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Badgers positional outlook for 2024 and beyond: Running Backs

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Badgers positional outlook for 2024 and beyond: Running Backs


The Wisconsin Badgers saw an influx of talent join the building at running back this offseason, landing three marquee freshmen, as well as a productive transfer, to create one of the deeper positional groups on the roster.

With the moving pieces, Wisconsin enters the fall season with eight scholarship running backs, holding a good balance between young and veteran talent.

How do the Badgers line up for the 2024 season, and beyond, at the running back position?

2024

The Badgers return Chez Mellusi to the fold after he suffered a fractured fibula, and the sixth-year senior likely takes over the top role out of the backfield.

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However, Wisconsin also brought in Oklahoma transfer running back Tawee Walker, who should immediately be a contributor as the No. 2 to Mellusi, although I could see the rotation ending up as more of a 1A-1B situation.

Walker’s 5’9, 230-pound frame suits him well for early down and goal-line work, while Mellusi’s change-of-pace style suits him for a versatile three-down role.

Behind the top two, Wisconsin returns Cade Yacamelli and Jackson Acker to the fold, with the former emerging as the No. 3 back after a strong spring.

With how injuries have gone over the past few seasons, the Badgers may need to rely on one of those options at some point during the season, and they both now have experience after seeing their first extensive action in 2023.

For 2024, the question becomes: can one of the true freshmen develop enough during the fall and the early portion of the season to become a part of the rotation at some point during the year?

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Gideon Ituka got his first reps during the spring, while Darrion Dupree and Dilin Jones are both joining the team for the fall. If one freshman can break into the rotation, this group becomes even more dangerous than it already is.

But, for now, the Badgers have a deep running back group with a mix of veteran experience and young, intriguing talent.

2025

Looking into the future, the Badgers will lose both Mellusi and Walker due to eligibility at the end of this season.

That leaves the team with six projected scholarship backs, and it’s expected that Wisconsin will take one back in their 2025 recruiting class after landing three this past cycle.

2025 will be a key year for the younger players, as the running back room will be wide open, with the hopes that Dupree, Jones, and Ituka can fill into the leftover reps and help field a strong two-dimensional group.

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Acker will be in his final year of eligibility, while Yacamelli will have two more, and they’ll both have decisions to make, depending on what their role ultimately ends up being this year. Will either player look for more playing time elsewhere, or remain a part of the rotation at Wisconsin?

Then, there’s redshirt freshman Nate White, who hasn’t broken into the top group yet, but has intriguing speed coming from a track background.

Still, even with the losses of Mellusi and Walker, it feels that the Badgers are in good shape with their running back room after getting such a strong 2024 class, with the hope that the younger talent can acclimate quickly to the next level.



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Swatting call caused temporary lockdown at Rice Lake, Wisconsin health clinic

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Swatting call caused temporary lockdown at Rice Lake, Wisconsin health clinic


A health clinic in western Wisconsin was temporarily put into lockdown Thursday afternoon after a threatening phone call.

Just after 2 p.m., Barron County officials received a 911 call from a staff member at the Marshfield Medical Center Emergency Department in Rice Lake, stating that someone called and said two men were going to “shoot up the hospital” in about 20 minutes.

After interviewing the staff member later, it was determined that the man who called had disguised his voice and got upset before hanging up the phone, according to the Rice Lake Police Department.

Rice Lake police, the Barron County Sheriff’s Office and Wisconsin State Patrol responded to the scene, and the medical facility was secured.

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Any patients who wanted to leave the facility were allowed to do so, authorities noted.

During the lockdown, law enforcement discovered there were similar threats, known as “swatting calls,” at other places across the state on Thursday.

At about 4:18 p.m., the lockdown was lifted, and authorities cleared the scene. Rice Lake police added that no one was injured during the incident.

The police department said it will continue investigating the threat with other law enforcement agencies.

The Rice Lake health center is roughly two hours northeast of the Twin Cities, and approximately 50 miles north of Eau Claire. The center’s website says it offers both inpatient and outpatient practice, covering a wide range of services.

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A spokesperson for the health system told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that the clinic was closed for the rest of the day Thursday, but hospital operations have since returned to normal.

“The safety of our patients and staff at Marshfield Medical Center-Rice Lake is our top priority,” the system added.



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Wisconsin’s highest-rated players in EA Sports College Football 27

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Wisconsin’s highest-rated players in EA Sports College Football 27


With the release of EA Sports College Football 27 right around the corner, it’s fun to look at how the video game sees the Wisconsin Badgers.

These past two seasons have been down years, no doubt, but Luke Fickell did a great job in the portal this offseason and has begun to rebuild what was once one of the most prestigious programs in the nation.

This article can’t possibly include every Badgers player in the game, but their overall rankings range from 64 to 85.

Wisconsin’s sixth-highest-ranked player is a kicker, and that should say everything you need to know about how EA Sports feels about this team.

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Highest rated Wisconsin Badgers in CFP27

  • 85 Overall
    • HB Abu Sama III: 85 Overall
    • CB Javan Robinson: 85 Overall
  • 84 Overall
    • QB Colton Joseph: 84 Overall
  • 83 Overall
    • DT Hammond Russell IV: 83 Overall
    • FS Marvin Burks Jr.: 83 Overall
  • 81 Overall
  • 80 Overall
    • HB Bryan Jackson II
    • HB Darrion Dupree
    • DT Junior Poyser
    • WILL Mason Posa

Of the 10 highest-ranked players, three are running backs. In total, five are on defense, four are on offense, and one is on special teams.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Jordon Lawrenz on X @jordonlaw_pxp.





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How much will Shawn Eichorst make as Wisconsin Badgers’ athletic director?

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How much will Shawn Eichorst make as Wisconsin Badgers’ athletic director?


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  • Shawn Eichorst will begin as Wisconsin’s new athletic director with a $1.6 million annual salary.
  • His contract also includes annual increases and incentives, though specific details are not yet public.
  • Eichorst’s starting salary is higher than predecessor Chris McIntosh’s 2025-26 salary.

MADISON – Shawn Eichorst will start as Wisconsin’s athletic director with a higher annual salary than his predecessor.

Eichorst will make an annual salary of $1.6 million along with built-in annual increases and incentives, a university spokesman told the Journal Sentinel.

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That is above Chris McIntosh’s $1.5 million annual salary for the 2025-26 academic year. (That consisted of $1 million from the university and $500,000 from the UW Foundation.) McIntosh’s salary was set to increase by $50,000 for each year of his contract, which would have gone through June 30, 2029.

It also is well above Marcus Sedberry’s $875,000 annual salary for the nearly three months when he was interim AD. Sedberry’s salary is set to return to $334,805 “plus any intervening pay adjustments,” according to the offer letter from April.

An open records request from the Journal Sentinel for Eichorst’s contract, which will include more details about the increases and incentives, is pending.

Eichorst previously served as the deputy AD and chief operating officer at Texas for the last eight years. He also was Miami’s AD in 2011-12 and Nebraska’s AD from 2012-17. Before Miami, the Lone Rock native spent five years working with the Badgers under Barry Alvarez.

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