Illini Wide Receiving Corps- Nation’s Best?

The University of Illinois Wide Receiving Corps will be among the best in College Football this year. In this four part series, Paul M. Banks interviews and profiles each of the top four Illini pass catching threats.

Part 1: Jarred Fayson

Part 2: Jeff Cumberland

Part 3: Michael Hoomanawanui

Part 4: Arrelious “Rejus” Benn

So many “experts” are extremely high on Illinois’ receiving corp, Jarred Fayson, a transfer from Florida, is a big reason why. He hasn’t been a huge contributor, other than in returning punts, at the collegiate level. However, perhaps he will be this team’s secret weapon?

“I’m trying to be the secret weapon a little. Just make sure you keep it a secret though. I like to do all the other stuff, too, some running back stuff, punt returns,” Fayson said at Illini Media Day.

Fayson’s terrific athletic ability is his strongest attribute. (Although his nameplate-looking tattoo right below his neck comes close. On a team full of heavily-inked players, his tattoos still standout significantly). Fayson possesses outstanding speed and quickness. {Head Coach Ron Zook} “says he wants to do everything fast, that’s why he recruits fast players…because he eats fast, he sleeps fast, that’s just how coach is,” Fayson said in describing the man who recruited him, and his system.

Fayson was rated the #3 wide receiver in the nation by Scout.com when the Zooker recruited him to be a Gator out of school. During his time in Gainesville, Jarred acquired rings like Jared, the Galleria of Jewelers. “It’s back in Florida, and I have three of them.  My mom has them all. I’ve got my National Championship ring, the SEC Championship ring, and then they give you one for the bowl as well.  My mom has them in a safe deposit box.  We’re trying to get one up here,” he said about the ice he’s acquired playing college football.

Perhaps the overarching theme of this past Big Ten Media Day was the league’s inferiority complex with the SEC, and Fayson is a good source to question about the difference between the two conferences. “Not much, just…there are fast guys in every conference, really. There are fast guys here, just as there were in Florida. The only difference is that the big guys there move a lot faster than the big guys up here.  That’s the main thing that I’ve noticed,” Jared said. Coach Zook gave a very similar answer to the same question last month.

“I would say that there is a difference from when you’re watching on the sidelines then from when you are actually in the game, with all the emotions, so I can’t really say much on that.  But we all know how football is in the South, period. We know how all the fans are.  I have only experienced a little up here, and I definitely love what I’ve seen, but I’ll have to tell you more after I play in my first game,” Fayson said as he elaborated further.
With the transfer, Fayson, now a junior  was required to sit out a year. Now he’ll get his first game experience in orange and blue (well, Land of Lincoln orange and blue anyway) in a very prolific offense. “I just want to get out there and help out however I can, in whatever situation that I can, I am just looking forward to it.  I’m very excited, because I know the type of talent that we have, and I know the capabilities that we have with our quarterback and this group of receivers,” he said.

Fayson is 6’0”, 209, with 4.4 speed. He has potential to be a mid rounds pick come NFL Draft Day in 2011, but to get there he’ll have to sharpen his skills somewhat. And he knows exactly what he wants to focus on.

“The small things, the fundamentals: picking up yards after the catch, blocking and all of the things such as that.  My athletic ability is there, I just have to fine tune things,” he said at Illinois Media Day.

Fayson learned a lot in Florida, where he experienced winning a National Championship; on a team where all the starters were recruited by a coach who got fired. “First of all I know I want to do well for Coach Zook.  He’s a player’s coach, and he is a great coach. He understands that there are things going on in our lives outside of football, and is trying to help us grow as young men. Of course, he does want us to make sure we’re taking care of business on the field,” Fayson said about the Coach that he followed across the country. Jarred is also looking to help augment the negative reputation that has followed the Zooker to Champaign-Urbana, that of great recruiter, bad coach.

“We are around him every day and they aren’t, so we probably know him and they don’t. They are probably just going on what they’ve heard about him.  I’m around him every day and I’ve experienced a lot of things with him and I think he’s a great coach.  I met him in maybe, 2005, or late 2004 when he was still at Florida and I was a sophomore in high school.  First impression – was that he’s the same exact coach that we’re seeing here. He’s always alive, and acting like he’s just had 8 cups of coffee, always on his toes.  That’s what I really like about him – he’s a very honest man,” Fayson said.

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