Wisconsin's 2018 football season is right around the corner, so BadgerBlitz.com contributors Jon McNamara, John Veldhuis, Jon Gorman and Jonathan Mills ranked the Top 30 players who we think are the keys to success for Paul Chryst's squad this year.

Playing time, past performance and positional depth all factored in to our individual rankings, which were combined into a final score.

30: CHRIS JAMES / 29: ANTHONY LOTTI / 28: JAKE FERGUSON / 27: ALEC INGOLD / 26: BRYSON WILLIAMS / 25: MADISON CONE / 24: RAFAEL GAGLIANONE

This is where the rankings start to get a little more debatable. Beau Benzschawel is a more proven player than some of the names you'll see on the list over the coming days, but the depth along the offensive line pushed his ranking down a little bit.

Even still, Benzschawel will be a key part of Wisconsin's offensive line in 2018. This will be his fourth year as a starter for UW, and he's grown by leaps and bounds since joining the lineup on a regular basis in 2015. The move from right tackle to right guard was the correct one - he looks much more comfortable there than he did on the edge, and has developed into a mauler on the interior who has a chance to be a high draft pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Benzschawel had a little bit of buzz about his draft prospects last year too, but he elected to return to Wisconsin for his senior season instead. He's one part of what could be Wisconsin's best offensive line over the last few years

This redshirt freshman has yet to play in a game for the Badgers, but a few injuries at his position have boosted his stock over the summer - the coaching staff is going to lean heavily on him in fall camp.

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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.