MADISON -- Fourteen practices into his college football career, true freshman Keeanu Benton finds himself in a promising position.

With depth at nose tackle thin outside of projected starter Bryson Williams, Benton has consistently worked with the second-team defensive line this fall.

While the former Janesville (WI) Craig standout has found himself in the two-deep, he's also had to quickly digest what is being asked of him at the position. Physically, Benton boasts impressive ability, but according to defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, he is also "a little bit of a puppy dog."

"He's trying to figure out where his body is at times, but he's a strong powerful, athletic kid," Leonhard said on Monday. "[He's] doing some really nice things for us. He's got to expand his knowledge. It's still early in camp. He's 11 practices in to college football, so he's having some ups and downs, but physically he's impressive at times."

At 6-foot-4 and 315 pounds, Benton appears to have the frame to support the grind on the interior of the defensive line. As a first-year player, however, he pointed to three areas he needs to work on: pad level, staying low and continuing to train in the weight room.

“The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is definitely staying low because these guys, they’re good at getting their hands on you," Benton said on Thursday. "Just playing bigger guys in high school, I was kind of out-muscling a lot of people, but now it’s more technique and getting off the ball fast.

"Quick feet, quick hands and staying inside. It’s more technique right now.”

Keeping proper pad level can be difficult for Benton when he tries to play fast. As he admitted, he tends to stand up sometimes, which can lead to trouble.

“These bigger guys, if I stand up, I’m going down, so staying low will help me keep my ground more," Benton said. "We’ve been working in the shoots and just focusing on me staying low and getting my feet quick as I stay low basically.”

Benton pointed to Williams as a player who has taken him under his proverbial wing. The latter enters his second year at Wisconsin in a prominent role on the line after receiving significant game time experience last season after Olive Sagapolu's injury against Northwestern.

The first-year defensive lineman credits Williams in helping him get to the point he is at as they watch film together.

"He tells me stuff that could happen on the blocks," Benton said of Williams. "He really helped me get to where I’m at right now. My progress has been real fast because of him.”

Benton's even receiving advice from across the line of scrimmage from a former defensive lineman. The words of wisdom, once again:

Stay. Low.

"Kayden Lyles, sometimes he’ll hit me on the scoop block," Benton said, "and he’ll be like, 'you got to stay low on that,' because he played defensive line so he knows both sides basically.”

A former three-star recruit, Benton not only captured all-state honors on the football field from the AP in 2018, he also was a two-time WIAA Division 1 state wrestling runner-up in the 285-pound class as a junior and senior.

Former and current Badgers who finished their prep careers with distinguished wrestling backgrounds include fullbacks Alec Ingold and Mason Stokke, and Benton believes that background has "definitely come in handy" in his progression as a college football defensive lineman.

In fact, he acknowledged he used a wrestling move on a player during Monday's scrimmage.

“Just an under-hook and a flat face, and I just threw him," Benton said.

On Wisconsin's National Signing Day page for the 2019 class, Benton was initially listed at 290 pounds. The lineman noted he did not work out as much in high school but now at UW, he has been eating right and getting in the weight room.

According to Benton, he has been told that he has the capability of being on the travel squad this season. That would be a big step for any player to make in his first season.

With Wisconsin's lack of depth at nose tackle and if Benton continues his progression, that could certainly be a possibility. Redshirt senior walk-on Gunnar Roberge has been out for the last four practices open to the media with a right arm injury. If an ailment derails Williams, Leonhard could always slide redshirt junior defensive end Garrett Rand back in to nose tackle, a position he played his first two years in Madison.

Though Roberge's injury could have accelerated the coaching staff's push for the true freshman for a potential role in the season ahead, Leonhard also mentioned that "all those young guys you’re pushing quickly just to see."

"You never know," Leonhard said. "You have to find out in a very short period of time what you can get him to understand and execute.

"That goes for that whole freshman class, really. The guys that just got in town, it’s a lot for them. Which one of those guys does the game slow down a little bit? Which one of those guys, do they just play and play with confidence? I think he’s showing he can do that in certain situations and obviously that’s going to help him compete.”