Indianapolis, Ind. -- Another summer of conditioning has yielded big weight room gains for the Wisconsin football program

BadgerBlitz.com received some one-on-one time with the three Wisconsin student-athletes at Big Ten Media Days on Friday morning before their open podium times later in the afternoon.

One question was asked to cornerback Faion Hicks, tight end Jake Ferguson and inside linebacker Jack Sanborn involving their fellow teammates and the weight room.

Unsurprisingly, one name popped up in all three conversations, but more were named by two of the players in our brief chats.

On the team, who in the weight room surprised you or stood out to you?

I think we all know who that is. Braelon Allen. [laughs] That kid there is a beast, man. For a 17-year-old kid to come in and do the stuff he's doing, if he can translate that to the field, the sky's the limit for that kid, I promise.

Who stood out to you in the weight room in the summer?

Well one, Braelon Allen, 17-year-old kid who's a freak athlete, or freak weight lifter. Him [No.] 1.

But, I mean, a lot of guys, a lot of guys hit big PRs [personal records]. I had a lot of big PRs this year. I think it's something to do with training as a whole. Coach [Shaun] Snee did a lot of good stuff for us. We were running fast. [Tight end Jack] Eschenbach hit almost 22 miles an hour running. I hit 20, which [is] unheard of. I was usually like an 18 guy. [laughs]

But, yeah, I think a lot of guys. I almost can't even single out one guy, I mean, besides the Chenal brothers, who are just gross. [laughs] I think as a group, we just got stronger, faster and that's what we needed this offseason.

Who stood out to you in the weight room this summer?

I think you got to go with one of the guys that just lift all the weights. I think everyone is gonna say Braelon [Allen], but I never really got the chance to watch him work out because he was a freshman, so he was before me. But I've been watching his videos, absolutely insane. I can't imagine doing some of that stuff. [laughs]

But then, I mean, I'm gonna go with probably [defensive end] Matt Henningsen. Just a beast. Every kind of period of conditioning -- winter conditioning, summer conditioning -- it seems like you don't think he can get stronger, and then all of a sudden, it's like, 'Oh geez, OK, I was wrong.' [laughs]

"I think we have a number guys like that so, I mean, you could look all across the board, guys PR-ing and everything like that and all these different things. It's exciting."

The trio of Badgers -- along with their teammates and all of college athletics -- now face a new frontier with Name, Image and Likeness (NIL). Sanborn, who has led Wisconsin in tackles the past two seasons, stated that he does not have any deals at the moment. The upperclassman said he is taking it "a little slow" and that "there's not anything official right now."

Hicks, who has played in 33 career games entering his fifth season at UW, mentioned that he has not really been focused on NIL.

"Whatever comes my way, comes my way, but I haven't really paid too much attention to it because at the end of the day, if you're not winning games, it don't really matter," Hicks told BadgerBlitz.com with a laugh. "Nobody will ever even want to sponsor you or anything like that, but I haven't really paid too much attention to it."

Hicks stated that he does have one deal currently with Positivity Alkaline Water, which according to its website "is a proud product of StarWalker Industries, a minority owned bottled water manufacturer and distributor."

"A Black-owned business, that's pretty cool," Hicks said. "But other than that, it's been OK, but it's kind of cool to like have that option to control your own image and likeness and create things that you want to create and do things for yourself. That's a pretty awesome step in college football."

Ferguson enters his fifth year at Wisconsin and should be among the best tight ends at the very least within the Big Ten Conference after hauling in 99 receptions for 1,168 yards and 10 touchdowns in the past three seasons. However, he said that he has "nothing, nothing big or anything like that, but I think it's awesome."

"I think it's important that we finally [are] be able to control our own name and our own image," Ferguson said. "I think that's big for a lot of people. I think it's also big for some guys who may need a little extra money or just want a little extra money to make on the side, that they can.

"But I've said it before that it starts on the football field with the football players. We're not making plays, if we're not winning games, we're probably not making that much money. So I think first, it starts with us as football players playing football."

What has been the weirdest or most bombastic type of deal that Ferguson has seen so far?

"When you see those like million dollar ones, that's pretty crazy to me," he said. "I don't know, there's some crazy ones out there.

"I just like the Graham Mertz merch. It's what I'm all into now. I might get a couple shirts, so we'll see what happens."