Not many famous people hail from the small town of Wautoma, Wisconsin.
In fact, no sports player has ever gone on to play professionally from the Waushara County town made up of roughly 2,200 people.
Come time for the 2014 NFL Draft and a wide receiver named Jared Abbrederis will make that a false statement.
Abbrederis is the Wisconsin Badgers star wide receiver and has all the tools to join the ranks of the NFL next season.
Before we delve into exactly why Abbrederis will be a perfect fit for an NFL team, let’s see what scouts are saying right now about the senior and former walk-on wide receiver.
Anonymous Expert Scouting Reports:
“Undersized, jitterbug WR. Excellent WR. Excellent returner. Reliable hands and savvy route runner. Projects as a slot receiver at the next level.”
“I like him better than Nick Toon. I don’t know his timed speed, but he’s great at applying vertical pressure on defenses. His punt return production indicates he can run after the catch on short/intermediate routes, but WI hasn’t really used him like that. I think fourth round is his worst-case scenario, but I think he’s second or third.”
Abbrederis is a guy the scouts love because he brings so much value to a prospective team in multiple areas.
Take it from teammate and fellow wide receiver, Kenzel Doe, who told me exactly what kind of threat Abbrederis is:
“He’s a deep threat, any type of threat really. Abby has good routes, knows how to run routes and knows defenses like the back of his hand. Him catching the ball opens it up for the rest of us on the team.”
Those traits were on full display in the Badgers’ first two games of the season. In the 45-0 win over UMass, his two catches were of the deep variety and went for 65 and 57 yards, both for touchdowns. He switched it up in the 48-0 win over Tennessee Tech, hauling in a career-high eight receptions on short/intermediate passes and another touchdown.
Abbrederis told me his greatest strength is “playing fast.”
“A lot of guys, especially younger guys, won’t play as fast as they can. When you have experience, the game slows down and it helps me read the opposing defenses.”
In addition to being a smart player, he has a quality that gets passed over a lot with wide receivers and that’s being a team player. Slot receiver in the NFL is very much a team-oriented position because it puts the player in a role to make catches or block for teammates.
“Team comes first, you want to win games. If that means blocking every play or making a catch, it’s all fine with me.”
The aforementioned Doe confirmed Abby’s love for the team when he mentioned that Jared has played a huge part in his development as a wide-receiver/punt return specialist, “We talk on the sideline and off the field we hang out at his apartment. The relationship we have is a good one and we’ll keep that for the rest of our lives.”
In addition to team goals, Jared has a few of his own in 2013.
“I want a 1,000 yard season, that would be pretty cool and something I really want to achieve. Ten touchdowns is another thing. At the end of the day, I want to be up on the list with some of top receivers to play at Wisconsin.”
There’s no doubt that Abbrederis will go down as one of the top receivers to ever play at Wisconsin. He’ll only solidify that when NFL teams come-a-calling next spring.
What do you think of Abbrederis’ draft stock? Do you think he’s already one of the best to play at the position at Wisconsin? Let me know by commenting below.
Nick Grays is a senior writer at the Sports Bank where he covers the Wisconsin Badgers and Green Bay Packers. He also enjoys sharing Fantasy Advice and pretends to be a Golf expert from time-to-time. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here or visit his blog Nick Knows Best. If social media is not your thing, shoot him an email at grays@uwalumni.com.
*Game-action photo was obtained from Wisconsin Football’s official Facebook page and the presser image was taken by me.