Spring is right around the corner, and with it comes the start of Wisconsin football's spring practice period. The Badgers will hold 15 practices from March 13 to April 24 for the third spring camp of head coach Luke Fickell's tenure.

Between 19 transfer additions and 15 early-enrollee true freshman, Wisconsin welcomes 34 new faces this spring as it tries to bounce back from a season that ended with the unthinkable: missing a bowl game for the first time since 2001.

BadgerBlitz.com continues its preview of a critical spring in Madison by breaking down 10 players that will be intriguing to follow this spring, in no particular order:

Maryland transfer quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. has gotten the vast majority of attention between the two gunslingers Wisconsin reeled in via the transfer portal. That tracks, given that his experience appears to have him slated to start in 2025. At this point, it would be a significant surprise if anyone other than Edwards trotted out with the starters on Aug. 30 against Miami (OH).

However, that's just one of a few reasons why Danny O'Neil is such an intriguing player to watch this spring. As the projected QB2, he'll get plenty of reps in practice. How does the rising sophomore look? He started 11 games for the Aztecs in his true freshman season, tossing for 2,181 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions while completing 63.3 percent of his passes. He also didn't throw an interception until Week 7. San Diego Sate finished a dismal 3-9, but O'Neil displayed some moxie beyond his years. What kind of noise can he make this spring?

Wisconsin has a trio of talented backs that represent the future in Darrion Dupree, Dilin Jones and Gideon Ituka. It'll certainly be fascinating to see how the youngsters look in their first spring with the program (aside from Ituka, who was an early enrollee last season). Still, Cade Yacamelli will easily be the most intriguing running back to follow throughout camp.

The converted safety easily paced Wisconsin with an 8.3 yards-per-carry average in 2024, but was only handed the ball 33 times. He had clearly developed athletically and added another gear in the speed and burst departments, but was Wisconsin's fourth-most utilized running back by carries and fifth-most utilized by snaps. How does new offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes view him? How much will he be utilized in what's likely a send-off season in Madison?

Of the wideouts that will be competing for a starting role opposite Vinny Anthony, Hamper will easily be the most intriguing to watch. How does the former FCS Idaho Vandals receiver's athleticism look against Big Ten competition? Is he able to separate from Wisconsin's talented starting cornerback duo of Ricardo Hallman and Nyzier Fourquean?

Still just a rising freshman, Hamper has plenty of developing to do. It'll be interesting to see how many reps he gets and how he responds to the constant competition Fickell facilitates throughout spring camp.

Ball State transfer tight end Tanner Koziol could arguably be the most intriguing player to watch all spring. After reeling in 94 catches for 839 yards and eight scores in 2024, he was ranked as the third-best available tight end on the open market.

That alone makes him a must-watch this spring. Unlike with some of the other transfers coming from G5 and FCS schools, there's less question about how Koziol's athletic ability will transfer and more intrigue about how he's used. The new offensive coordinator Grimes isn't shy about using his tight ends; in 2023 with Baylor, tight end Drake Dabney was the Bears' second-leading receiver with 33 catches for 552 yards and five touchdowns. Keep an eye on every aspect of how Koziol is used, from where he lines up to what routes he's running. Does he immediately pop as an obvious playmaker, or does it take him some time to get acclimated in Madison?

The heir apparent to longtime left tackle Jack Nelson, all signs point to it being Kevin Heywood's time to hold down the blindside tackle spot in Madison.

Heywood was the only freshman offensive lineman to burn his redshirt last season, appearing in five games. He saw his first action at right tackle, but then played left tackle for his final three games, including a solid 35 snaps against Purdue in Week 7. Across 22 total pass-blocking snaps, he allowed just one pressure, according to Pro Football Focus.

Heywood is also quietly one of the more highly regarded prospects on Wisconsin's roster. The former Rivals150 recruit was the highest-ranked Badgers signee in their 2024 class with offers from Alabama, Georgia, Miami (FL) and USC, among many others.

