MIKE LUCAS Senior Writer

BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

MADISON, Wis. — As an understudy, Jack Nelson made the most of his role last season. Each week, he took practice reps at tackle with the No. 2 offense and executed the Wisconsin game plan. He was preparing to play if needed. But he was able to develop at his own pace as an 18-year-old freshman.

"Being with the twos really helped me learn," said the 6-foot-7, 289-pound Nelson, who appeared in just one game. "To be honest, every second I spend on campus I'm learning more and more and more about football, about the scheme, about the technique, about certain tips and tricks of the game.

"A big thing that has helped me is the older guys. I had Cole Van Lanen (a fifth-year senior) to learn from and Jon Dietzen (a sixth-year senior) who was actually my locker neighbor. He really took me under his wing and kind of gave me some tips and pointers."

While serving as the backup to junior Tyler Beach for the final six games of the 2020 season, Nelson got a feel for the tempo and the techniques at right tackle, a position that he had never played before. At Stoughton High School, he was a four-year varsity starter at left tackle.

In retrospect, the transition from one side of the offensive line to the other was not as significant as making the jump from the Badger South Conference to the Badgers for Nelson, who conceded, "In high school, it was more just put your hand on the ground and get after it.

"But here, it's D-I football and one of the best O-lines in the country with, in my opinion, the best O-line coach (Joe Rudolph) in the country. And he demands that you play with a certain level of technique. Learning that was certainly a process. And I'm still in that process. But I'm glad to do it."

This spring, Nelson has been learning the nuances of another position, right guard. The only other time that he lined up there was 15 months ago at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. When Nelson arrived in San Antonio, Texas, for the prep all-star game, he discovered a dearth of guards on the roster.

"They brought in one guard and a bunch of tackles," recalled Nelson, who volunteered to move inside to play guard on the victorious West team alongside of right tackle Trey Wedig, a UW teammate. "I thought it would be something good to branch out and show them that I'm versatile."

Nelson made such a favorable impression that he was bumped from a 4-star to a 5-star by the 247Sports recruiting analysts. Taking such an unprecedented jump in stride, he pointed out, "I don't want to say it put a target on my back. It was just another thing that I knew that I had to prove."

As a prep, Nelson dominated the line of scrimmage in the Badger South and was the 2019 recipient of the Joe Thomas Award that goes to the top O-lineman in the state. "In high school, I did kind of have a chip on my shoulder," he admitted. "I thought I did have the talent to be a top recruit."

Looking back, he added, "All it (the 5-star tag) really did was raise the expectations."

Nelson, by the way, needed no introduction to Thomas, a College Football Hall of Famer.

"Of course, every offensive lineman has watched Joe Thomas," he noted of the former Badger All-America tackle, 2006 Outland Trophy winner and perennial NFL All-Pro. "That's a technician and that's really what I want to strive to be and then bring my intensity with that."

Jack Nelson came by his intensity the old-fashioned way. He got it from his dad, Todd Nelson, a three-year starting guard in the late '80s at Wisconsin. In '87, he was a fixture on an O-line that featured All-America left tackle Paul Gruber, Glenn Derby, Rod Lossow and Steve Rux.

Going into his senior year ('88), he graced the front cover of the UW media guide.

Back in the day, the elder Nelson (6-5, 285) benched 450 and squatted 750.

"I would say that the best advice my dad has given me and really kind of taught me was just to play with intensity," Jack said. "That's his favorite word. Intensity. He coached me all through youth football and he demanded a certain intensity for me to play with."

That has never resonated more strongly for Nelson, who turned 19 in January and said, "Even if I don't have the best technique or if I'm not the most gifted on the field, I'd rather die than not be the most intense player on that football field. I'm going to go 110 miles an hour every chance that I get."

His linemates have noticed.

"He has a lot of passion for the game," said center Kayden Lyles, who shares a common thread with Nelson in that his dad, Kevin, was also a former Badger; a quarterback and tight end (1993-96). "He goes out and gives it his all every play whether he's right or wrong on the assignment."

Lyles loves the fact that Nelson is not timid. So does the aforementioned O-line coach.

"There's a physicality and explosiveness, a let-it-loose mentality that is infectious and that's what is really pushing him into the opportunity," Rudolph said of Nelson. "His athleticism shows up because he is going a million miles an hour."

Although he couched that observation with a reality — "There's definitely some things from the standpoint of technique and fundamentals that he needs to clean up so he can be consistent" — Rudolph has been pleased with the way Nelson has handled the move to guard.

"He's done a really good job so far this spring with it," he said. "He enjoys it. He's physical. He likes the aggressiveness of the position. So, it's been good. We've had a really good battle at guard."

At right guard, Nelson has been competing with junior Michael Furtney, who started the Duke's Mayo Bowl and drew this assessment from Rudolph: "Honestly with the competition with Jack, it's probably the most detailed that I've seen him. It's been a really good competition.

"Both guys feel it. They respect the heck out of each other and they're fighting hard for it."

On transitioning from tackle to guard, Nelson said, "It's just a different position and there are different things that go along with that and there are new things to learn. Logan (Bruss) played right guard and he's also played tackle, so he knows what I'm feeling. He's been an extremely great help."

