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.

It feels like it was just yesterday that Chris James and Bradrick Shaw seemed locked in a battle to be Wisconsin's next No. 1 running back, taking over for Corey Clement. There was plenty of playing time up for grabs, and the better question seemed to be about who would see the field more between James, a former transfer from Pittsburgh, and Shaw.

Of course, Jonathan Taylor's breakout season changed all of that. But even though Taylor is virtually locked in to his role as Wisconsin's feature tailback, the Badgers will still need other running backs to step in and give him a breather - and produce when they are on the field.

James seems to us to be the best candidate for that No. 2 job at the moment. With Bradrick Shaw coming off of a season-ending injury last year, James could use this fall camp to solidify his role in Wisconsin's offense if he gets the chance.

James is certainly a talented running back - and injuries last year limited him to just 51 total carries in nine games. But he has the speed and vision to become a good chance of pace option for UW, and he has the pass catching chops to give the Badgers another option in the passing game on third downs - if Jonathan Taylor doesn't add that to his game as well, that is.

If he can avoid the injuries that held him back in 2017, look for James to give the Badgers another interesting option in their backfield during his senior season.

This specialist will be looking to take his game to the next level in his third year as a starter.

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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.