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.

At the conclusion of the 2021 season, Chimere Dike became the most experienced wide receiver Alvis Whitted's room. Veterans Danny Davis, Kendric Pryor and Jack Dunn departed the program after multiple years of consistent playing time. To this point, Dike has looked every bit like a No. 1 wide receiver. This spring, the 6-foot-1, 194-pound wide out connected with Graham Mertz on a number of long balls.

The Waukesha (WI) native saw the field immediately during his freshman season in 2020 and built on that experience in 2021, tallying 272 yards on 19 receptions. Dike has the ability to work at each position in different formations with Whitted calling him a "Swiss Army Knife."

"He does everything. He's my Swiss army," Whitted said in the spring. "He can do it all. I love his football intelligence, I love his tenacity. He's going to find ways to get open and exploit the defense and that's what you want a guy to do, but he also has the size and understands the game enough, understands coverage, understands where the holes are. He knows how to get open, so I trust him in that regard."

With 20 games and two seasons of experience, the game has slowed down for the junior receiver. Dike's continued progress with revolve around the details in his route running and ability to get open.

"Just being able to use different tricks and different tools to get open more often," Dike said of what he was working on in the spring. "Being more creative in my routes, being more definitive. Just being a more complete receiver is what I've been focusing on in the spring."

Dike has proven what he can do at game speed and should become a reliable No. 1 option. But the depth behind him, while promising, has yet to consistently turn in production in game. The challenge for Dike this season will be what it looks like as a top pass catcher. Can he be someone who works through double teams if necessary? Can he take over a game?

"I'm very confident in what I can do going into this season, but I'm super excited about the guys in the room, the depth that we have. Guys like Skyler (Bell), Markus (Allen), K-Lew (Keontez Lewis), Dean (Engram), Steph (Bracey), even Haakon Anderson has done a lot of good things," Dike said. "I think that if we continue to work, continue to push each other, we can be really good."

With Wisconsin lacking a true top option since Quintez Cephus left for the NFL, Dike is looking to fill that role and help Mertz, whether that's coming down with contested balls or becoming available consistently on in-breaking routes. If Dike can elevate his game, it would go a long way toward bouncing back from a pair of down years for the program. Off the field, Whitted noticed the junior "inherit" a leadership role in the room and on the team.

"I feel like I've been a leader in some ways for a while now just by the way I approach things, but maybe being the older guy I did feel that difference when I came back for winter workouts not having the older guys in the room," Dike said. "I was also prepared for it just by the way they showed me to be a leader and stuff that I've developed over the years, so I'm excited. We've got a really good group of guys and it makes it really easy to be the older guy in the room."

During the spring, one could see glimpses of an offense that deployed more formations with four or five receivers on the field and more of an inclination to throw the ball. The offense should open the door for greater opportunities for the pass catchers. At the top of the list should be Dike.

"I think it's evolved a lot," Dike said of the offense under coordinator Bobby Engram. "I think just the involvement and utilization of the receivers and really the pass game is improved. I just feel like there were a lot of things we were able to capitalize on this spring that maybe we hadn't as much in the past, and I'm really excited to see the kind of opportunities that it brings for our group."

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