Luke Fickell sees Wisconsin Badgers running back battle as 'most competitive group' in fall camp

It was a nice warm day for the Wisconsin Badgers as they continued their fall training camp in Platteville this weekend.

Head coach Luke Fickel is very pleased with the way the players are responding not only to the heat, but to their assignments.

"I do know that there are a lot of things going in the right direction," Fickell told reporters Saturday. "I'm really excited about some of the things that went on today. I really like where we are headed."

Fickell liked the aggressiveness from the offensive line which, in turn, helped spring the running backs for some chunk runs.

"This is when you start to find what you have," Fickell said. "Now, you are talking about some of those big guys. The question is whether you can count on them to be starters."

Fickell noted they are only a week into camp and it is too early to judge the early success.

"You don't try to make too much of it. There are some different bodies that don't have to get worked out," Fickell said. "A lot of guys are playing a lot of snaps. You have guys three deep that can roll with the ones and still give us what we need."

Fickell then addressed the running backs, who benefited from the big guys up front. He heaped a bunch of praise on redshirt freshman Dilin Jones. The big running back from Laurel, Maryland has looked good each day.

"This is the most competitive group from the spring. Group did the best job in the first 5-6 days,:" Fickell said. "[Jones] has done it all. He brings an incredible energy. There is an aggressive nature behind that one cut, that one step that you don't see.

"It's not just what they do with the ball in their hands," Fickell said. "It's what they do when the ball is not in their hands."

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