Wisconsin Badgers beat writer Jesse Temple will be analyzing the 30 most important players to the Badgers' success in the 2015 season. Check back each weekday to see the latest player on the list.
Note: This is not a list of the team's 30 best players or a series about past success, but rather which of them means the most to how Wisconsin will fare this year. Criteria such as depth at that player's position, general expectations and overall importance of that player having a good season are all highly considered. The list does not include incoming freshmen because their potential impact is unknown at this time.
No. 27 -- Austin Traylor, tight end
Why he's No. 27
Traylor is determined to be known as something more than a pass-blocking tight end. For the first time in his career, he wants to be relied upon as a pass catcher, too.
Is that a realistic sentiment as Traylor prepares for his senior season? It certainly appears so based on his offseason workouts and subsequent performance this spring.
Traylor said he caught somewhere between 150 to 200 balls in the offseason from a machine while he rested on one knee to improve hand placement. On nice days, he would practice in Camp Randall Stadium. Other days, he would practice indoors off to the side with a teammate while the track team used the McClain Center.
Traylor was so dedicated to maintaining his pass-catching routine in the winter that he occasionally was forced to practice in the team's locker room when the McClain Center was locked up and snow still clung to the ground. And all that work paid off, he said, because he noticed a difference during spring practices in the way coaches used him.
"I've been included in the passing game more," Traylor said. "They looked at me and I talked to the coaches. The whole talk was about me being the three-down tight end and not coming down on the third down, not just using the block. I made sure to do everything I possibly could to make that happen."
Expectations for 2015
Traylor caught three passes for 24 yards last season. But the bulk of Wisconsin's passes to a tight end went to Sam Arneson, who finished with 29 catches for 387 yards and a team-best four touchdowns. Arenson is gone now, and that leaves Traylor and Troy Fumagalli. Fumagalli likely will be the primary target at tight end after he caught 14 passes for 187 yards as a redshirt freshman.
Traylor has the experience of playing in 30 career games, and he appears to be more comfortable running routes and catching passes. Now, it's a matter of the coaching staff using him in that capacity and quarterback Joel Stave finding him. It's quite reasonable to expect him to be targeted at least once or twice each game.
What would they do without him?
Tight end has been a position of strength at Wisconsin for years, and that tradition will continue for the foreseeable future. T.J. Watt missed the spring with an injury, but he has the athleticism and the body to be a contributor. Kyle Penniston was one of the program's early enrollees and is a highly talented freshman. Other tight ends in the rotation are Sam Eckert, Eric Steffes and John Damrow.
Traylor is the only senior in the group, and he's ready to make a substantial leap as a key contributor.
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