Penn State's secondary set for a big test with positive injury news for Wisconsin WR Malachi Coleman

6-foot-5 Minnesota transfer wide receiver Malachi Coleman was quarterback Colton Joseph’s leading receiver in Wisconsin’s Week 1 loss to Notre Dame, hauling in four of his five targets for 76 yards and a touchdown. Coleman and Joseph, however, have not been able to further develop their rapport, as Coleman left Wisconsin’s Week 2 win over Western Illinois with a head injury. 

Now, after missing a 54-10 win over Eastern Michigan, Coleman is trending in the right direction for Week 4, as Penn State opens Big Ten play by hosting the Badgers, and does so after losing star wide receiver Koby Howard to an injury. Coleman’s likely return will test Penn State’s talented secondary, which is still largely unproven against Power Conference competition. 

Wisconsin has enough weapons to test Penn State’s secondary

If he has his way, new Penn State defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, a former Penn State defensive back, would play as much man coverage as just about anyone. Last year, his USC defense ranked No. 11 in the country in man coverage usage, though he’s overall very diverse in his deployment on the back end. 

Tendencies so far are mostly irrelevant considering the level of competition, but with Penn State’s lack of proven pass rushers along the defensive front, it may not be a bad idea to bring pressure and trust your cornerbacks on islands. Those cornerbacks are primarily Audavion Collins and Daryus Dixson on the outside, with Zion Tracy and Josiah Zayas working at the nickel. 

Collins was excellent last season, playing 538 snaps, but as a true freshman, Dixson didn’t work his way onto the field until later in the year. He played 320 total snaps, nearly all of which came after Week 12 in wins over Michigan State, Nebraska, Rutgers, and Clemson. So, he’s not totally devoid of Power Conference experience, but this will be his first test in 2026, and Coleman’s return makes it tougher. 

Against Notre Dame, Coleman played the third-most snaps among wide receivers, and nearly all of them came on the outside. He came into the season with just 13 career catches between Nebraska and Minnesota, but it seems he’s found a home with the Badgers as a downfield target, stressing defense’s vertically with his long strides and big frame. 

Collins and Dixson aren’t undersized at cornerback, but Collins is just 5-foot-11, and Dixson is 6-foot, so Coleman will have a catch-radius advantage over both. And it’s not just the threat of Coleman, but what he does for the rest of the receiving room. 

Coleman's return makes Tyrell Henry a bigger threat

Without him in Week 3, Wisconsin funneled 17 targets to Tyrell Henry, who works almost exclusively out of the slot. Chris Brooks Jr. and Eugene Hilton, who both got slot opportunities against the Irish in Week 1, were relegated to playing almost entirely on the outside, and while Eastern Michigan didn’t have enough talent to do anything about it, that level of predictability makes a passing game much easier to defend. 

Henry will presumably be Tracy’s to handle when he’s inside, but as Penn State has attempted to vary its defensive looks, moving Tracy outside at times and rotating Zayas, who is an aggressive, downhill run defender, in at nickel, the Badgers can move Henry, Brooks, and Hilton around more easily with the threat of Coleman as a bid-bodied outside receiver who, with his size alone, will demand attention. 

The injury report hasn’t gone Penn State’s way this week, but the Nittany Lions still have enough talent to win Matt Campbell’s Big Ten debut at Beaver Stadium on Saturday evening.

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