With his 25 career starts, Bruss is the most experience offensive lineman. In 2020, he was the starting right tackle for the opener and started the next five games at right guard before getting injured and missing the bowl. Rudolph has since reinstalled Bruss at right tackle. His best position?

"I don't know … I know that he's really efficient at playing both positions and could be a difference-maker at both of them," Rudolph said. "What I've noticed now that he has moved back, he understands the whole picture a lot better. I'm excited for him jumping in there."

As far as piecing together the big picture, Bruss said, "It just gives you a different appreciation for the game. You understand a lot more coming from a different spot. Hopefully, I can use some of those experiences I had at guard last year to help me be even better at tackle."

Bruss, a fifth-year senior, has accepted his role, too, as an alpha, a team leader, a bell cow.

"He leads by example," Rudolph said. "He's definitely increased his voice. But when you watch him, you're kind of like, 'Damn, that dude is doing the stuff that I want to put on tape. He's cutting it loose and he's playing fast and there's the detail.' He earns a voice by the way he plays."

Beach, also a fifth-year senior, is now starting at left tackle, replacing Van Lanen.

"Tyler has really been efficient," Rudolph said. "But there's the opportunity for him to cut it loose and be more of a difference-maker at times. I think that's what is going to solidify the job for him. I'm pumped to see that from him. That's the growth step that he needs to take."

On the development of sophomore Logan Brown, who's pushing Beach for playing time, Rudolph suggested that he needs to be more consistent, a challenge for all the younger, more inexperienced players. Rudolph has not ruled out the possibility of utilizing Brown as a swing tackle.

"I'm just going to find the best five to hit the field," Rudolph stressed. "If Logan (Brown) is one of those guys, he will be that. There's really not a lot of drop-off on days from the first to the second group. It's really competitive and I like that a lot."

To this end, he has been encouraged by Wedig's progress at right tackle behind Bruss.

"There's a ton of things that shows up on tape that he does naturally for such a big person … the way he steps off the ball … the way that he sets," Rudolph said of the 6-7, 320-pound Wedig. "The thing that he kind of has to do is let it loose a little bit more."

At left guard, senior Josh Seltzner and junior Cormac Sampson have been battling.

"And it has been a great battle," said Rudolph. "Seltz brings so much to the group with how he works and approaches things. He's going to be a big factor for us this year. And Cormac coming off a season where he started games (at center) and seeing how he has developed has been tremendous."

Lyles is back at center and competing with Tanor Bortolini, who started the Iowa game.

"You can see the difference from last year to this year with Kayden and his health and just how he's been moving and his ability to generate power," Rudolph said of Lyles, who has had surgery on both hips to go along with a knee injury that he suffered late last season against Indiana.

Declared Lyles, "I feel like I'm 100 percent right now."

Meanwhile, Rudolph suggested that Joe Tippmann — still rehabbing from an arm injury that ended his season in the fall — could be a wild card at multiple positions. In the same breath, he has seen positive things out of freshman tackle Riley Mahlman, an early enrollee. That's what Nelson was last spring during a makeshift semester that was dramatically altered by COVID.

"I did get some aspects of normal campus life and then when the quarantine hit, it certainly was weird and I missed out on spring ball," Nelson said. "So, I just went home and trained. We still had online meetings and I think I'm a better football player for it. I didn't let it stop me from improving."

It's something Rudolph has seen out of everyone in the O-line room. They want to get better.

"It's a pretty good group, man," said Rudolph, who's coached more than his fair share of pretty good groups while also playing on some in the early-to-mid '90s. "I love the kids. They're team guys. They bust their butts. They're all in it for each other. They've all got the right mindset.

"I like some of the energy not only from some of the older guys with their urgency but with some of the younger guys who just bring the fire and the juice.

"I want them to be physical, explosive and I want them to know it so well that they're able to cut it loose and play at an extremely high level. I think the key to the spring is you keep it simple, but you demand excellence. You paint a vision of exactly what you want and help them grow and understand.

"But you don't let them get lost in the gray of the play-calling."

Last season, Paul Chryst entrusted Rudolph with the offensive play-calling knowing that he was fully capable of the assignment in addition to anticipating that there would be so many more things on the plate of a head coach because of the pandemic and all the changes that came about due to protocols.

Chryst will resume calling plays in 2021 with heavy input from Rudolph, especially on runs.

"Me and Paul have been doing this for a long time together," Rudolph said, "and whatever he needs out of me, I'm always ready to step up and do. I always love when he's more involved. The more he's involved, the clearer the communication, the simpler the details for the guys.

"It was kind of funny. There were some things I really enjoyed about it … the only thing I didn't love, at times, was in-between series it pulled me away from the O-line. And I felt that I wasn't helping the line as much as I could. And that was actually a little bit frustrating.

"We were maybe adjusting the pass call and I had to listen in on that when normally I would be prepping the guys on, 'Here's the protection that is coming, here's the look you have …'"

Restoring norms is a good thing for everyone, including for Chryst and Rudolph.

"I'm great with it," Rudolph said. "The trust is there."

The same trust that Rudolph has built with his O-linemen. Unheralded but undaunted.

"We've gotten a lot closer over this past year with all the COVID stuff that has been going on," said Bruss, who has seen the competitive impact during spring ball. "It's a lot of guys helping each other out … and just pushing this whole group to be as good as it can be."