Wisconsin concluded its 15th spring football practice on Friday evening inside the McClain Center, and reporters watched 12 of those sessions. Particular Badgers popped out during this period, which could allow them to receive more opportunities for fall camp and the 2022 season. However, questions arose in the last month that will be worth monitoring when those August practices kick up.

BadgerBlitz.com rekindles its "Five Burning Questions" series with a handful of thoughts after UW's spring football schedule wrapped up.

The end of spring practices saw Hunter Wohler and John Torchio assume first-team reps, but an injury to Travian Blaylock leaves Preston Zachman and a group of unproven walk-ons behind them when looking solely at those listed as safeties.

Defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard was asked on April 18 if Blaylock would be on the comeback trail by the fall.

"I think we're hoping so," Leonhard said. "We don't quite know at this point so it's significant enough, we're trying to take care of him, but it's too early to tell what's going on in that situation."

There are three options Wisconsin could take here: 1) stick with the collection of talent it has 2) look at the cornerback room to see who can help 3) or dive into the transfer portal to potentially see who is available as a fit in the secondary.

Regarding the first choice, redshirt freshman Owen Arnett recently appeared as the third safety when Wisconsin went to a sub-package that include a trio of players at the position. The walk-on from in-state powerhouse Arrowhead High School reeled in a couple of interceptions off of tipped passes. Bryce Carey, the transfer from Northern Illinois, received reps this spring, and 2022 signee Austin Brown enters the program in the summer.

Leonhard believes Brown, a high three-star prospect from Johnston City, Ill., could be physically ready to compete.

"How fast can we get him there mentally, that'll be the big challenge, and can we get him playing fast?" Leonhard said.

There’s also Zachman, but he did not participate during the open practices.

Wisconsin already utilized players at cornerback this spring at the safety spots. Leonhard called out Alexander Smith, currently a first-team candidate, as a player who would be the most ready due to his past experience and working within the slot nickel spot.

The defensive coordinator also referred to Justin Clark as another potential candidate. He confirmed that true freshman Avyonne Jones, redshirt freshman Al Ashford III and Kentucky transfer Cedrick Dort Jr. received snaps at safety this spring.

Leonhard also admitted the potential to dip into the portal to bolster the depth when asked if there is a balance between moving players to another position and looking beyond the roster.

"That is a real possibility at this point that we may have to look at that direction, because it is," Leonhard said. "You're trying to balance out overall well being of the team and the defense. We know we have guys that can do it. Is that the right thing to do? That's going to be our conversations coming out of the spring. It's not going to be in this next class of high school kids. We have who we have. We talked about Austin.

"So it's a possibility. I think we're gonna have to look into and just decide if that's the right thing to do."