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Friday, March 29, 2024
Tight End U

Pedersen: Jacob Pedersen has 10 receptions, 164 yards and four touchdowns through three games this season.

Tight End U

The Wisconsin football program has a knack for making heroes of the un sung.

In Madison, walk-on's from Jim Leonhard to Chris Maragos and Luke Swan have turned into fan favorites. Offensive linemen garner a sort of respect—even reverence—that is not found on every campus in the country.

In similar fashion, the tight end unit, despite the easy assumption of mundane duties in a run-heavy program, has flourished into one of the most productive positions on the roster.

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""[Offensive Coordinator Paul Chryst] does a great job of putting everybody in positions that will keep the defense a little bit off guard,"" junior tight end Jake Byrne said.

By job description, versatility is key to being a successful tight end. But in Chryst's pro-style offense, versatility is only the beginning.

With this year's addition of senior transfer quarterback Russell Wilson, Chryst has not shied away from spreading out defenses with an empty, five-receiver shotgun set. However, he has a twist.

Defensive coordinators use the ability to see what offensive personnel is in the huddle to help determine what defensive play will be run. Chryst has combated that by using Byrne, redshirt sophomore Jacob Pedersen and junior fullback Bradie Ewing in the shotgun to put defenses in match-ups the offense can exploit.

""It stresses the defense a lot,"" Pedersen said. ""When you come out and they're expecting a run play and get all bunched up like that, it's really tough on a defense.""

""It's a look you don't see every day,"" Byrne added.

Big shoes to fill

Production from the tight end position has become the expectation at Wisconsin.

A tight end has led UW in receiving four of the last five years and a Badger tight end has been drafted in five of the last six.

""The pro-style offense we run really translates to the NFL,"" Byrne said. ""Playing here, you have high expectations. It makes you work hard. You want to be the next Garrett Graham or the next Lance Kendricks or the next Travis Beckum.""

Beckum had the most prolific career at UW. As a sophomore in 2006, he exploded onto the scene with 903 yards on 61 catches, following that up with 982 yards and six scores his junior year. When his senior season was cut short by a knee injury, Graham—then a sophomore—stepped in capably.

By the time Graham's career was over, he had amassed 121 receptions, led the team in receiving yards with 540 in 2008 and led in touchdowns with seven in 2009, his senior season.

Kendricks came next. He made a name for himself at UW with seven catches and 128 yards against Miami in the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl and followed it up with a terrific campaign. On last year's Rose Bowl team, he not only led the team in receiving, but also developed into a vicious blocker that helped pave the way for the Badgers' record-setting rushing attack.

Excuse Pedersen and Byrne for expressing some skepticism of the NFL draft experts that labeled Kendricks a pass-catching tight end that would struggle to block in-line at the professional level.

""We always laughed about that,"" Byrne said.

""Obviously they had never seen him de-cleat two people on one play,"" Pedersen added. ""He was going up against some of the premier [defensive] ends in the nation and moving them five yards off the ball.""

Continuing the tradition

So far this year it has been Pedersen whose numbers are jumping off the page.

He already has four touchdown receptions on 10 catches. His 164 receiving yards are second on the team, trailing only senior wide receiver Nick Toon.

Still, as is the norm to play at UW, blocking is never far from the conversation.

""He's become a much better blocker,"" senior left tackle Ricky Wagner said. ""We work together a lot. and we have a lot of similar drills that we do.""

Pedersen, a Menominee, Mich. native, did not receive an offer to play Division I football until after his senior season. Playing in the Upper Peninsula limited his exposure to the recruiting circuit.

Pedersen was unaware, however, that he had opened eyes in a 2007 game against Wisconsin high school powerhouse Homestead High. Homestead's coaching staff was impressedand alerted the UW staff to Pedersen's talent.

""About mid-November I started talking to the coaches [at UW],"" Pedersen said.

Three years later, after Wisconsin's  35-0 win against Oregon State in which Pedersen caught six passes for 80 yard and two scorest, Bielema said he thought Pedersen had a chance to be the most complete player to grace the position in Cardinal and White.

The beat goes on.

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