MADISON, WIS. -- Wisconsin's current wide receiver room looks much different than its 2021 roster, and position coach Alvis Whitted continues to work and develop this group during spring practices.

Chimere Dike assumes the leadership role entering his third year in Madison, but the question remains of who steps up alongside him. Fourth-year junior Dean Engram moves over from his previous cornerback spot, Stephan Bracey Jr. returned to 11-on-11 team reps on Thursday, and a trio of second-year players -- Markus Allen, Skyler Bell and Keontez Lewis -- provide intrigue heading into 2022.

Whitted spoke to reporters on Friday inside the McClain Center, and BadgerBlitz.com captured his full session. Questions and answers are lightly edited for clarity.

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We’ve seen Skyler Bell get a lot of first-team reps the last couple of weeks, make a lot of big plays. Where have you seen him taken his game in the last year or so that’s allowed him to put himself in this position?

“I think Skyler is really building off of bowl game prep from last year. The experience in the bowl game, just being out there. I think the success he's had from that standpoint really has given him confidence. Skyler is a smart kid. I've been waiting for him to make this jump, and I knew that he would at some point in time, and that's just it. Guys will develop when it's their time, once they get comfortable in the offense, and they just go out and play, use their God-given ability.

“So he's done a great job in the offseason in regards to strength and conditioning. You can see his size, he’s gotten a little bit bigger, and there's a confidence factor that's really helped him a lot and being in the playbook, understanding his role in the offense and just being available. I think the biggest thing for him was just being available. His freshman year, true freshman year, and he's taken upon himself to really get in a solid routine. So I think all of those factors have really helped him quite a bit, so I'm excited to continue to see him progress in his way, and a lot of the other guys as well. So it's been good.”

With Skyler, too, is there a particular example on the field from this spring that stood out to you in terms of his growth?

“Yes, just being able to apply a lot of individual technique things. We were harping on, just pad level, demeanor, running out of your breakpoints, accelerating out of your breakpoints, and you can see it in certain routes. And it's pretty awesome because he's become more fluid. He's, again, become more confident, attacking the ball. And he's just taking small steps, and just finding ways to get better. And it's awesome. It's been great.”

Alvis, you got a couple of guys who are kind of in different situations. You bring in Keontez from UCLA, so he's learning a new system. You got Dean flipping over from corner. Both of those guys look like they flashed at times. What have you seen from them this spring and what you expect from them, once spring is over, when they get into camp?

"I expect these guys to continue to progress in the manner that they have. Keontez is coming into a situation where he's, again, learning a new offense, and he's a smart kid. He's a sharp kid. I can actually move him around in different spots, and he can function and do a lot of different things. Great top-end speed. He does some really good things well with short area quickness, and just he's actually very deceptive as a route runner, as a guy with the ball in his hands. And I knew that when I was evaluating him, just off of his freshman tape at UCLA. I'm really excited about him because he's shown that he can make some plays.

"In regards to Dean coming over on offense, it's pretty cool to watch him work, and he's learning little things, just the alignment perspective. You know, learning when there's a tight end and whatnot, and just formationally, he's getting better, but you can see his natural ability. The quickness, the hands and just the fluidity that he comes and brings to the table, it's really cool. It's really cool, and I'm excited to see him continue to progress as well, to be quite honest."

We get a chance to Keontez in a little bit, but what were some of the discussions you had with him about what this place may be able to offer him as a wide receiver?

"When I was recruiting him, I really loved how, No. 1, he showed that he can be physical as a receiver. He was actually blocking down on defensive linemen at UCLA, so it showed me that he can be a physical kid, and he is smart. Obviously, UCLA is a great academic institution so to be able to balance the academic load and the football aspect and play basically every snap that he had with not a lot of targets, that said a lot about who he was.

"And I just felt like once he got here, being in this offense and in this system, he can be a deep threat. He could blow the top off the defense. He could catch the ball. He's a big target, so quite a bit of versatility, and he's got, again, some short area quickness that's very deceiving.

"So, again, I think it's refreshing to have all these guys be available right now. So it's a good situation to have really, to be quite honest. So he's trending in the right direction as well, and it's a good room right now. It's a good room right now because these guys, they're gonna find ways to help get each other better, and they know it's about competition, but they don't shy away from it, and they still try to help each other."

What kind of advantage or benefit is it to have a guy like Bobby Engram coach wide receivers being the offensive coordinator? How has he been able to help you guys?

"Great synergy. (laughs) Great synergy. Me, as a former player, I've always followed him as well as a player, and we've obviously had connections with people in Baltimore and followed a lot about him and the things that he's done. You won't find a better person, a better football coach that knows a lot about our position, as well as other positions on the field.

"So the wealth of knowledge that he brings, and then his personality, his style, is going to be a great asset to our program and these kids. I'm excited for him and the opportunity that he has right now, so it's been great."

With this new offense, are your receivers being asked to do anything too different, or is it just kind of different looks of what they already had been doing?

"There are little nuances here and there, but I think, for us, just being able to be flexible, being able to do different things in the run game. We're going to do some things where we're at the point of attack in regards to our pin-and-pull scheme, which is outstanding, and we have guys that can do it, and that are willing to do it.

