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Braelon Allen a part of college football’s ‘Next wave of superstars’

By Christian Borman

Dec 30, 2021; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Wisconsin Badgers running back Braelon Allen (0) celebrates after gaining a first down against the Arizona State Sun Devils late in the fourth quarter during the 2021 Las Vegas Bowl at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 30, 2021; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Wisconsin Badgers running back Braelon Allen (0) celebrates after gaining a first down against the Arizona State Sun Devils late in the fourth quarter during the 2021 Las Vegas Bowl at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports /
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Success at the running back position is nothing new for the Wisconsin football program. Since Ron Dayne (and plenty before him), Wisconsin has almost always had a running back that would eclipse 1,000-yard seasons, and sometimes they’d have multiple players do it in one season. Their current running back is no different. Braelon Allen is looking like the next big thing at the position for Running Back University (RBU).

After a huge freshman season where he ran for over 1,200 yards and 12 touchdowns in 12 games, he has everyone’s attention going into the 2022 season, including Chris Hummer, a writer for 247Sports. Hummer released an article about players who were the ‘next wave of superstars’ in college football. Braelon Allen was among the eleven players on the list.

Allen committed to Wisconsin as a part of the 2022 recruiting class, but having enough credits to graduate high school early, he re-classified to the 2021 class, making their highest-graded draft class ever, even stronger. So entering his freshman season, stop me if you’ve heard this before, Allen was 17 years old.

According to most recruiting sites, Braelon Allen was listed as a safety or linebacker. As he got older, he continued to grow and bulk up, which is why many thought he’d be a linebacker for the Badgers, another position where they have been producing NFL prospects on the regular. But when he got to Madison, Allen made the move to running back. Maybe because the position room was thin or maybe because he had a monster junior season at running back in high school. Maybe a combination of both.

He was somewhat buried on the depth chart after Jalen Berger had shown flashes as a freshman in the 2020 season and the Badgers brought in a transfer from Clemson, Chez Mellusi, who started the season at the top of the depth chart.

After a couple of games, some suspensions, and injuries, Braelon Allen became a huge part of the Badgers’ offense, rushing for over 100 yards in seven-straight games and 159 yards and two touchdowns in the Las Vegas Bowl against Arizona State.

He will be in a Wisconsin uniform for at least two more years, so you can expect Allen to be a household name around the country for the time being.