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

Tight end Zander Neuville was amidst a breakout season of sorts (11 starts, 9 catches, 81 yards, 2 TDs) until he suffered a season-ending leg injury against Minnesota on Nov. 25. Despite his player development, he has been the second option behind former UW teammate and TE Troy Fumagalli, who led UW in receptions each of the past two seasons. Yet, with Fumagalli's departure to the NFL, Wisconsin will likely turn to the fifth-year senior for production.

Although Neuville isn't a top receiving option like Fumagalli, his [Neuville] 2018 impact largely rests in his pass-blocking abilities. Neuville was a strong run blocker when he saw the field in his 12 games, which can be traced back to his time at Waupaca High School (where he led team with 99 tackles in nine games as a senior).

As a Badger, Neuville created open field for the Wisconsin tailbacks. When healthy, Neuville provides an impressive blocking ability and receiving option for the Badger offense. With Fumagalli's absence, the Badgers will benefit greatly if Neuville repeats success as a blocker and finds success as a receiving option. Should Neuville exceed expectations of both goals, the UW offense will become extremely unpredictable in third-down sets.

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This First-team All America (AFCAA) player started all 14 games for Wisconsin and was part of a unit that allowed just 1.5 sacks in 2017.

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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