Wisconsin Football's Best Offensive Player Isn't Even a Starter

Through four games, there's little doubt in my mind as to who the best player on Wisconsin football's offense is.

And he's not even technically a starter.

Halfback Darrion Dupree was arguably the Badgers' most impressive offensive player on Saturday night in Happy Valley. No, he didn't score either of the incredible touchdowns amidst Wisconsin's furious comeback, but with his skillset, Dupree looks like pound-for-pound the best player on this offense.

The tailback had a brutal drop on a perfectly-placed pass from Colton Joseph on a 3rd-and-12 in the second half that looked like yet another crushing, mind-numbing mistake that would contribute to the Badgers' downfall. Instead, after that drop, he turned it on and started playing like a man possessed.

With starter Abu Sama knocked out of the game early, Dupree finished as the team's leading rusher with eight carries for 52 yards (6.5 yards per carry) and a long run of 17. He was the team's second-leading receiver behind tight end Jacob Harris with four catches for 44 yards, including a huge 25-yard pickup on a screen pass on the Badgers' game-winning touchdown drive.

What makes Dupree Wisconsin's best offensive player?

Wisconsin Badgers running back Darrion Dupree. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Dupree had a great game against the Nittany Lions, sure, especially with how he bounced back from a brutal mishap. But it's not just recency bias that has me convinced Dupree is the Badgers' best all-around weapon on offense.

First of all, his dual-threat ability as a ball-carrier and as a receiver is huge. He's an every-down back, and he can be both a check-down option for quarterback Colton Joseph or a player offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes can draw up passing plays for, like the aforementioned 25-yard screen on the Badgers gotta-have-it drive.

What's more, he's as hard to tackle this fall as I've ever seen him. Dupree has forced 13 missed tackles thus far, easily the most on the Badgers through four games. He boasts an elite combination of shiftiness and contact balance that makes him a handful for any defender to wrap up.

Come for the sweet cuts by Darrion Dupree, stay for the Stylz Blackmon pancake 🥞 #Badgers pic.twitter.com/U3HqwCKK1c
— Seamus (@seamus_rohrer) September 24, 2026

Dupree's longest run is just 28 yards this season; the Badgers' ground game as a whole hasn't been all that explosive save for Sama's 72-yard touchdown scamper on the first play from scrimmage against Western Illinois. That run has Sama's yards-per-carry at 6.8, higher than Dupree's 5.6, but we know that the latter has explosive play ability from his 82-yard touchdown run last fall against Illinois.

Joseph has intrinsic athletic ability we've perhaps never seen at the quarterback position in Madison, but while his talent is off the charts, some of his mistakes have been egregious. Sama is a tremendous all-around back himself, but he has yet to put his complete skillset on display as he's a little banged up.

Receiver Malachi Coleman is a physical specimen the likes of which Wisconsin hasn't had on the perimeter in some time, but he, too, has battled injury and didn't log a catch upon his return to action in Happy Valley.

Dupree, meanwhile, is clearly stronger and shiftier this season, and with his ability to make big plays both by land and by air, he's Wisconsin's best offensive player at the moment despite technically being RB2.

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