Wisconsin's 2024 football season is right around the corner, so BadgerBlitz.com ranked the top 30 players who we think will be the keys to success for Luke Fickell's squad this year.

Playing time, past performance and positional depth all factored into our staff rankings.

Bryson Green came to Wisconsin as part of its winter portal class in 2023 at the onset of the Fickell era. He was the fourth receiver to transfer to the Badgers following Will Pauling, Quincy Burroughs and CJ Williams.

While in the portal, Green heard from Ole Miss and Auburn, among other schools. Coming out of high school, the receiver was ranked 64th in the nation at his position and listed 22 offers from all over the country such as Texas, Washington and Michigan State.

"I would say the atmosphere at Wisconsin," Green said last fall camp when asked why he chose the Badgers. "I'm from Woodbury, Minnesota, moved to Dallas, Texas. Did high school at Allen. Just being up here, my brother went to Minnesota, I know the rivalry, I know the mentality. And then on top of that, coach Fick coming here, and then coach (Phil) Longo and coach (Mike) Brown."

When Green came to Wisconsin after putting up a 36-catch, 584-yard, five-touchdown season at Oklahoma State as a sophomore, there was an expectation that he would immediately become the Badgers' go-to deep threat and jump-ball guru. While he still finished as Wisconsin's second-leading receiver with 480 yards and two touchdowns, there's a sense that Green left a lot of meat on the bone last fall.

Now, the Badgers offense was far from explosive in Longo's debut season, and Green was undoubtably a victim of that circumstance. Still, it was puzzling to see a player who was so explosive just a season ago in Stillwater be relatively bottled up for much of the year. Green's yards-per-target dropped from 8.6 in 2022 to 6.7 in 2023, and he was regularly a non-factor in the offense with games of two catches for six yards, two catches for 14 yards and so on.

With his size and physical play-style, Green was also expected to be Wisconsin's go-to man in jump-ball situations. After reeling in nine contested catches in 2022, Green only pulled down three in 2023, according to Pro Football Focus. His contested catch win rate also dropped from 50 percent to 20 percent.

Ultimately, Green was very serviceable if not spectacular last season. He certainly flashed his elite traits, like when he mossed Iowa cornerback Cooper DeJean for a 42 yard gain early in the battle for the Heartland Trophy. The Badgers need Green to create plays like that consistently and stress the perimeter as an outside receiver.

In his final year of eligibility, Green figures to start as one of Wisconsin's outside receivers. The Badgers will rely on him to make plays on the perimeter and give defenses another weapon to worry about alongside Pauling in the slot. At the height of his game, Green can stretch the field by out-muscling defensive backs and pulling down 50/50 balls, two things Wisconsin desperately needs to add to its offense this season in order to create more splash plays.

It'll be interesting to see how quickly Green can build rapport with presumed starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke. It'll also be interesting to see if now that defenses are privy to the havoc Pauling can wreck underneath, Green can take advantage of what should be plenty of one-on-one matchups on the outside.

Pauling is going to be Wisconsin's volume receiver and target hog, but it's feasible that Green should finish as the Badgers' second-leading receiver again this fall. The question becomes if he can return to making big plays on a relatively consistent basis like his Oklahoma State days. With another year to marinate in Longo's offense, that's a reasonable proposition.

Green missed the final two games of the regular season, but turned in an excellent performance in the ReliaQuest Bowl against LSU, reeling in seven catches for 105 yards and a touchdown. What's more, Pauling also recorded eight catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns in that game. It was easily the best game of the season for both players, and if that game was a preview of how those two receivers can operate on the field together in 2024, this passing attack could be incredibly exciting.

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