Fall camp starts for the 2019 edition of the Wisconsin Badgers on Aug 1. Some positions appear to have more depth than others heading into these upcoming practices, but each group will be called upon to lift up the team at key moments.

Now less than a week before fall camp, BadgerBlitz.com looks at one player per position group that we will keep particular tabs on for those eight-plus practices open to the media in August.

Let's start with the offense.

It feels likely that junior Jack Coan rightfully assumes snaps with the first-team when camp opens up. He did not hurt his chances in the spring, and in the final practice showed he could drive the ball downfield.

Who battles behind him? During Big Ten Media Days last week, head coach Paul Chryst gave a hint of what's to come at that position group.

“I think the first part of camp still gives you that opportunity," Chryst said to reporters on July 18. "Our camp will be set up where there’s really kind of four phases to it. The first one will be installation, so there’s really no sense in - you don’t try to manage the reps during that phase. They’re all getting used to it, they’re getting acclimatized to it all. They go from summer to ‘Alright, we’re playing football again.’

“Then the next two weeks are when you got to really go. Think that’s when the reps start changing. So you come out of spring and you got an idea, but you got to look for confirmation of it, I think in those first five practices.”

With all the hype surrounding Mertz - and the fact he held his own as a true freshman during spring ball - it will be worth monitoring his progression from April to August and how quickly he digests more of the playbook.

Junior Jonathan Taylor will receive the bulk of the carries this season once again, but who steps up behind him to assume the role of a now-departed back?

"Taiwan [Deal] gave us some really good snaps [last season], so does ‘Healthy Brad’ become Taiwan?," Chryst said. "'Grosh' doesn’t lose any carries, ‘JT’ doesn’t lose any. I thought Nakia [Watson] had a couple spring practices where like, ‘OK, this could be it.’

"Does ‘Grosh’ carry more? That’s where I think fall camp will help you answer it with some factual knowledge."

Bradrick Shaw did not play in 2018, and the redshirt senior has not been on the field after exiting Wisconsin's 2017 regular season finale at Minnesota with a leg injury. Can the Alabama native return to the form he held as a redshirt freshman in 2016, when he rushed for 457 yards and five touchdowns?

On July 19, Taylor told reporters he believes Shaw to be back to form.

"Before the injury, Bradrick Shaw was very strong, had good speed," Taylor said. "After his rehab where he's at right now, he looks even stronger and faster, so just seeing his progression between those two time periods has been fun to watch.

"I expect him to be back to the Bradrick Shaw you guys saw before.”

Senior A.J. Taylor put together a more-than-solid spring effort, but Danny Davis missed significant time during spring practices with a right leg injury.

Last season after returning from a two-game suspension, Davis led the team in receptions (40) and touchdown catches (five). However, his yards per catch between his freshman year (2017) to his sophomore campaign (2018) dropped from 16.1 to 10.4.

Whomever takes over at quarterback for Wisconsin will obviously play a critical role in how the passing attack progresses after a disappointing 2018 season. But Chryst noted how Davis and the Badgers' receiving targets need to become more steady.

“I think Danny’s kind of like the group, and A.J. might be a little ahead of the group," Chryst said on July 18. "I think they’ve got to be a group which is consistent enough and impacts it enough. They’ve all had their moments, but they need to, quite honestly, they need to take some pressure off of 'JT.' I think that’s where if we’re going to be a better offense, we’ve got to be able to do that.

"I say 'JT,' but really you’re talking about the line. If you put [tight end Jake Ferguson] into that group, you say who’s played? 'Ferg,' 'KP' [Kendric Pryor], Danny, A.J. and you need a couple more. Someone’s got to emerge, but that whole group has got to, I think, raise their level of play. They’ve all had their moments, great moments, but they got to be able to consistently be able to produce, and we got to help them.

"They want to. You like the group that way.”

This is a position where health will play a great role in the production of this position group, as Chryst admitted last week that "there's not great depth right now" at tight end.

Redshirt sophomore Jake Ferguson could be in line for an even bigger 2019 after a breakout performance last season. He was second in the team in catches (36), receiving yards (456) and touchdown receptions (four).

Yet both he and redshirt junior Luke Benzschawel missed time during the spring, as the latter did not practice in any practices in rehabbing from an injury.

Benzschawel played in 10 games last season with four starts in 2019. He could solidify the in-line tight end position to pair with Ferguson, who could then work within more of an H-back role in the offense.

“I think Ferg’s got to stay durable, and Luke didn’t do anything in the spring, so can we get something out of him?" Chryst said. "If you got that, then you’re in pretty good shape."

With injuries at the position, redshirt junior Gabe Lloyd stepped up in during spring ball with first-team reps. The walk-on from the Green Bay area appeared to provide solid reps but will also need to step up in his fourth year in the program.

Center Tyler Biadasz and left tackle Cole Van Lanen will return to the field for fall camp after missing spring ball. Those two positions are locked down, and redshirt sophomore Logan Bruss appears pegged to start at right tackle.

That leaves the interior guard positions up for grabs, with Kayden Lyles, Jason Erdmann, Josh Seltzner and David Moorman likely candidates to compete for the two spots on the first-team line. The latter might be the most intriguing and the most versatile of the group in his final year at UW. He played both tackle positions in the spring and can slide inside to play guard or be an emergency center.

In mid-April, Rudolph called out with prompt Moorman's performance was the best for a lineman during the spring to that point.

"He’s busting his butt, man," Rudolph said on April 16. "He’s the one guy to me that’s kind of saying ‘I want this.’ There’s a lot more time left, so we’ll see how it continues.”