MADISON, Wis. - After taking his one-year “internship” on the other side of the ball, Wisconsin’s Kayden Lyles is ready to make the switch back to the offensive line after getting a taste of his old position during the team’s bowl practices.

Lyles, a formerly highly touted offensive line prospect, switched to the defensive line over the summer to fill a big depth chart hole for the Badgers. Junior defensive end Garrett Rand had suffered a season-ending achilles injury, and sophomore end Isaiahh Loudermilk had an off-season knee surgery that left his status for Wisconsin’s non-conference slate in doubt - all in a season where the Badgers were looking to replace three multi-year starters at defensive end in Conor Sheehy, Alec James and Chikwe Obasih.

The Badgers needed someone to step in and fill the void. They settled on Lyles, who was coming off of a redshirt season in 2017 - but with returning starters above him at both guard spots and at center, his path to playing time was very narrow on the offensive line.

Moving him to defensive end would deny him a chance to get more practice reps in Wisconsin’s offense, but it would also give Lyles a perspective that not many offensive linemen have. In playing defensive end for a year, the Badgers hoped Lyles would get an idea of how defenses try and stop offenses - and that he would be able to use that extra edge to his advantage when he returned the offensive line meeting room.

For his part Lyles said he thinks he did pick up that extra perspective during his time with the defense in 2018 - and told reporters on Monday after practice that he has a better idea of how defenses try and stop the UW offense than he did before.

“I definitely feel what the defense is trying to do, especially in the middle of the play,” Lyles said Monday. “Feeling the technique that they’re trying to do and get to the ball and everything. That’s helped a lot. I just feel more comfortable on the offensive line. I feel like that is my natural position. I’m just playing and having fun right now.”

Lyles has been working at both guard and center with the offensive line during Wisconsin’s developmental bowl practices - but defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard said on Friday after practice that the plan is for Lyles to help out on defense in the team’s bowl game against Miami in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl before they let him go back to offense permanently.

But getting these extra reps in now should help Lyles get back up to speed on his offensive line technique - and Lyles said the team viewed these bowl practices as a chance to get him ready to go before spring ball next year, when he will likely be competing for one of the open spots on the line left behind by graduating seniors Michael Deiter and Beau Benzschawel.

“(I) kind of surprised myself,” Lyles said when asked how his first few days back on offense went. “I remembered a lot of footwork, technique and all of the plays and stuff.”

And more than just returning to his natural position, Lyles said getting back on to the offensive side of the ball fits better with how he likes to play the game - helping his team set the terms for a play, instead of reading and reacting to what the other team is doing.

“(On) offense you know exactly what you’re doing when you are walking up to the line,” Lyles said. “You know you have four other people working with you to get the play done and you also have someone behind you trying to score. Compared to defense, you’re always trying to react to what an offense is trying to do, so it was almost more of a react and know what you’re going to try and do compared to knowing what you’re going to do and react to what the defense is doing.”

With his unconventional internship coming to an end, Lyles sounds like a player who will be ready to show what he can do for the Badgers when he’s on the field at a position that feels like home to him.

“I love it,” Lyles said of playing on the offensive line. “It’s so much fun. Indy, one-on-ones, live reps, everything is enjoyable.”

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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.