"So that brings a different wrinkle, and it also adds a new dimension to a lot of the things that we can do offensively. So we're going to continue to build off of that, and just continue to have fun with it."

Alvis, I know game planning is a long way off, the first game is a long way off, but with Chim being the most experienced guy in your group, are you anticipating teams are going to say, 'OK, we are going to try to negate him until one of those other wideouts shows us they can make plays?'

"Oh, absolutely. I certainly anticipate that, but I also relish it because that's what this time is for. That's what spring ball is for. It's an evaluation time to really see who's the next guy, who's the one that's going to step up and show that they can complement him as well. And it's in his great because every one of these guys has a different skill set, and they bring a lot to the table.

"We have four more opportunities to just continue to see who can who can retain, who can carry over, who can be consistent. So I'm really excited, I really am. This is very refreshing to have a room full of guys that again love each other, that they want to play for each other, that are very selfless, but are willing. And they're doing a great job so far."

Are you optimistic you will have multiple possibilities to be the complementary guy so it's not one guy one week?

"Oh, no question. No question, and that's the beauty of it. You know, we have three more kids coming in, and they're really good as well. So the competition is great, and that's what this game is about. It's about competing, and ultimately, we want to help this football team, put ourselves in the best position."

You've had Chim working in the slot a bunch.

"He does everything. He's my Swiss Army (knife), he can do it all.

What do you like about him inside?

"I love his football intelligence. I love his tenacity. He's going to find a way to get open. He's going to find ways to get open and exploit the defense, and that's what you want a guy to do. But he also has size and understands the game enough, understands coverage, understands where the holes are. He knows how to get open. So I trust him in that regard."

You mentioned Keontez being a smart guy. What else has kind of stood out to you about kind of getting to know him off the field and the meeting room?

"He's a very steady kid. He doesn't say a whole bunch. He just goes about his business every day, and he doesn't complain. Whatever role he has, he does it. He does his job. He just comes to work. Great student. I don't know what more you can ask. And, again, very selfless kid. Not worried about accolades. He's assimilated into our room very well."

What about Markus Allen? He had some moments last season in the snaps that he did get. Where is he at with his development right now?

"He's continuing to figure it out. Again, had great success in the bowl game and bowl prep. But for Markus it's really just about continuing to have confidence, and he's a big kid that can run. He can be physical, and he's still right there as well. But that's just it, the opportunities are there. It's about the guys that are going to continue to take advantage of them. He's still trending in the right direction as well."

Obviously Stephan Bracey Jr. throughout the last, it seems like, year-and-a-half's been battling injuries season. We've seen in the last week or so getting back to full strength. What does he bring to the room that maybe he just haven't been able to do health-wise?

"Great quickness, great speed, very sudden, can run all the intermediate routes. He brings a tempo that's different. He's definitely a guy that can run, and so he brings that to the table. Our plus-one runs, auxiliary runs, he's a guy that can do all that stuff. It's all about just taking it one day at a time and the opportunities that he gets, continue to build on those and get that confidence back because he can do it.

"I think going back to last year, just his one touch on special teams. That's pretty significant, and so he'll continue to contribute in that regard as well. But excited for him, excited for all these guys. It's a young group of kids that want to get better and want to help this team."

I know, I think was in December, when you were talking about Markus, you compared him to Michael Gallup in a couple of characteristics. For Skyler, is there a player comparison that you would have right now for him?

“He's actually playing like Michael as far as play strength. As far as the catch point, just even in the run game, just a physical kid. Like I said, he's done a great job in the offseason program that's gotten him to that point. And injury-wise, he had a hamstring, a lot last year, so I don't think that's an issue anymore. I think, at this point, he's the guy, the young guy, that's actually kind of showing that, ‘Hey, I can be a guy.’ We'll see.

"But Markus, he's just got to continue to find that niche and find that person he was, and it's coming. It's coming.”

In December, you were pretty confident about Dike moving into that No. 1 spot, and what he'd be able to give you. How has he just changed with no Danny, no Jack, no Kendric in the room, and kind of just being a leader for your group?

"One thing he's doing, he's done a great job of, he's playing fast. I think the game has slowed down for him quite a bit. And he knows the offense, he knows his roles, and with that confidence and him knowing the game, I think it's made him just go out and go play now.

"By virtue of who he is, that leadership role, he's inherited it just because of who he is. He's a guy that a lot of people on his team can trust."

I know we talked about Chimere, are there others that you feel right now -- I know you still have four more spring practices to go -- but do you feel like there's a certain number of receivers you have that are maybe the first team now compared to second team? Or do you still feel there are evaluations?

"Four more, four more practices. At the end of the day, we all want to have those guys that we know are consistent, but it's still a daily process. Again, showing what they can do consistently on a daily basis. So I can't say I have a starting depth chart right now, but in my mind, I have guys I know I feel confident about right now. But that's it and guys can separate themselves continually throughout these next four."

How's it been for the assistant coaches kind of dividing up the special teams system without having a quote-unquote special teams coordinator. How's that kind of go between you assistants?

"I think it's been going pretty pretty well, pretty fluid from what I've seen. Guys are bringing great energy. I think Bobby April III had it this morning, and it was an awesome meeting. And Hank Poteat's doing a great job. You know myself, I'm still with kickoff return, but it's all going very well in my opinion."

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