MADISON, WIS. -- Upon returning for winter conditioning, Jack Nelson received some news from his position coach, Joe Rudolph.

Rudolph wanted Nelson, who received reps at tackle last season during mop-up time in the lopsided win at Michigan, to slide inside and learn the guard spot. The former four-star prospect recalled dueling emotions of excitement and nervousness.

"I never played guard before, and I was like, I’m 6-foot-7, what am I doing?" Nelson told reporters on Aug. 11. "At the time, I was 275 [pounds]. Like, what? Josh Seltzner’s 330 [pounds] at the time. I don't know even how tall he is, 6-foot-5.

"But excited, too, because I got the opportunity to roll with the big dogs."

Flash forward to August with some added weight to his 6-foot-7 frame, Nelson continues to receive the first-team reps into the second week of all camp. This while competing with a fourth-year player who has two years' experience ahead of him for the spot.

"[Nelson] really competes hard. He finds a way to stay out there, to stay available," Rudolph said on Aug. 14. "He fights through injury. I'm really proud of him, and I'm really proud of Michael Furtney, who has been repping right behind him. He's been doing one heck of a job, and he can play both sides.

"And I just really liked the way those two have gone after it, helped each other even though they're competing together. It's been a great example what a teammate and what being part of this program is all about."

Nelson arrived in Madison as an early enrollee in January 2020, mentioning to reporters last week that he came in around 270 pounds after a storied high school career that culminated with playing in the All-American Bowl. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, wiped out the chance to see reps for spring practices that year.

UW listed Nelson at 289 pounds on last year's fall roster and 297 pounds this spring, though he believes he weighed about 275-280 pounds when discussion began of the move to guard and 280-285 during those sessions in April. Nelson has continued to grow to around 305 pounds.

Sliding inside to guard, according to Nelson, involves becoming more physical.

"The interior play's definitely more physical, heavier, faster than at tackle," Nelson said. "Because at tackle, you're hitting stuff on, taking a couple steps, four, five, six, seven, multiple kick sets. You know, an outside linebacker, a d-end that's... I don't even know how much.

"But when you're at guard, everything's on your first and second step, maybe third. You're trying to take over nose guards, hitting linebackers and heavier defensive tackles, 300-plus guys every time. It's a welcomed challenge. It's different, but then again, it's still offensive line. Nothing too different."

Nelson, the Stoughton, Wis., product, received compliments from a couple of upperclassmen since last month. Inside linebacker Jack Sanborn talked during Big Ten Media Days in late July about his mentality as an offensive lineman.

Tight end Jake Ferguson mentioned the interactions between Sanborn, a Butkus Award watch list candidate and 2021 Big Ten preseason honoree, and Nelson during a July episode of WOZN's "The Camp." Redshirt senior defensive end Matt Henningsen recalled how he and the redshirt freshman lineman "kind of get fired up sometimes with each other."

"He's a young guy, so he's always got something to prove, right?" Henningsen said on Aug. 5. "Those young guys always have something to prove. So me being an older veteran, it's just kind of like, you get in those little scuffles and you get kind of upset with each other sometimes, but you know, it's all to make each other better.

"It's pretty cool seeing how much he's just gotten better over just like a year, like the year that he's been here. Even with the limited reps that we've gotten because of COVID with all this stuff, so it's pretty cool to see."

Henningsen also praised Nelson during that Wisconsin media day before describing the aforementioned interior battles.

"You can already tell he's a special type of player, a special type of athlete, and he's got a different type of attitude than I've actually ever seen," Henningsen said. "The way he approaches everything. He has no regard for his body, he just wants to play. He just wants to be the best, right?

"It's kind of special to see, cause I got to go against him a lot in spring ball. Being a young guy and being as athletic and as technically good as he is, you can tell that he's put in time. You can tell that he's just done everything he can to be the best player he can be."

That noted mentality of Nelson "kind of starts" with his father, according to the current guard. Todd Nelson played for Wisconsin during the late 1980s, lettered from 1986-88 and was named one of two team captains in 1988. The then-Phoenix Cardinals selected the elder Nelson in the 12th round of the 1989 NFL Draft.

Jack described a time where after an AAU basketball game where he was cut from the A-team and placed on the "B" squad. He reminisced "kind of going through the motions, didn't want to be there," according to the redshirt freshman.

Then came a discussion with his father.

“I remember my dad just like sat me down and had a conversation. He told me like, ‘Look, you either got to do or you can’t. To be frank, you can't take any s---.' Because he's always told me you don't have to be the best anything like that, but you got to have the most intensity, the most effort. And I guess just ever since then, I kind of took it and ran with it because my dad's an intense guy. I'm bigger than my dad -- stronger, faster -- and I'm still scared of my dad.

"I don’t know, I guess I like to get it going. I think that's kind of what I bring to the table on this offensive line is I'm the youngest, most inexperienced. I'm still figuring stuff out mentally, physically, but I’m going to give the most effort every time. If that means getting a little chippy, maybe a little bit of illegal stuff -- I mean, just in practice -- I'm gonna do it. It’s nothing personal. Everyone gets that. But, yeah, it's kind of what it is but I enjoy that part."

Nelson continues to receive first-team reps at right guard through the five August practices open to reporters as the rest of the line has shuffled due to competition or injury. Wisconsin's numbers at the tackle spots wilted recently with ailments to Tyler Beach (left leg), Logan Bruss (left leg), Logan Brown (head) and Tanor Bortolini (right leg). Josh Seltzner and Cormac Sampson continue to battle for the left guard spot, while Kayden Lyles and Joe Tippmann both received starters' reps at center in the past two weeks.

During Monday's practice with both Bruss and Bortolini out, Wisconsin bumped Furtney -- Nelson's competition at right guard -- to right tackle with the first-team.

A reporter asked Nelson last week, before Bruss, Brown and Bortolini were added to the team's injury report, if he sees guard as the long-term position or if he feels he could slide back outside to tackle once again.

“I don't really think much about it. To be honest, it's really whatever Coach Rudolph, Coach [Paul] Chryst and this team needs, but I'm cool with whatever they want. Whatever gives me the opportunity to help this team be on the field, I'll do it. It doesn't matter.”