He figures to battle it out with Barrett Nelson, Leyton Nelson and possibly his '24 classmate Emerson Mandell for the vacant left tackle gig, but the sophomore should have the inside track.

The Badgers were high on Thomas Heiberger last spring when he enrolled early as a true freshman. He wreaked some noticeable havoc when he got his chance with the third-team defense, and looked as if he may find a role as the fifth edge rusher until an injury suffered in fall camp derailed that notion entirely.

Heiberger played 24 snaps on special teams towards the end of the season, but should now be taken seriously as a candidate to steal snaps from the veteran edge rushers on the roster. Darryl Peterson, Aaron Witt and Sebastian Cheeks return, but they combined for 7.5 tackles-for-loss and 3.0 sacks across the entirety of last season. More production is needed off the edge, and Heiberger is in prime position to potentially leapfrog a veteran on the depth chart if he puts together the kind of spring he's capable of.

Like the rest of the outside linebackers, Kentucky transfer Tyreese Fearbry will be a player to watch due to the underwhelming production that's ailed the position for years. But Fearbry in particular brings some intriguing physical traits that warrant a closer look.

Listed at 6-foot-5, 242 pounds on Kentucky's roster last season, the former four-star recruit brings significantly more size than Peterson or Cheeks; his build is more similar to that of Witt. It'll be interesting to see what he's officially listed as on the spring roster and what weight the Badgers want him to play at after strength coach Brady Collins gets to work with him for an offseason.

Fearbry has been a limited participant to this point in his career, totaling 352 snaps across three seasons. What's more, he has little production to speak of, with just 21 total tackles. Still, that makes him all the more intriguing — can his career finally take off in Madison?

The Badgers returning Preston Zachman at safety is massive, but they still needed to shore up the position by signing a couple transfers, the more intriguing of which is former D-III Bethel University ballhawk Matt Jung. That word isn't an overstatement; he picked off 16 passes across two seasons and took six of them to the house.

Jung is perhaps the biggest boom-or-bust prospect the Badgers signed via the transfer portal. Wisconsin takes a leap of faith here by banking on a D-III player's skills to translate to the Big Ten, but if Jung is the gamer that the Badgers think he is, the Neenah native's athleticism should speak for itself. When players make the jump from lower levels of the sport, they often cite the trenches as the biggest difference. Thus, in the back end of the defense, Jung's instincts should allow him to flourish. And in a safety room that's completely unproven past Zachman and Austin Brown, opportunities should be plentiful.

Jay'Viar Suggs is intriguing for a few reasons. First of all, he's the one that got away from the 2023/2024 winter portal cycle, ultimately signing with LSU despite heavy interest from Wisconsin and a connection to outside linebackers coach Matt Mitchell, who coached him at Grand Valley State. The Badgers went after him again this offseason, and didn't miss twice in a row.

Second of all, he's one of the more highly-regarded transfer defensive linemen the Badgers signed, and that's a position that's starved for production. While no less than four defensive linemen signed with Wisconsin via the portal, his pedigree and production make him one to pay close attention to.

Suggs logged 10 tackles, 3.0 tackles-for-loss and 2.5 sacks in 2024 with the Tigers. He also had a 16 percent pressure rate, according to numbers from Pro Football Focus, which would rank among the best along Wisconsin's front seven last season. Still, he was just the fifth-most utilized defensive lineman in Baton Rouge, hence why he sought greener pastures.

This could be a make-or-break year for the former USC Trojan. After a promising but uneven freshman season in Los Angeles, Tackett Curtis transferred to Wisconsin to join what was at the time considered to be a stacked inside linebacker room. Things didn't go as planned.

Curtis was just the fourth-most utilized inside linebacker, and in turn saw his production dip. He went from 40 tackles his freshman season to 17 last fall, and had no splash plays to speak of after logging two sacks, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries in LA.

Now, however, a starting spot appears to be his to lose. Past Christian Alliegro, who's penciled in as the top inside linebacker, it's Curtis, Western Carolina transfer Antaaron Turner and a whole lot of unproven young talent.

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