As Luke Fickell's third act in Madison draws closer, BadgerBlitz.com will break down Wisconsin's roster position-by-position ahead of spring camp, which is slated to take place from March 13 to April 24.
BadgerBlitz.com is once again expected to watch any open practices available for reporters to attend. Thus, our position previews continue Wednesday with the offensive line, a unit entering year two under position coach AJ Blazek.
ROSTER OVERVIEW
Wisconsin loses two starters from its offensive line but returns its starting center (Jake Renfro), right tackle (Riley Mahlman) and left guard (Joe Brunner). All told, the Badgers return 2,542 snaps from last fall.
Of the returnees, Mahlman is likely the best of the bunch. In 2024, he allowed a career-high 19 pressures, per Pro Football Focus, but that only translated into two sacks and across 405 pass-blocking snaps, that's a pressure rate of less than 5 percent. That'll play. Getting Malhman to return for his fifth-year senior season was enormous for this offensive front.
Renfro returned to action after missing the entire 2023 regular season and did a solid job at center. Like Mahlman, he was a good pass-blocker but struggled to consistently move bodies in the running game. Regardless, his return for a sixth-year senior season is massive as well, as a veteran presence and communicator at center is so critical for the collective performance of an offensive line.
Brunner became a full-time starter last fall, and performed very similarly to the rest of the offensive line: he was lights out in pass protection, not allowing a single sack across 411 pass-blocking snaps, but he didn't move many bodies as a run-blocker. The Badgers would pull Brunner from time to time to spark their running game, and it'll be interesting to see if that's a tactic new offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes — who played offensive line himself — subscribes to.
That leaves left tackle and right guard as the two starting spots up for grabs, and the primary candidates before spring practice kicks off are Kevin Heywood and JP Benzschawel, respectively.
Heywood played 57 snaps at left tackle last fall, the second-most on the team at the blindside tackle spot behind starter Jack Nelson. That included an extended 35 snaps against Purdue, where he didn't allow a pressure across 14 pass-blocking snaps. In fact, Heywood allowed just one pressure across 50 pass-blocking snaps across the entire season. The highest-rated recruit in Wisconsin's 2024 recruiting class has a bright future, and looks slated to slide into the starting role this spring.
Benzschwel, meanwhile, will be a redshirt senior this fall. He played a career-high 58 snaps last season, the majority of which came at right guard. He has the seniority and the experience to where he's clearly the top choice at right guard.
The Badgers have depth on the offensive line past the starters, but most of it is on the younger side. After the aforementioned five projected starters, Wisconsin has super senior Kerry Kodanko (21 career snaps), redshirt junior Barrett Nelson (19 career snaps), senior Leyton Nelson (27 career snaps), four walk-ons and a whopping nine freshman (four of whom redshirted last season). Of those five true freshmen, only three will enroll early, however: Hardy Watts, Nolan Davenport and Michael Roeske.
One question heading into spring practices: How much competition is there at the open spots?
Of the two spots along the offensive line that don't return a starter, both appear to have a clear candidate to fill them. As mentioned, Heywood (left tackle) and Benzschawel (right guard) should be the runaway favorites at their respective positions.
Still, who could challenge each player? Let's offer some names for each position. Starting at left tackle, players other than Heywood that figure to have a shot include: 1) Barrett Nelson, 2) Leyton Nelson and 3) Emerson Mandell.
Barrett has exclusively played tackle during his career in Madison, and has the seniority as a redshirt junior to feasibly be one of the first reserve tackles off the bench. Leyton figures to be a candidate as well for the same reasons.
Mandell, meanwhile — a fellow Rivals250 recruit in the 2024 class — has the size to play tackle, but he appears more likely to crack the two-deep at guard.
At right guard, the candidates include 1) Mandell, 2) Colin Cubberly, 3) Kodanko and 4) Ryan Cory.
Cubbery and Cory are redshirt freshmen who played a handful of snaps each at guard last season. The senior Kodanko, meanwhile, has just 21 career snaps but could also be Renfro's backup at center.
Player to watch this spring: Kevin Heywood
It's often hard to evaluate the play in the trenches during spring ball without full pads, but it'll be hard to take ones eyes off Heywood this spring.
For one, you can't miss him. He's an absolute unit at a listed 6-foot-8, 325 pounds, and that was last season — how does he look after a full year with strength coach Brady Collins?
It also goes without saying that left tackle is one of the most critical positions on the entire team. Jack Nelson gave the Badgers rock solid if not dominant play at that spot for three years. There's certainly room for improvement, but the floor is also pretty high. Can Heywood raise the bar at the position?
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