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 / 23: BEAU BENZSCHAWEL / 22: AARON VOPAL / 21: SCOTT NELSON / 20: CAESAR WILLIAMS / 19: TYLER BIADASZ / 18: KYLE PENNISTON/ 17. A.J. TAYLOR / 16. DANNY DAVIS III / 15. ZANDER NEUVILLE / 14. DAVID EDWARDS / 13. ZACK BAUN / 12. ISAIAHH LOUDERMILK / 11. RYAN CONNELLY / 10. MICHAEL DEITER / 9. OLIVE SAGAPOLU / 8. COLE VAN LANEN / 7. ANDREW VAN GINKEL
In 2017, cornerback Dontye Carriere-Williams (5-foot-10, 185 pounds) took a substantial role as a member of the Wisconsin secondary, so much so that he played in all 14 games with five starts. The Florida native's most notable performance last fall occurred against BYU (Sept. 16), when he finished with a career-best eight tackles and his first interception.
Although Carriere-Williams failed to match a similar stat-line during the remainder of the season, the now-redshirt sophomore learned from and took careful reps alongside Derrick Tindal and Nick Nelson. Now, it is his [Carriere-Williams] turn to play an integral role on a mostly fresh-faced group of defensive backs.
In 2017, Carriere Williams saw time in the nickel spot, mostly as the third cornerback. Yet, this season will be a significant change of pace because he is now the go-to option.
Up Next
This senior inside linebacker brings 254 career tackles and 39 starts back to Madison for his final season in 2018.
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Jonathan Mills covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @therealJMlLLS
