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.

Will Pauling is one of many ex-Bearcats on the roster, having originally joined Cincinnati as a member of their 2021 class.

The three-star recruit earned 11 offers out of high school, mostly from mid-major schools, but eventually chose Cincinnati after bonding with their coaching staff.

“Most importantly for me was the relationships I've been able to build with Cincinnati. Coach (Mike) Brown and Coach Gino (Guidugli) are like family to me. I talk to them almost daily and they just made me feel wanted and needed at Cincinnati from the very beginning,” Pauling told EdgyTim.com after committing.

“Coach Fickell is a great guy as well and I just like where the football program is heading at Cincinnati. Cincinnati recruited me as an inside slot receiver and they also feel I can play some outside receiver as well along with playing on special teams."

He ultimately chose Cincinnati because of the relationships he built with the coaches, so it wasn’t surprising when he was one of the first players to follow them to Madison.

Not to mention, Pauling only caught 13 passes for 128 receiving yards over his two seasons as a Bearcat. He was ready for a change.

Pauling was brought in alongside three other transfer receivers — Bryson Green, C.J. Williams and Quincy Burroughs — all of whom are bigger and arguably superior athletes.

So how did he separate himself? By literally separating himself. It became clear within the first month or two of the season that Pauling was the only receiver who could consistently get open.

It took a few weeks for Pauling to emerge, but when he did, there was no more ambiguity over who the top receiver was. He was targeted 19 times over the first four games, then 41 over the next four, according to Pro Football Focus.

“It’s not easy making a trip to a new school, a new environment, a new community. I feel like, although my situation was a little bit different from other transfer student athletes, I got to come to a coaching staff that knew me and I knew them and at the same time in a new place with a lot of new faces and not really knowing guys on the team,” Pauling said during the spring.

“It was a struggle for me a bit at first. It was just a lot of prayer and talking to my family and talking to God and that helped me feel a bit more at home. Obviously, when you go out there and make plays, playing ball and having fun, that plays a big part.”

His one flaw is right there in his bio — he’s 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds. It’s not rare for smaller receivers to be great or immensely successful. But if the offense is going to revolve around him, he better be able to withstand the physical toll.

Pauling is a superb athlete, fits in the system and has already proven himself as a #1 receiver.

So what else is there?

“The next step is leadership. Bringing people along with him, you know,” receivers coach Kenny Guiton said during the spring.

“He’s always upstairs. I told him he ought to be on the payroll for us because he’s always upstairs, just working and wanting the next step.”

Pauling has also asserted himself as the emotional leader of the room. Whenever he caught a big pass during spring camp, he would almost always yell, dance, pound his chest, or all of the above.

There were multiple spring practice days where he was hardly even used, only due to the fact that there’s nothing more he must prove to the coaches. They know exactly what they’re getting out of him.

Pauling’s emergence and rise might be the standout story of the Fickell era so far. He went from an unproven rotation receiver to arguably the second-best player on the team in less than a year.

But when looking back on Pauling’s path to this point, it makes perfect sense. He’s had a relationship with the coaching staff for years, was the only consistent receiving threat last season and has done everything the coaches have asked of him, at a high level.

All signs point to Pauling becoming the offense’s stand-out weapon for the upcoming season. He has everything it takes to lead an offense, but we’ll see how comfortable he is stepping into such a lofty role when the actual season comes around.

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