Summer list season continues to charge forward. There’s not much news of substance to report, as Wisconsin and the rest of the sport quietly prepare for fall camp later this summer.
The great lists are those that are mostly correct but also find a way to anger every fanbase listed. Either a team is ranked too low in the fans’ eyes, a rival shouldn’t be that high, and so on.
There is a new list to react to today. ProFootballFocus unveiled its top 10 running back rooms in the country earlier this morning. Slotted in at No. 10: the Wisconsin Badgers.
The only Big Ten schools ranked ahead of the Badgers include Michigan (Blake Corum, Donovan Edwards), Ohio State (TreVeyon Henderson, Miyan Williams, Dallan Hayden) and Penn State (Nick Singleton, Kaytron Allen).
Top 10 RB Rooms in College Football, via @MaxChadwickCFB pic.twitter.com/q1NvC1QNFx
— PFF College (@PFF_College) June 30, 2023
Here’s what I’ll say: It’s tough to have strong opinions on how Braelon Allen and Chez Mellusi compare to the rooms at Ole Miss, Oregon and Arkansas. But taken in the snapshot of only the Big Ten, a No. 4 ranking makes sense.
Michigan’s Corum was one of the best backs in the country last year and Edwards is better than most No. 1s nationally, Ohio State’s Henderson led the Power Five in yards-per-carry his freshman season in 2021 and the young and explosive duo of Singleton and Allen at Penn State could very well vault into the No. 1 spot by season’s end.
Allen and Mellusi are a terrific combo for the first year of the Phil Longo offense. They obviously bring a lot of talent, but with that also comes years of experience. Compare the 8-man boxes the duo faced the last few years to what defenses should show this season. I wouldn’t be surprised if both surpassed their career bests statistically.
The season can’t come soon enough.