Healthy and happy: Chez Mellusi and Isaac Guerendo have recovered from injuries to bolster UW's tailback depth
MADISON – Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst is determined to avoid overworking several key players who are returning to the practice field this week in camp.
“We’ve got to be smart on volume initially,” he said.
Perhaps the No. 1 player to monitor is tailback Chez Mellusi, who suffered a torn anterior ligament in his left knee last season at Rutgers.
“You’d be crazy to have Chez just go 100 miles an hour right away,” Chryst said.
UW is scheduled to hold its first practice Wednesday and the workload of Mellusi and fellow tailback Isaac Guerendo will be worth monitoring.
“I feel great,” Mellusi said Tuesday during the team’s annual media day. “I’m full-go. I’m not limited.
“We’re going to see how it progresses throughout camp. They’re going to watch my load. But I’m in a good spot and I’m just excited to play football.”
Guerendo sounded the same optimistic chord.
“I’m full-go, 100 percent for Day 1,” he said. “The mentality I have built is whatever opportunities I get, just take advantage of those. If anybody knows, it is me, that opportunities can be taken away like that.”
Mellusi broke the 100-yard mark in four of the nine games he played last season and finished with 815 yards, an average of 4.7 yards per carry, and five touchdowns.
Guerendo, who battled hamstring injures early on at UW, played in the first four games last season and rushed 23 times for 160 yards, an average of 7.0 yards per carry. He improved his ability to run between the tackles but his speed remained his No. 1 asset, as shown on his 82-yard touchdown run in Week 2 against Eastern Michigan.
His season ended during warm-ups at Illinois when he suffered a Lisfranc fracture in his left foot, after a teammate accidentally stepped on it.
“We got closer than ever through the rehab process,” Guerendo said, referring to Mellusi. “We used each other to get through that.”
After being held out of spring ball, Mellusi and Guerendo participated in summer workouts. Neither experienced a setback.
“It was kind of like overnight but it was really weird,” Mellusi said of his recovery from the knee injury. “It started to feel really good in April and going into summer workouts I started to feel like myself.
“It is mental when it comes to that point. I feel like my knee was strong, really strong. I passed my (physical) tests at six to seven months out. From that point it was just me, getting used to cutting at a 90-degreen angle and just trusting myself.”
Guerendo added: “It puts a smile on my face being able to be back out there with my brothers. It has been hard but finally getting back out there has been the best part of it.”
Mellusi was a reserve his first two seasons at Clemson and rushed for a combined 427 yard on 71 carries, an average of 6.0 yards per carry. He opened last season as UW’s starting tailback despite being hampered by a strained hamstring.
“Last year I came in kind of dinged up and I feel like I played pretty good football,” Mellusi said. “This is probably the best I’ve ever felt. I’m just excited to be back with the guys and give the team what I have.”
Braelon Allen and Mellusi developed into a productive duo last season. During a five-game span beginning with the Illinois game Allen and Mellusi averaged 122.4 and 96.6 yards per game, respectively. Allen rushed for five touchdowns; Mellusi rushed for three.
Allen should open camp as the No. 1 tailback, ahead of Mellusi, Guerendo, Brady Schipper, Julius Davis and Grover Bortolotti.
“We have a deep backfield,” Guerendo said. “I think we’ll have a lot of versatility, a lot of depth. We have a lot of people that can have an impact on the field.”
Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.
DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin tailbacks Chez Mellusi and Isaac Guerendo eager to begin
