MADISON – Falling short of championship expectations in 2021, the University of Wisconsin looks to return to the top of the Big Ten West Division.

The Badgers will have some familiar faces on offense but will have some work to do to improve a unit that has averaged less than 26 points per game the last two seasons. Wisconsin’s defense was No.1 in the country last season in total yardage and against the run, but the Badgers must replace eight starters. UW also is dealing with changes to its special teams and has revamped its coaching staff.

All of it breathes excitement (and some nervous energy) leading into the season opener against FCS opponent Illinois State at Camp Randall Stadium (6 p.m./FS1).

With Wisconsin beginning fall camp later this month, BadgerBlitz.com begins its position-by-position breakdown of the fall roster. We continue our analysis with the offensive line.

Fall Previews: Quarterbacks | Running backs and fullbacks | Wide Receivers | Tight Ends |

Wisconsin entered the offseason needing to replace two senior starters, not an overly tough task for a program that routinely recruits high-caliber offensive linemen. As a result, the Badgers exited spring with a solid starting first team of left tackle Jack Nelson, left guard Tyler Beach, center Tanor Bortolini, right guard Michael Furtney and right tackle Logan Brown.

Bortolini has played in games at left guard, center, right guard and right tackle in the last two years and could compete with Joe Tippmann. After playing in two games as a redshirt freshman, Tippmann started 11 games last season before he missed the bowl game and the enter spring.

The second-team offensive line throughout camp was redshirt freshman Riley Mahlman at left tackle, sophomore Dylan Barrett, and redshirt freshman J.P. Benzschawel at left guard, senior Cormac Sampson at center (decided to leave the program in mid-July), sophomore Trey Wedig at right guard, and redshirt freshman Nolan Rucci at right tackle.

Sophomore walk-ons Kerry Kodanko and Sean Timms, freshman Barrett Nelson (mid-year enrollee), and four-star freshman Joe Brunner round out the group.

While a lot of uncertainty will need to be deciphered in Wisconsin’s offense during fall camp, the first-team offensive line – barring injury – should be well set outside of right tackle. When healthy, Wisconsin appears poised to start Nelson at left tackle, Beach at left guard, Tippmann at center, Furtney at guard, and Brown at right tackle, though Bortolini could work there, if needed.

It’s a shuffle of sorts, considering Nelson worked at right guard last season and Beach at left tackle, but offensive line coach Bob Bostad – who moved back to coaching the position from inside linebackers this offseason after Joe Rudolph’s departure to Virginia Tech – stuck guys in one spot and got after it.

“I love the group I had before (at inside linebacker), but kind of this is my passion,” Bostad said. “What do we have to do to get it back to -- I don't want to be one of those guys that sit there and go, 'You know what, I'm going to change the culture.' The culture is good here. The work ethic is good here, there's a lot of super good things here. We've got good players.

"I just need to make sure that they're really squared away, and we're doing the best things to put them in position to have success."

The move for Nelson to tackle is more natural for the 6-7, 300-pounder, who plays with exceptional leverage, speed, and quickness for someone his size. It’s a position he played at Stoughton (Wis.) High, where he became the Joe Thomas Award winner as the state’s top senior offensive lineman and a 2020 All-American Bowl honoree.

Moving Beach to the interior will strengthen the line, in part because the senior started last season injured and was exposed against top competition early in Wisconsin’s schedule. Beach still had a productive season, earning third-team All-Big Ten honors and gave the position a boost when he delayed his professional career to return for one more season.

“He still has good size and good movement and all those things,” Bostad said of moving Beach to guard. “He's smart. He's dependable, and I just think it will take a little bit off of him. That's a stressful spot out there, and just to take a little bit off of him right there.”

With the left side of the line fortified, Bostad remade the right side with long-time backup Furtney replacing Nelson and the highly-touted Brown replacing departed senior Logan Bruss. Furtney has appeared in 31 career games for the Badgers with just two starts while Brown has played in 20 games as a reserve.

“He got a lot of reps, and there's times they were good reps,” head coach Paul Chryst said of Brown. “Then there's times where 'OK, you got to be better than that.' Logan is a perfect example. What are you gonna take from spring and how can you work out in the summer? Then when fall comes, all right, where are we at with it? Again, I'm excited. It means something to him. He works at it, and so this is a starting point, but they're all steps you got to take. No guy on this team can just (say), 'All right, spring's over. I'm just going to get myself in shape and be ready to go for fall.'”

Despite the growth of Bortolini over the spring, it’s a safe bet that Tippmann will be the starting center if he’s healthy this fall. After all, Pro Football Focus graded Tippmann with an 85.1, the highest among the listed first-team line on Wisconsin's depth chart. In reality, Bortolini is a versatile interior weapon for Bostad considering the junior has seen game reps at right tackle, left guard, and center in his UW career. He also worked at both interior spots at times during spring.

Mahlman was the beneficiary of some first-team reps at left tackle during some practices, a sign of how highly Bostad views his potential. Wedig and Benzschawel also received some cross-training work during the spring, with the former getting some left tackle reps and the latter working at both guard positions. While Bostad kept his first-team line mostly in one spot, he appeared more apt to test the younger players to find where their strongest footing was.

Rucci projects to be the next big NFL-caliber lineman in Wisconsin’s program, as the 6-foot-8 lineman worked mostly at left and right tackle on the scout team as a redshirt. He has a good chance to crack the two-deep this season at one of the tackle spots.

Bostad is one of the best offensive line coaches in the nation (his track record of developing NFL offensive linemen back that up), so the Badgers should be in a good position to build some depth in the trenches. Wisconsin hasn’t gone through a season with the same starting five lineman in each game since 2014. Sampson had the only career starts of those who were on the second-team line in the spring (three at center, two at blocking tight end, and one at guard) but he decided to leave the program to focus on his master’s degree in educational administration, leaving the depth at the interior positions even thinner.

There should be opportunities for Bostad to work players into the rotation against Illinois State, New Mexico State, and, possibly, Washington State this September. If the young talent he’s growing performs admirably, the strength of UW’s offense should become even greater.

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