Wisconsin football: Five offensive players earn All-Big Ten honors
A day after multiple defensive players from the Wisconsin Badgers were recognized as All-Big Ten honorees, five players from the Wisconsin offense earned conference accolades on Wednesday afternoon.
While no player from the Badgers earned a top position award, such as tight end of the year, running back Braelon Allen was a Second-Team All-Big Ten pick, the best of any player on Wisconsin's offense.
The sophomore running back joined Chase Brown of Illinois with the second-team unit after rushing for 1,121 yards and 10 touchdowns in 11 games. Allen also added 104 receiving yards on 11 receptions and finished the regular season ranking No. 4 in the league in rushing yards. Allen was a consensus second-team pick for the second year in a row.
A big reason for Allen's inclusion with the second team was the play of the offensive line in front of him, with three players taking home honorable mention honors. Junior center Joe Tippmann, sophomore left tackle Jack Nelson, and sophomore guard Tanor Bortolini were consensus selections for All-Big Ten honorable mention distinction. For Bortolini, this is his first postseason award despite missing the start of the season with a knee injury and playing multiple positions this year. For Tippmann and Nelson, the duo earned honorable mention recognition a year ago.
Junior wide receiver Chimere Dike was the final Wisconsin player to make the All-Big Ten honorable mention list. The Waukesha (Wis.) product put together the best season of his career with 44 receptions, 653 receiving yards, and six touchdowns, all of which led the team. Dike added another touchdown on the ground on a reverse against Minnesota, and he surpassed 100 yards receiving on two occasions this year.
With all five players having additional years of eligibility remaining, it will be interesting to see if they stick around under the direction of a new head coach and if they can build on their performance from 2022.
The five offensive players recognized means Wisconsin has 12 total players that made an All-Big Ten team, and three players earned Second-Team honors or better. You can see the entire list of Big Ten honors from Wisconsin below:
- Nick Herbig (OLB): First-team defense (consensus)
- John Torchio (S): First-team defense (media)
- Braelon Allen (RB): Second-team offense (consensus)
- Maema Njongmeta (ILB): Third-team defense (media)
- Keeanu Benton (NT): Third-team defense (coaches)
- Jordan Turner (ILB): Honorable mention defense
- C.J. Goetz (OLB): Honorable mention defense
- Isaac Guerendo (KR): Honorable mention special teams
- Chimere Dike (WR): Honorable mention offense
- Joe Tippmann (OL): Honorable mention offense
- Jack Nelson (OL): Honorable mention offense
- Tanor Bortolini (OL): Honorable mention offense
First-team All-Big Ten (defense)
First-team All-Big Ten (defense)
Second-team All-Big Ten (offense)
Third-team All-Big Ten (defense)
Third-team All-Big Ten (defense)
Honorable mention All-Big Ten (defense)
Honorable mention All-Big Ten (offense)
Honorable mention All-Big Ten (special teams)
Honorable mention All-Big Ten (offense)
Honorable mention All-Big Ten (offense)
Honorable mention All-Big Ten (offense)
Related links:
- Bowl projections for the Wisconsin Badgers heading into Championship Week
- Recap: Introductory press conference and welcome event for Luke Fickell
- Chez Mellusi and Alexander Smith to return to Wisconsin in 2023
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