Wisconsin's 2022 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 Paul Chryst's squad this year.

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

Tanor Bortolini, arguably the most versatile lineman on Wisconsin's roster, has played center, guard and tackle during his time in Madison. This past season, the redshirt sophomore competed in 10 games and earned five starts - three coming at right tackle in relief of an injured Logan Bruss and the other two at left guard. Bortolini totaled 329 snaps in 2021 with a grade of 87.0, according to Pro Football Focus.

With Joe Tippmann out this spring, Bortolini took reps with the first-team offense at center. When Tippmann returns, Bortolini could slide over to guard or tackle, and he will likely also serve as the backup center with Cormac Sampson no longer a part of the program. Sampson had been working with the second-team line at center during camp.

“Ideally I’d like to have him as an interior guy. Still like to whittle that down but the whole reason that started is because Tipp (Tippmann) is not available,” offensive line coach Bob Bostad said of Bortolini’s role. “Cormac Sampson is getting second team reps and did a fine job for us in the past. I just want to have another guy ready. I don’t want to run into these problems where we are really light at that position. That can’t happen. It’s only going to help Tanor.”

Due to his versatility, Bortolini has been asked to step in and handle multiple positions. During spring ball, Bortolini mentioned his responsibility to learn the nuances and techniques of each different spot. Would he better better suited at just one spot?

“In meetings I’m paying attention to what technique he (Bostad) tells the guards to use, tells the tackles to use and just making a mental note that, 'hey, if I have to bump to one of these spots, this is the technique I would use against this, this and this,'” Bortolini said.

Bortolini is expected to hand over the role at center to Tippmann when he’s cleared. But as one of the best five linemen on the roster, Bortolini will likely have a starting spot this fall. Where the 6-foot-4, 304 pounder lines up when camp opens, however, will like come down to the play of Logan Brown during fall camp. If Brown can take a stranglehold of his position at right tackle, the best alignment could put Bortolini at right or left guard. If not, Bostad may be forced to move Bortolini outside where he made some spot starts in 2021.

“I feel comfortable playing wherever. I’ve played a little bit of everywhere over the past two seasons. Wherever he sees me fit, I’m more than happy to play,” Boroilini told reporters in the spring. “I just want to get on the field and have the opportunity to play with our group this year. I think we’ll be a really talented offense - really explosive and really looking forward to.”

With Bostad returning to his role as offensive line coach after four seasons with the inside linebackers, he inherited a group that included a number of highly-touted prospects such as Jack Nelson, Nolan Rucci, Trey Wedig, Riley Mahlman and Joe Brunner. Bortolini, who is right up there with that mentioned talent, has turned himself into a valuable piece during his time at UW. Overall, Bortolini's versatility makes him one of the most important players for Wisconsin's success this fall.

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