Badgers by position: Trio of tailbacks could help UW run over Big Ten opponents in 2017
Jeff Potrykus
Third in a nine-part Badgers by Position series.
MADISON – Wisconsin tailbacks were credited with 525 of the team’s 658 rushing attempts in 2016.
Expect the tailbacks to handle the ball at a similar rate – 79.8% -- in 2017.
Yet what likely will change is how the carries are divvied among the tailbacks.
Four tailbacks carried the ball last season, with Corey Clement handling the bulk of the workload (314 carries, 59.8%). Dare Ogunbowale (91 carries, 17.3%), Bradrick Shaw (88 carries, 16.8%) and Taiwan Deal (32 carries, 6.1%) handled the rest of the work.
The top three tailbacks when camp opens on Friday should be Chris James, who sat out last season after transferring from Pittsburgh and has two seasons of eligibility remaining; Shaw, a redshirt sophomore; and Deal, a junior who missed spring practice while recovering from off-season ankle surgery.
“It is not really about who the starter is,” James said, “because we know we’re all going to play.
“It’s about who is going to take advantage of those reps (and) who is going to be out there and just try to help the team win.”
James appears to be the most well-rounded of the tailbacks.
RELATED:T.J. Edwards enters camp healthy
NOTES:Chryst hopes to keep players focused during camp
At 5-foot-10 and 219 pounds, he is stout enough to run with power between the tackles. But he is quick in tight quarters and showed last fall and again in the spring the ability to run away from defenders in the open field. He catches passes effortlessly and is a bright player who should be able to handle the responsibility of picking up blitzes.
“Whatever the coaches really need me to do, that is what I plan on doing,” James said. “I just really want to be the playmaker. I really want to be the guy that – if that guy doesn’t tackle me, the defense is going to pay.”
Shaw played in 11 games last season and averaged eight carries per game. He averaged 5.2 yards per carry, No. 2 among the tailbacks, but because he wasn’t comfortable with the entire offensive package the staff used him sparingly and tried to put him in positions in which he likely would enjoy success.
Shaw, 6-1 and 220, generally hits holes quickly, can run through tackles and has the speed to run away from defenders.
“He’s got to take the next step,” running backs coach John Settle said. “We kind of put him in a limited package. I’d like to see him take the step of grasping more of the offense and reading defenses and play in the pass game, do some things with protections that he should be able to do with a year under his belt.”
Deal, 6-1 and 219, was limited to six games last season because of ankle issues. He ran hard when healthy, however, and aeraged 5.1 yards per carry.
The staff a healthy Deal will give UW another physical runner.
“We’ll have a number of guys playing there…until one will maybe separates,” head coach Paul Chryst said. “You’ve got guys that have played in games but none of them have been in the role that Corey was in, or even Dare.
“So they’ve got to take that step forward. I would guess that you’d see a lot of backs.”
Although Deal has the most experience in the UW offense (16 games, two starts), James played a combined 23 games in his first two seasons at Pittsburgh.
James played behind ACC player of the year James Conner as a freshman in 2014 and averaged 5.0 yards per carry and finished with 437 yards and four touchdowns in 13 games.
The departure of Chryst after the 2014 season brought a new coaching staff to Pittsburgh. James discovered quickly he didn’t fit into the plans of new coach Pat Narduzzi.
James got only 56 carries, a drop of 31 from his freshman season, and finished with 253 yards and a 4.5-yard average.
The decision to transfer to UW was easy. James, from Chicago, would be closer to home. He would also be reunited with Chryst, Settle and offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph.
“It is weird because it is the same coaches,” he said. “They’re just wearing red now. Nothing really changed.”
RUNNING BACKS AT A GLANCE
TAILBACKS
Projected starter: Chris James, 5-foot-10, 219 pounds, junior.
Key reserves: Bradrick Shaw, 6-1, 220, sophomore; and Taiwan Deal, 6-1, 219, junior.
Others to watch: Jonathan Taylor, 5-11, 214, freshman;Rachid Ibrahim, 6-0, 195, senior.
FULLBACKS
Projected starter: Austin Ramesh, 6-1, 255, senior.
Key reserve: Alec Ingold, 6-2, 246, junior.
INSIDE THE HUDDLE
UW probably won’t need to use him but Taylor, from Salem, N.J., is an intriguing prospect. Taylor initially committed to play for Rutgers but UW’s staff – Settle, Chryst and tight ends coach Mickey Turner -- eventually convinced him to come to Madison.
“We did a good job of making it hard for him to say no, which is what I tell the young men that we recruit,” Settle said. “That is our job, to make it hard for those guys to say no.”
Taylor rushed for 2,815 yards and 35 touchdowns as a senior at Salem High School. He broke the state single-season rushing mark set by former UW tailback Corey Clement (2,510).
“So, I wouldn’t put anything past him,” Settle said. “He is hungry.”
Ibrahim is a graduate transfer from Pittsburgh. He was a reserve in his first two seasons and rushed for a combined 399 yards on 60 carries (6.7-yard average). Ibrahim missed the 2015 season after suffering an Achilles' injury in camp and did not play last season.
Redshirt freshman tailback Sam Brodner, who suffered a torn ACL in the final spring practice, likely will miss the season.