Spring practice is firmly in the rear-view mirror and official visit season is just about to heat up. It's an interesting time in the college football calendar, as on one hand recruiting takes center stage while visits and commitments fly like bullets, and on the other hand, team news cools down considerably.

We won't see the Badgers again until they take the field for fall camp in Platteville at the start of August. But we've seen plenty already this offseason, enough to award superlatives for both sides of the ball as summer conditioning draws nearer.

We'll kick things off with the offense:

Last season, ex-offensive coordinator Phil Longo's rushing attack was a sorry excuse for one, especially at a program that prides itself on being "RBU" and "O-line U." He called the wrong runs at the wrong times. He practically refused to run from under center, even in short-yardage situations. Once his starting quarterback went down, he either refused to allow or simply didn't instruct (either is an inditement) his backup quarterback to pull the ball out of tailbacks' guts on handoffs that would typically be options, rendering those concepts useless.

Wisconsin's painfully inept running game last season should now be its biggest strength. New play-caller Jeff Grimes deploys a pro-style running game — you'd better believe he runs the ball from under center, and quite frequently at that. He also threatens defenses with sweeps and motions across the formation with speedy wideouts, of which the Badgers have a handful (Jayden Ballard, Vinny Anthony and Trech Kekahuna come to mind). The quarterback is also heavily involved in the ground game, from options to designed keeper concepts like QB Power. Wisconsin will have a variety of ways to run the football this fall, as well as a variety of players to run the ball with. It will be a far cry from Longo's painfully predictable ground game.

The left tackle situation is a close second. After Kevin Heywood's season-ending ACL injury, the Badgers' starting left tackle spot is up for grabs with no clear frontrunner and no Big Ten experience waiting in the wings.

That's obviously a big blow for this offense, but unless Wisconsin replaces Heywood with a literal turnstyle, sub-par play at left tackle isn't what's going to doom this unit. That might be the case if the rest of the roster was absolutely loaded, but the Badgers have other problems for Grimes to contend with.

Namely, a lack of star power. Not just by national recognition, but by ability. Take a look at Billy Edwards Jr. He's a solid, veteran quarterback who appears to fit the system well. But would you call him an elite quarterback in the Big Ten? Would you even put him in the top half of gunslingers in the conference?

Go down the offensive depth chart, and the same problem persists. There's good, capable players at each position, and not a lot of (at least proven) special ability.

Wisconsin needs multiple big, breakout seasons on this side of the ball. At most positions, I believe the talent is there. But can it find the perfect marriage of scheme and opportunity to take this unit to the next level? We'll see.

Vinny Anthony took major strides last season, reeling in 39 catches for 672 yards and four touchdowns. He emerged as one of the better deep threats in the conference, and put his high-end speed on display throughout the year. And on an offense that, again, lacks that extra something, Anthony could be a special talent.

The wideout looked more polished as a receiver this spring, and that's exactly how he can take his game to the next level. If he can evolve from primarily a vertical threat to a player who also threatens defenses with his route-running and hands, he'll be extremely dangerous.

This is a fairly obvious one. There were other significant question marks before the Badgers' starting left tackle was lost for the season, but Heywood's injured ACL has left a 6-foot-8, 325-pound-sized hole in Wisconsin's offense front at arguably the most important position.

There are a handful of options to replace him, none of which are all that appealing. One is kicking the starting left guard, Joe Brunner, out to tackle. Another is to insert the extremely inexperienced Leyton Nelson into that spot. A third is to insert a player who didn't exactly tear up the MAC in Central Michigan transfer Davis Heinzen.

How Wisconsin approaches this is anyone's guess. We'll know more in the summer, but this is undoubtedly the biggest question mark for Grimes' unit.

A late-spring injury to Darrion Dupree opened the door for Dilin Jones to dominate the RB1 reps in camp, but he may have secured that role regardless. Jones is a decisive one-cut tailback in the mold of a Chez Mellusi — just subtract a touch of that breakaway speed the latter had and replace it with added physicality.

Jones seems to perfectly understand the type of back Grimes' offense needs. He doesn't dance around, looking for creases. He hits holes with authority and doesn't shy away from contact. With just 16 carries for 88 yards in his true freshman season, Jones didn't get a chance to show what he can do. Dupree was the coaching staff's favorite. With a new offensive braintrust in town, he should receive all of the carries he can handle.

Here's a verbatim snippet from my notes watching Wisconsin practice this spring:

"Ballard jet sweep...yes please. Gets edge easily."

Anthony's speed gets talked about a lot, and Kekahuna has that short-area quickness and twitch that lends itself to getting open from the slot. But in terms of straight-line speed, Ballard may be the fastest player on the team. Hence, the most dangerous.

The former Buckeye didn't get a chance to shine in Columbus while buried behind an assembly line of future NFL stars. He'll get his chance in Madison this fall. His blazing speed was made apparent early, but couple that with good size (6-foot-2) and hands, and Ballard has all of the traits to become a dangerous receiver.

The coaching staff appears to have taken note of this as well, given his aforementioned involvement in the running game. He's the kind of player who needs a handful of plays each game specifically designed to get him the ball in space.

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