Cornerback Nick Nelson is among five intriguing UW players for '17

MADISON - Paul Chryst enters his third season as Wisconsin’s head coach with more than two dozen players with at least one start on offense or defense. 

As UW prepares for its Sept. 1 opener against visiting Utah State, here is a look at five intriguing names to watch in 2017. The list includes two players who redshirted last season after transferring to UW.

Nick Nelson:  Nelson takes over at cornerback for Sojourn Shelton, who started a school-record 51 games and matched the school record for games played (54) before heading off to the NFL. Nelson, who sat out last season after transferring from Hawaii, is equipped to flourish in his new role.

He started a combined 21 games in his two seasons at Hawaii and finished with a total of 21 passes broken up. Nelson (5-foot-11 and 208 pounds) moves fluidly, changes direction quickly and consistently makes plays on the ball.

Nelson will get beat this season. It is the nature of the position. But he will make far more plays than he’ll give up. 

“Honestly, I think the ceiling is very, very high,” defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard said. “Every day he goes out there, the confidence just continues to rise. 

“He came in very good technically. He did a lot of things naturally that you’ve got to spend a lot of time coaching. Just over the last year, you can see how locked in he is every day, just his mentality. 

“He makes receivers play up to his level or he is going to embarrass them. That is kind of his mentality, which is awesome for a corner.

“I’m excited to watch him play because he is ready. He is ready for that moment and he is ready to go challenge everybody.”

Chris James:  Like Nelson, James sat out last season after transferring to UW. He came from Pittsburgh, where he played for Chryst, running backs coach John Settle and offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph as a freshman in 2014.

James' quickness and speed make him a big-play threat in the open field and UW no doubt will find ways to get him the ball. 

However, the 5-10, 219-pounder is also strong enough to run effectively between the tackles. Brian Calhoun boosted UW’s offense in 2005 after transferring from Colorado. James could have a similar effect in 2017.

Michael Deiter: The departure of Ryan Ramczyk to the NFL and physical issues that have sidelined Jacob Maxwell forced UW to reconfigure the offensive line before the start of camp. Deiter, a redshirt junior who has 16 starts at center and 11 at left guard, was moved to left tackle.

The ideal scenario for UW is that Deiter settles comfortably into his new home and Rudolph can keep the unit intact. That unit includes redshirt freshman Tyler Biadasz at center. 

The worst-case scenario? Deiter never gets a feel for playing on the edge and Rudolph moves him back to guard or center and looks elsewhere for a tackle.

Leon Jacobs: Former UW defensive coordinator Dave Aranda noted he thought Jacobs’ best position was outside linebacker. Jacobs started out at that position in 2013, Aranda’s first of three seasons at UW. Jacobs played mostly on special teams in ’13 and then was moved to inside linebacker because he was buried on the depth chart. 

Jacobs played two seasons on the inside but was moved to fullback in the spring of 2016 when it appeared he would be no better than the fifth inside linebacker. 

Injuries forced the staff to move Jacobs back to inside linebacker in September and he finally will get a shot to be a full-time outside linebacker this season. 

Jacobs appears to have the strength needed to set the edge on running plays and the straight-line speed necessary to get after the quarterback. 

He isn’t comfortable making plays in space, though, and it will be incumbent on the staff to find ways to utilize his strengths and hide is shortcomings. 

Quintez Cephus: The 6-2, 205-pound sophomore receiver appears capable of making a more significant contribution as a pass-catcher than he did last season, when he finished with four catches for 94 yards. According to quarterback Alex Hornibrook, Cephus is running more efficient routes this year. That should lead to more opportunities. 

What hasn’t changed is the ability of Cephus to elevate above defenders and attack the football. 

UW needs wide receivers to develop to complement senior Jazz Peavy. Cephus appears ready to do that.