BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

MADISON, Wis. — There have been some nights after eating at training table that quarterback Graham Mertz has wandered into the locker room at 8 o'clock or so.

On those occasions, he has frequently come across 17-year-old freshman tailback Braelon Allen at the white board drawing basic checkdowns and pass protections.

"I love his approach off the field," Mertz said.

He loves his moxie, too. Especially when Allen talks about having once been a quarterback.

"He joked about that, and I didn't believe him," said a skeptical Mertz, who didn't hesitate to challenge Allen. "I told him, 'There's no way you were a quarterback.'"

Suitably prodded to prove himself, Allen said, "I sent him a few clips."

Seeing is believing with Allen. The Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, native — who now scales a chiseled 238 and has been liberally tagged as a "man-child" — played quarterback as an eighth and ninth grader.

It turned out that Allen was promoted from the freshman team to the high school varsity for the playoffs and made a smooth transition from quarterback to defensive back in the nickel package.

When he was a sophomore, he was utilized as a safety, wide receiver and running back — he rushed for 255 yards against Neenah — while also still serving as Fond du Lac's backup quarterback.

It would seem that there's very little that he can't do. To that end, as a freshman wrestler, he won the 195-pound weight division at the U16 folkstyle nationals.

As far as his viability at quarterback, there was discussion about returning Allen to that position for his senior year to fill the void created by the loss of Kyle Walljasper, now at Minnesota-Duluth.

But that became a moot point when Allen accelerated his own graduation timeline and reclassified to UW's 2021 recruiting class instead of 2022. Not that he has missed being a QB.

"I just didn't think it was for me," he said. "But it helped me see the game better. Especially as a defensive player. Overall, it helped me a lot."

By now, Allen's narrative has been well-documented on how he has wound up competing for a spot in Wisconsin's tailback rotation after being recruited to play safety and/or linebacker.

"I think I'm going in the right direction," Allen said of his transition to the UW offense. "It has been a process so far. But I'm starting to pick everything up and I'm starting to get more comfortable.

"Cleaning up little things — protections, keeping the ball of the ground, things like that — just come with work and studying. I'm getting it down pretty well and I should be where I need to be."

Allen has not been the only developing story among the tailbacks in training camp. There's the return of leading rusher Jalen Berger. And there's the addition of Clemson transfer Chez Mellusi.

There's the quest of Isaac Guerendo to stay healthy for longer stretches than he has in the past, a status shared by sophomore Julius Davis. And there's the grit of walk-on Brady Schipper to get in the mix.

There's also a new voice with running backs assistant Gary Brown, who twice rushed for over 1,000 yards as an NFL player and has 11 years of pro coaching experience with Cleveland and Dallas.

The Badgers are now two seasons removed from the school's second leading all-time rusher in Jonathan Taylor, and Brown is looking to assemble all the varied pieces to establish an identity.

"The whole group has done a great job in taking a step, for sure," observed UW safety Scott Nelson, who has a unique perspective on their development from his vantage point on the practice field.

"Jalen has done a great job with just the quick, little bursts — I feel like he's getting through the holes quicker and he's running a little harder.

"It's our first experience with Chez and I like what I see. He's got great vision, great lateral quickness. Same thing with Isaac. He's hitting the hole hard, and he's got a different gear to him.

"Braelon is young. But he knows what he's doing out there. That's a big thing for a young guy. He's getting throw in there with guys who aren't young and he's definitely holding his own mentally.

"There are a lot of guys who have a lot of skill and a lot of ability. But if they can't get it mentally, they'll never see the field. I've been very impressed with that side of him.

"And, obviously, he's strong and faster than I thought he would be."

• • • •

Any conversation about speed has to start with Guerendo, who helped carry Avon (Indiana) High School to the 2018 state championship in track. Guerendo punctuated his senior year by winning titles in the 100 meters and 4x100-meter relay while placing second in the long jump and 200 meters.

