Kyle Jefferson has been bucking conventional wisdom since the first day he set foot on campus this summer. Coming into the 2007-'08 season as a rather unheralded three-star recruit, most Wisconsin fans had tempered expectations for the lanky freshman receiver.
After proving to coaches in preseason that he was ready to contribute in a small capacity this year, Jefferson emerged from a four-member wide receiver freshman recruiting class to forego redshirt status and earn a spot on the depth chart by the opener against Washington State. To the outside fan, expectations for Jefferson were as follows: learn from senior wide receivers Paul Hubbard and Luke Swan and junior Marcus Randle-El, contribute when called upon and learn the nuts and bolts of the college game.
That all changed in week two, when Hubbard went down with a long-term knee injury during the UNLV game. Up to that point, Jefferson hadn't recorded a catch and had received sparse playing time, but the talk leading into the next week's game against Citadel was that Jefferson was going to be starting across from Swan.
Initially, the fans and coaches were worried about inserting a true freshman wide receiver as the Badgers were gearing up to enter the Big Ten portion of their schedule but the one person who was and still is unfazed about the promotion was the man in the middle of it, Kyle Jefferson.
I didn't approach anything differently. I just took it one step at a time, one play at a time,"" Jefferson said. ""I go out and play the fastest I can, the best way I can, and try to just stay calm and relaxed and not get uptight or mess up.""
Six games, 324 yards, two touchdowns and one monster hit against Iowa later, Jefferson has shown his potential as a future star receiver for this Badger team. He looks ready to follow in the footsteps of recent stalwarts and current NFL receivers Lee Evans, Chris Chambers, Jonathan Orr and Brandon Williams.
Playing for a big-time program is nothing new for Jefferson, a graduate of Cleveland's Glenville High School. He was coached by Ted Ginn Sr. in high school and followed in the footsteps of two of the most successful players in that school's recent history, future Heisman winner Troy Smith and Ted Ginn Jr. As a freshman in high school, Jefferson learned from Ginn who was an All-American senior at that point, so Jefferson knows something about leadership and learning from more experienced players.
This is something he has tried to bring with him since becoming a starter and de facto leader at Wisconsin.
""I'm going to stand by and let the seniors do it, but I'm going to be a leader to my class, my freshman class,"" Jefferson said. ""I'm going to lead them, and I'm going to let the seniors lead us, so that I can learn from them, and when it's my time I can learn to be a leader. I lead by example. It's much easier to lead by example because you can talk and then not back it up or you can just be quiet and you can back everything up you say.""
While Jefferson's stats have consistently improved throughout the season, culminating with a 124-yard effort in a loss to Penn State, he is only one half of the freshman wide receiver corps that is currently contributing to the Badgers current 6-2 record.
When looking at receiving stats, freshman David Gilreath's name comes up as a mere blip on the radar with only one catch for the year. Instead, Gilreath's contributions have come in the special teams portion of the game as he has handled the bulk of the Badgers kick and punt returning duties, where he currently stands as the fourth leading punt returner in the Big Ten with an average of 12.5 yards per attempt.
Both have contributed more then initially expected entering the year, and offensive coordinator Paul Chryst appreciates the contributions both have made in their freshman year so far.
""The two of them kind of give us different things. Kyle is growing into the position of receiver and has done some good things for us. We need to get him to continue to get better,"" Chryst said. ""David is certainly helping, the combination of returns and what he's done receiving, I'm really glad we have him.""
In a season where expectations were tempered for them, Gilreath and Jefferson have risen from the bottom of the depth charts to become the potential bookend wide receiver combo for the next three years at Camp Randall. With the stretch run of games against Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan and a potential bowl game ahead, look for the duo to continue to provide explosiveness for the Badgers, both receiving and returning. If this trend of rapid improvement continues, expect to see some big plays from these two in November, December and hopefully January.
