Riley Mahlman injury update: Luke Fickell expects Wisconsin OL to be fine

After suffering an undisclosed injury on Wednesday, Riley Mahlman did not participate in practice throughout the rest of the week. On Sunday, Mahlman showed improvement, participating in walkthroughs but not full-contact practice. After the practice, Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell provided an update on his starting right tackle.

“He could have been back out there a little bit tonight for us. When we get back to campus, I think he’ll be fine,” Fickell said. “We still need to be able to mix some of those [players] in. That’s a tough position, right? We talk about those defensive linemen, there’s six of them rolling with the with the ones.

“The amount of plays that those guys have to play, as opposed to the amount of plays that the offensive linemen have to play — I’m not sure if Joe Huber has missed a snap this entire camp. I don’t know that that Jack [Nelson] has missed an entire snap the entire camp. So, that’s a lot more difficult on those guys.”

Wisconsin fans have high hopes for the Badgers’ offensive line in the upcoming season. The group features three returning starters, including Mahlman. The redshirt junior started all 13 games at right tackle last season.

Mahlman posted a 74.4 PFF offensive grade, the highest of any Wisconsin linemen and the fifth-highest among Big Ten offensive linemen. Further, Phil Steele ranked Mahlman as the No. 18 tackle that will be available in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Despite Riley Mahlman’s individual success, Wisconsin’s front five struggled at times last season. The team allowed 23 sacks in the 2023 campaign — 1.77 per game. With opponents such as Alabama, Oregon and Penn State on its 2024 schedule, Wisconsin will need to be ready from the jump.

“How do you attack the season, right? You’ve got to have a plan,” Fickell said in July. “We’ve got to be ready coming out of the gates. I’m not trying to say we weren’t going to be ready coming out of the gates last year. But we’ve got to understand if we’re not firing on all cylinders in Week 1? We can’t grow to Week 2. Which then we can’t grow to Week 3, which is going to be the greatest test to say where are you?

“Not that you’re not tested in Week 1, too,” Fickell continued. “But, regardless of what happens in one and two, we’re going to have a lot better idea of where we are as a staff, where we are as a program, where we are as a team in Week 3 because of the challenges, because of the hype, because of all those things being said.”