Wisconsin's 2021 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.

Andy Vujnovich, a transfer from Division III Dubuque, was solid in his first season at Wisconsin. The fourth-year punter appeared in all seven games in 2020 and averaged 41.6 yards per punt on 34 attempts. He managed to pin opponents inside the 20-yard line on 13 occasions.

Vujnovich, who punted and place-kicked during his two years at Dubuque, topped his 2019 mark of 36.7 yards per punt. The first punt of his career with the Badgers in Week 1 against Illinois boomed for 60 yards, one of five such blasts that got to 50 yards or more.

Special teams coordinator Chris Haering mentioned Vujnovich has been working on catching the football.

"Andy probably wasn't as polished in the details of punting. Certainly ultra-talented and he's got a big leg," Haering told reporters during spring practices in April. "The thing that a lot of people don't understand with punting, and as I learn more about it, it's the catching of the snap. If you can be really clean with your hands - and Andy's worked extremely hard in the offseason on the jugs machine, getting a ton of snaps thrown to him - to have the confidence in your hands to minimize any of the movement of the ball when you get to your drop.

"You're going to see a big difference in him this year in just the comfort level back there catching the football."

Vujnovich has a big leg, but he will need to improve his consistency. He followed up his first punt as a Badger with an attempt that only went 36 yards. It was a similar story later in the year against Northwestern, when Vujnovich opened up the second half with a 34-yard punt, but then followed up that effort with kicks of 56 and 57 yards.

"My first punt as a Badger was pretty good. I know the next punt after that, I kind of got in my own head as I felt like I needed to match that," Vujnovich said. "I just got to remember to relax and just enjoy the moment and do the same thing and just not think about the past. The only thing that matters is the next kick and I just have to remember to do that because if I get in my own head, then I'm fighting a two-way battle. So just being relaxed and focusing on the next kick and just trusting the process that I know I can do."

Wisconsin is hoping Vujnovich won't see the field much this season. But even with some inconsistencies, he has proven to be a weapon for the defense.

During a season where UW's offense struggled, Vujnovich, who went on scholarship this offseason, did what he could to help out the defense by flipping field position. In a first half against Iowa where the offense went three-and-out on five of their first seven drives, Vujnovich managed to pin the Hawkeyes inside the 20 three times, and their average starting field position was at the 18-yard line.

With two years of eligibility remaining, Vujnovich can stabilize the position at Wisconsin. At 6-foot-3, 237 pounds, he has showcased a big leg and with some work on his consistency, Vujnovich can become a big plus for the special teams unit this season.