Luke Fickell hopeful for return of Jake Renfro, Isaiah Mullens

Wisconsin begins Big Ten play Friday and Luke Fickell is hopeful for Jake Renfro and Isaiah Mullens to return at Purdue.

Mullens, a grad transfer defensive end, got a scope done this summer and has yet to play in 2023. Fickell originally said Mullens, who got the procedure in early August, was unsure of his debut.

Renfro is in a similar boat, coming over from Cincinnati with Fickell but missed the entire 2022 campaign with right foot issues. Fickell is hopeful for both.

“I would hope maybe this week,” Fickell said. “If not this week, I would definitely expect that after the bye, unless something else happens that that would be a definite time they should be back in there.”

Fickell was asked in the preseason if he thinks Renfro will immediately crack the rotation once he is back.

“Yeah, I mean, I think more than anything, if based on how it goes. I mean, it might be an opportunity that his body has a lot more time to heal if he doesn’t end up making it back into into the rotation or even being a one,” Fickell said, who believes the team is versatile up front.

“I mean, I think that we’ve got some combinations that we can do. I think the uniqueness is a challenge is try to find the five that fit the best, because those guys, they’ve got to be in unison.”

Renfro ranked as the No. 12 inside offensive lineman according to On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings. He played high school football at Providence Catholic (Illinois) High School, where he was a three-star prospect. 

He was the No. 2109 overall recruit in the 2020 cycle, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Like Renfro, Mullens is a veteran and will enter his fifth season in Madison this fall. Over his four previous campaigns, he has 40 tackles, two sacks, and a pair of pass deflections in 40 career games including 10 starts in ’21 and ’22.

As a member of the Class of 2018, Mullens was a three-star recruit out of Columbus (Ohio) Harvest Preparatory School, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 34 overall prospect in the state, the No. 77 defensive lineman in the class and the No. 787 overall prospect in the class.