Northwestern’s 2018 football season is underway.

The Wildcats opened fall practice on Monday morning in Evanston. Coming off of a big Pinstripe Bowl win over Pittsburgh to close out the 2016 season and with 17 returning starters, expectations are rightfully high for a team that should be in the hunt for the Big Ten West title.

As the Wildcats get started on a journey they hope winds up in Indianapolis for the Big Ten championship game, we look at some vital questions that they will be looking to answer this month in camp.

We already answered one, which true freshman will play in 2017? Here are seven others.

It’s going to take more than one player to make up for the loss of Carr. You can’t expect one receiver to produce the 90 catches, 1,247 yards and 12 TDs – all tops in the Big Ten – that Carr did on his way to the Richter-Howard award as the best receiver in the conference.

Look for Flynn Nagel, NU’s leading returning receiver, to emerge as Clayton Thorson’s primary go-to guy. But keep your eyes on a couple others as well.

Garrett Dickerson, an NFL-level talent at superback, is a mismatch waiting to happen as an inline tight end. He should assume a greater role in the passing game this season. Jalen Brown is an X-factor, as well. The Oregon transfer, who has two years of eligibility remaining, is a 6-foot-1, 198-pounder with speed who could have an immediate impact.

Northwestern returns four of five starters on the offensive line, which is either a good thing or a bad thing for a unit that was often criticized by head coach Pat Fitzgerald in 2016. From left tackle to right guard, starters Blake Hance, JB Butler, Brad North and Tommy Doles return. While all jobs are technically available, those four will likely wind up as starters. That leaves the right tackle position manned by the graduated Eric Olson up for grabs.

For the final spring practice, redshirt freshman Gunnar Vogel got the majority of reps there, but expect Jesse Meyler and Andrew Otterman to also be in the mix. Trey Klock, the graduate transfer from Georgia Tech, has experience at both guard and tackle and could also potentially find a home there. Offensive line coach Adam Cushing is adamant about finding the best five players regardless of position, so he could move Doles back to right tackle, where he spent time in the past, and find a new guard instead.

The offensive line will continue to be a focal point throughout camp, and likely into the season.

We won’t know the answer to this one until shortly before kickoff against Nevada. Paddy Fisher and Nate Fox battled for the starting middle linebacker job all spring and Fitzgerald said then that it would continue into the fall.

But this isn’t a zero-sum game because whoever loses the job will likely play quite a bit, too. The outcome could impact other linebacker positions as well; Fox, a redshirt sophomore, could potentially play outside linebacker, where Nate Hall and Brett Walsh figure to be locks as starters.

There just aren’t very many linebackers to choose from this year. There were only six scholarship LBs for spring ball, and one of them was former running back Warren Long, who is just learning the ropes as an outside linebacker. Jango Glackin had an impressive spring and summer but has yet to play a snap. Blake Gallagher is probably the only incoming freshman who could be ready to play this season, as Chee Anyanwu needs to gain weight and Peter McIntyre is still recovering from a compound broken leg last season.

There aren’t a lot of parts, but Fitzgerald feels confident about the parts he has going into the fall. He has already called it the fastest and most athletic group he has had.

Even after losing starter C.J. Robbins and Big Ten sack leader Ifeadi Odenigbo, Northwestern figured to be solid at DE with returning starter Xavier Washington and promising rotation player Joe Gaziano penciled in. Then Washington got arrested in the spring and suspended from the team. There hasn’t been an update yet on his status, but if he doesn’t play the Wildcats will desperately need another end to step up.

Trent Goens, like Gaziano a redshirt sophomore, has the most experience of the group and will probably get the first crack at a starting role. Then there is a pair of redshirt freshmen looking to prove something: Tommy Carnifax has to prove he is fully healthy after sitting out spring ball after surgery, and Mark Gooden, an undersized 250-pounder, has to show that he is heavy enough to stop the run.

The real guys to watch here, however, will be the true freshmen. Earnest Brown, the ballyhooed recruit who turned down Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State and Michigan, has been impressive this summer according to sources; and Sam Miller enrolled early and got a lot of reps at both tackle and end in the spring. Either or both of them could see action this season. Trevor Kent is another highly touted rookie to keep an eye on.

Northwestern has a thin linebacker room and a deep and talented secondary, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Wildcats go to a 4-2-5 as their base defense this season. That would call for one less linebacker, which would ameliorate the depth issues at linebacker, and one more safety or corner as a nickel back.

Of course, the Wildcats play quite a bit of nickel defense on passing downs already, so it wouldn’t be much of a departure. The knock on a 4-2-5 is that it takes a man away from the front seven and puts a smaller player in his place, making it more susceptible to the run. Still, only Iowa, Michigan State and Wisconsin can be considered power running teams on the schedule this year, and NU’s system relies heavily on safeties in run support anyway.

The electric Vault, already Northwestern’s all-time leader with four kickoff returns for touchdowns, will be missed in the kicking game, where he was always a threat to take it to the house. The Wildcats would love to have a return man who can score, and if not that, at least gain field position for an offense that often lacks big plays.

The small but quick Jelani Roberts, who has one kickoff return in his career, and Nagel, already the No. 1 punt returner, could earn the role here – though it’s doubtful that NU would want Nagel to handle kicks and punts and be a primary wide receiver. Fitzgerald said at Big Ten Media Days that he’d like to see what his youngsters can do here. Running backs Jeremy Larkin and Jesse Brown were two names he mentioned. True freshman Kyric McGowan could also get a long look as the fastest of the incoming freshman.

Regardless of who goes back to receive kicks – and it could be several different players over the course of the year – he will have some large shoes to fill.

Grad transfers are still a relatively new phenomenon, and this year the Wildcats have the rarity of welcoming two transfers who each have two years of eligibility remaining. As we discussed above, offensive lineman Trey Klock and wide receiver Jalen Brown could both play pivotal roles this season.

Brown likely has the easier path to playing time. He has been a productive wide receiver in a spread system at Oregon, where he had 19 catches for 318 yards and 3 TDs last season, and spent the summer in informal workouts with the team. With Vault sidelined, Brown may be one of the fastest wideouts on the team and could be the receiver who stretches the field. Considering how many receivers NU uses, Brown figures to see quite a bit of action.

Klock may have the steeper learning curve. He just arrived in Evanston last week after completing the courses required to graduate from Georgia Tech in summer school. He played in a triple-option system with the Yellow Jackets and will have to focus on pass blocking as he learns the ropes in NU’s offense. Still, given his experience with starting at both guard and tackle, he could find a place in the two-deep, if not the starting lineup, earlier rather than later.