The Game Plan - Previewing the Badgers Running Backs

With fall camp just around the corner, it's time to look ahead to the 2024 season. In this preview series, I'll deviate from the traditional player-by-player depth chart and camp storylines approach, as others in the Badger content space cover these areas more eloquently. Instead, I'll focus on a coach's perspective, examining what needs improvement, what changes are necessary, and how to leverage these changes for better on-field performance. My approach centers on three key areas: fundamental improvements, enhancing execution, and finding tactical advantages. This methodology aims to provide a fresh and insightful look at the upcoming season.

Today we are going to be looking at the running back room. For years the Badgers offense has ridden on the shoulders of a bell cow back, but with the changing of the guard from Braelon Allen to Chez Mellusi as lead back it may be time for a different approach. While Chez has all the tools to succeed in the Air Raid, but durability is always going to be a question mark. How can the room grow as a whole to help take a some of the load off the lead back and become stronger as a unit.

With that in mind I think it's time for the Badgers to join modern football and take a more back by committee approach, because it's strategically more advantageous to use multiple backs. Now only will it keep the players healthier, but it's a way to build different skill sets, and to optimize your offense. So, while Chez is probably going to be the lead back, I don't think he's going to be a feature back.

Looking at the running back room as a whole, as a coach, if I was the running back coach and I was coming into fall camp with this group, where would I like to see improvement, and how could I utilize that improvement?

Looking back to last season I was really disappointed in the pass-protection fundamentals of the running back room as a whole. Chez was fine early on for a smaller back because he has good feet and was better at finding his leverage in protection. With the other returning players we saw a lot of lunging, leaning, and poor use of base in protection. So obviously they need to improve from a fundamentals point of view by sitting lower, punching out, keeping their weight over their hips instead of overextending beyond their feet. That will make it easier to absorb and deflect contact, which is what this group needs to do better if we're going to utilize the running back as a pass protector. And that's important, obviously, because as we saw, we couldn't really utilize the running backs to the fullest extent in the offense as pass catchers.

Which brings me to the next area I want to talk about: execution. I'd like to see our running backs execute better at what I like to call the "square, scrape, and burst" technique when it comes to getting the ball in open space. It's not all about just trying to run around the corner and getting outside of everybody. It's all about pressing the defense laterally to then put the outside foot in the ground and accelerate past them. What we saw a lot of last year when it comes to this execution was a lot of running of the feet when we get to that scrape-and-square position. We would get there, plant the outside foot, and then the inside foot would come, and there'd be a little bit of a stutter sitting there. I think that's going to add a different dynamic to the offense, especially when we start getting our backs out. Now that we have had such an emphasis on the short passing game up until now, we’re going to get into how we can use that tactically.

Utilizing the running backs better in the passing game is crucial. Last year, our route tree with the running backs was limited flats, bubbles, and an occasional angle route. There were a couple screen attempts early on with Chez, but that kind of went away pretty quickly (probably because of the offensive line). So moving forward if we can improve moving in space I would really like to see is taking advantage of the running backs going in all directions in the passing game. Getting out to the launch point where almost all routes for running backs hit that space just beyond the tackle, being able to square up the line of scrimmage, and then take off in any direction is very difficult to defend.

Adding Tawee Walker gives us another back who has experience getting involved in the passing game, and it doesn't hurt that the experience comes from an Air Raid offense. Using the running back more effectively in the passing game is going to help not only the intermediate but the long passing game because it will help us get a better three-layered effect when setting up our routes.

I'm optimistic about the running back room and I think we could get better production despite losing an NFL caliber back. It's going to hopefully be true a running back ROOM and not just a guy where the entire offense in the past seemed to run through them. If that one guy is not at 100%, the running backs are not at 100% because we don't have anything built in for the rest of the room. I think Phil Longo's offense works best when he has multiple backs that he can share the load, diversify the load, and build more of a by-committee type room. We're going to see how that looks going forward, and it's going to be an interesting year.

We haven't even talked about the freshmen yet, and we'll get into that later. I want to hear about a freshman showing up, doing something, and finding their way on the field before I start saying I think the freshmen are going to make an impact. But what we talked about here today is for everybody—not just the returning guys but the freshmen and the room as a whole.