Wisconsin's spring camp is set to kick off on March 26, so BadgerBlitz.com will run through each position group to break down what we know about the 2019 Badgers and what we still need to find out before they start their season on Aug. 30 against South Florida.

Miss a preview? Catch up here:

QUARTERBACKS | RUNNING BACKS | WIDE RECEIVERS | TIGHT ENDS | OFFENSIVE LINE | DEFENSIVE LINE |

Here's the bad news: the Badgers need to replace three of their their four best defensive players from 2018 before they kick off the 2019 season. The good news is that Zack Baun put together a healthy season for the Badgers at outside linebacker and had a better year than you might have thought at first glance.

Baun finished the year with an overall grade of 81.9 for the Badgers as one of their two starting outside linebackers - and he played up to that level across the board, from run support and pass coverage to tackling and pass rushing. Baun finished the year with 63 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss in 13 games for UW, and he should bring some stability to a position that will need a steady hand while breaking in a few new faces.

The other piece of good news for UW is that while they have to replace two "starters" at inside linebacker, they really only have one spot that needs filling. Chris Orr took one for the team last year and served as a very solid backup to T.J. Edwards and Ryan Connelly even though he's probably good enough to start on a large number of other college football teams - but he'll finally get his turn to shine at the position in 2019 as a senior.

With one spot "open" at inside linebacker and an open competition in the making at outside linebacker across from Baun the Badgers will need to see which of h their younger players will be able to show they are ready to step in to the big shoes left behind by the likes Edwards and Andrew Van Ginkel.

Rising sophomore Jack Sanborn seems like a prohibitive favorite to take over at inside linebacker next to Orr after he played in four games and got 51 snaps for the Badgers, but he'll need to prove he can thrive in the role despite being a little short on in-game experience.

At outside linebacker the Badgers will probably take a look at Tyler Johnson and Christian Bell to pair with Baun - they were the next two outside linebackers on the depth chart in 2018, but there wasn't a lot of separation between them. Johnson got 190 snaps compared to 170 for Bell, and Johnson received an overall grade of 59.0 to Bell's 61.4 grade. One (or both) of those players will need to take a step forward in order to prove they are ready for the big leagues in the UW pass rush.

Keep an eye on how Izayah Green-May has developed since enrolling early at UW two years ago. This will be his third spring camp for the Badgers, and he will have had plenty of time now to add the right amount of weight to the perfect frame he brought to the table out of high school. He was running with the third team last spring - maybe this spring he can insert himself in to the competition for reps as a sophomore.

OUTSIDE LINEBACKER

1. ZACK BAUN

2. NOAH BURKS

INSIDE LINEBACKER

1. CHRIS ORR

2. GRIFFIN GRADY

INSIDE LINEBACKER

1. JACK SANBORN

2. MIKE MASKALUNAS

OUTSIDE LINEBACKER

1. TYLER JOHNSON

-OR-

CHRISTIAN BELL

2. IZAYAH GREEN-MAY

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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.