It was only the second time his school had won a championship in any sport (the other was a golf crown). Less than two weeks after the meet in early June, Guerendo reported for summer conditioning with the Badgers. Not long after his arrival in Madison, he switched positions. Again.

Guerendo was projected as a running back by the UW recruiting staff even though he had starred as a wide receiver at Avon. After catching 54 passes for 1,258 yards (23.3) and 16 touchdowns as a senior, he was named the Indianapolis Star's Mr. Football award winner for his position group in the state.

As a junior, he began to blossom as a receiver late in the season after transferring to Avon from Cascade and fully recovering from a broken ankle suffered the spring of his sophomore year. Guerendo caught only 19 passes but averaged 31.4 yards per reception, including TDs of 77 and 72 yards.

That winter, he led Avon to the unofficial state indoor track championship. That summer, he won the state long jump title. He also attracted football recruiters when he was timed at 4.38 seconds in the 40 at a Notre Dame camp in June. Shortly thereafter, he committed to Wisconsin.

Again, the initial thought process was that Guerendo was best suited to be a tailback with the Badgers. But after running some routes out of the backfield, then-wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore was smitten by his speed and commandeered Guerendo, who redshirted as a freshman in 2018.

The following spring, the Badgers were short on healthy running backs and Guerendo was a logical candidate to make the switch back. In fact, Schipper had also made the move from the wide receiver room to tailback that offseason because of the dwindling numbers at the position.

Guerendo's first touch came on a 49-yard kickoff return against Minnesota in 2019. He didn't get another carry until the Rose Bowl, where he had one rush for 1 yard and one catch for 3 yards in a loss to Oregon. In the 2020 opener, he had 11 rushes for 36 yards against Illinois.

But he didn't play in another game last season, accenting his history with hamstring injuries.

"My thing is staying on top of my health so that I can get out on the field," he said of his goals for 2021. "Whether that's special teams, whether that's running back, like Coach always says, 'The best type of ability is availability.' If you're not available, you can't really do much."
 

Guerendo credited Brown for bolstering his confidence.

"With me coming in as a receiver, and me being injured a lot throughout my career here, he has honestly made the game so much simpler, so much easier for me to pick up," he said. "It has helped me slow stuff down and it has allowed me to play a lot faster. He's developed me as a player, for sure."

Mertz, for one, has been encouraged by what he has seen out of Guerendo.

"The biggest thing with Isaac is that he's so fast," he said, "For us, it's, 'How can we get him in the open field?' He has been really looking good during fall camp with his vision and his tempo coming out of the handoff and getting to where he can see the hole develop and just hit it and use that speed."

Guerendo believes the competition for snaps is motivating all the tailbacks.

"I love it — we have a lot of depth and a lot of guys with a lot of different skill sets — so we've got some pretty good diversity in the backfield," said Guerendo, who has been impressed with Allen's physicality. "He's a big body and he'll put that face mask in yours and you've got to brace for contact. How many 17-year-olds do you see that are that size?

"At the same time, you see his work ethic, and it's no wonder that he's as big as he is."

It's something that Allen prides himself on.

"I just think my work ethic in the weight room is what comes out and shows on the field," said Allen, whose lifting videos have gone viral since posting himself power cleaning 405 pounds last November when he was 16. "I don't take anything lightly in the weight room. It's strictly business."

Allen knows, though, that he can't overpower tacklers in the Big Ten like he did in high school.

"The guys here are going to be just as strong and just as big and it's a different game," he acknowledged. "I've just got to learn to see things better and make cuts and breaks that are going to put me in the right spot where I don't try and run everyone over."

Allen admitted to not being patient by nature but added, "I know it's a process."

And he's grateful to have Brown guiding him through the various stages, Tailback 101.

"He means a lot to me, I love the guy, he's like family," Allen said. "He has taught me a lot already. I can feel myself improving. I don't think I would have gotten this much better without him. I never really focused on running back before. Basically, I came in with no knowledge at that position.

"For him to start with me at Square One and get me to where I am now this quickly is great."

Particularly for a 17-year-old. And a former quarterback.