more, Locke did it after tossing two interceptions (only one of which can be blamed on him), making his performance all the more impressive considering he did it in the face of adversity. Was this an outlier performance for the gunslinger, or a sign of things to come?

Tawee Walker's stock rises here for several reasons. First and foremost, he logged another excellent performance against Purdue, tallying 94 yards and three scores on the ground, averaging a solid 4.9 yards-per-carry. The tailback is a good runner at all parts of the field but in the red zone, he becomes nearly impossible to tackle. Over the past two weeks, he has five touchdowns and 149 yards combined. What's more, Walker dominated the carries with 19 even in a blowout victory. After the departure of Chez Mellusi, it was unclear how exactly reps would be distributed in the backfield. Against Purdue, Walker affirmed that he would be the clear top back in this rotation moving forward.

Dilin Jones looked very capable in relief of the rest of Wisconsin's running back room deep into the blowout against the Boilermakers. In fact, his 47-yard run was the longest run the Badgers have created all year. Realistically, he's still behind Walker, Cade Yacamelli and Darrion Dupree in the pecking order, but he's certainly surpassed Jackson Acker and could be in line for more carries moving forward after the explosiveness he put on tape. Having played in two games already this season, the question now becomes does Wisconsin elect to preserve Jones' redshirt by limiting him to two more appearances, or does it let him see the field during a competitive game?

In the absence of the injured Aaron Witt, Wisconsin had to turn to its fifth man in the outside linebacker room, North Carolina transfer Sebastian Cheeks. The sophomore has only been an outside backer for several months, as he made the switch from the inside during fall camp. The Purdue game was only the linebacker's second appearance of the season, and the 18 snaps he saw were easily a season-high. Quite simply, Cheeks found himself in the right place at the right time and made the most of it. He logged 1.5 sacks, the best individual pass-rushing performance by a Badger all season. He should continue to see his snaps spike.

It feels like a low blow to drop someone's stock the week after they get injured, but Will Pauling's stock suffered before he left Saturday's game. His dropped pass that fell conveniently into a Purdue cornerback's hands was his fifth of the season, which leads Badgers receivers by a wide margin. Pauling has put together good performances this season, like the Alabama game, but his hands have been curiously inconsistent.

Acker is now firmly the odd man out in this running back room. In the wake of Mellusi's injury, the door was open for carries to be distributed more widely and for Acker to see his first action in the backfield since Week 2. That didn't happen even in a 46-point blowout. He's now been surpassed by at least one and likely two true freshman on the Badgers' depth chart. His days as a contributor for this offense may be all but over.

_________________________________________________

*Chat about this article in The Badgers' Den

*Check out our videos, interviews, and Q&As on our YouTube channel

*Subscribe and listen to the BadgerBlitz.com podcast (as seen on Apple, Google, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts)

*Follow us on Twitter: @McNamaraRivals, @TheBadgerNation, @RaulV45, @seamus_rohrer, @DonnieSlusher_

*Like us on Facebook