Packers 2014 NFL Draft – Fifth Round Pick: Jared Abbrederis, WR, Wisconsin

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With their 5th round pick (176th overall) in the 2014 NFL draft, the Green Bay Packers select Jared Abbrederis, WR, Wisconsin

PLAYER DETAILS: 

Jared Abbrederis
WR
Wisconsin
6’1″/195 lbs

CAREER NOTES: 

Won 2013 Burlsworth Trophy as nation’s top player who began his career as a walk-on … finished career tied for school record for receptions (202) and ranked No. 2 all-time at Wisconsin in receiving yards (3,140) and touchdown receptions (23) … ranks eighth all-time among Big Ten players with 3,140 career receiving yards … registered fourth 1,000-yard season in UW history in 2013 with 1,081 receiving yards … also set school record for kickoff return average (25.8) and ranks No. 5 all-time in punt return average (10.7) … finished career ranked No. 7 all-time at UW with 4,818 all-purpose yards (291 rushing, 3,140 receiving, 587 punt return, 800 kickoff return)

COMBINE: 4.5 40-yard, 4 bench, 30.5″ vertical, 117.0″ broad, 6.80 3-cone, 4.08 shuttle,

 NFL.com Profile

SCOUTING REPORT: 

 Uses his hands well to swat away press. Stems his routes. Sells his patterns. Nice hands. Good field and boundary awareness. Gives effort to engage and shield cornerbacks as a blocker. Outstanding football intelligence — like a quarterback on the outside. Productive three-year starter. Mature and humble. Hardworking and coachable.
 Has a slender build and needs to bulk up and get stronger. Ordinary pop off the line. Builds to average speed. Could struggle to separate vs. quick-twitch covermen. Lets throws into his body and breaks stride to catch. Not an above-the-rim player. Straightlinish after the catch — pedestrian agility and elusiveness. Has a history of concussions.
 A former walk-on, Abbrederis went from afterthought to scholarship player to No. 1 receiver. While the blue-collar overachiever lacks exceptional athletic traits for the NFL, he’s a steady “X” receiver whose hands and smarts could enable him to work his way into a No. 3 or No. 4 receiver role.

COMMENTARY:

Hometown hero Jared Abbrederis doesn’t have to go very far to start his professional career, and while it might be too early to make comparisons but Abbrederis fits the mold of another try hard wide receiver that makes up for his lack of physical tools with hard work and good coaching that the Packers had a lot of success with, namely Donald Driver.  Abbrederis also provides another option at returner, which is always a good thing for the Packers squad that always seems to be in flux.  The wide receiver core looks a lot more stocked now with Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Jarrett Boykin, Davante Adams and now Jared Abbrederis.

VIDEO:

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Thomas Hobbes is a staff writer for Jersey Al’s AllGreenBayPackers.com.

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40 thoughts on “Packers 2014 NFL Draft – Fifth Round Pick: Jared Abbrederis, WR, Wisconsin

  1. The former Badgers staff decided that their quarterback walk-on was too athletic to pine away on the bench, and were looking for opportunities to get their discovery on the field. After spending his first season at the University of Wisconsin auditioning at a variety of positions, Abbrederis made his collegiate debut the following season as a return specialist.

    Abbrederis continued to excel during practices and the coaches eventually increased his work load, as he served behind Nick Toon, earning a pair of starting assignments when the split end was injured. It would begin a storied career that would see the former passer from Wautoma High School end up sharing the school’s all-time pass catching record with 202 receptions, the eleventh-best total in Big Ten Conference history.

    At Wautoma High, Abbrederis was a three-time letter-winner in football. He was second-team all-conference quarterback as a sophomore and named second-team all-conference quarterback and first-team all-conference as a defensive back as a junior. As a senior, the two-time team captain again received first-team all-conference on both offense and defense.

    Abbrederis threw for 1,657 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2009 to close out his career with 3,014 passing yards and 30 touchdowns. He rushed for 1,490 yards as a senior, averaging 8.4 yards per carry, 106.4 yards per game and produced 26 rushing touchdowns. He was selected the conference offensive player of the year and the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association first-team all-state quarterback as a senior.

    Abbrederis also competed in track and wrestling, where he was a two-time state champion and state record holder in 110m high hurdles. He was also named the state champion as a senior in the 300m hurdles, leading his team to the state championship in 2009. He closed out his career by being selected the Gatorade track athlete of the year and BFS Male National Athlete of the Year as a senior.

    The 2011 season was a learning experience for the converted quarterback, but even though he was relegated to mostly return duties during the first half of the schedule, he caught twenty passes for 289 yards and three touchdowns. He totaled 494 all-purpose yards as a red-shirt freshman, but was primed to becoming a mainstay for the offense during the course of his next three seasons.

    As a sophomore, Abbrederis was awarded a scholarship after he took over flanker duties, starting all fourteen games. His 1,999 all-purpose yards rank as the sixth-best season total by a Badger, as he finished third in the nation with a 15.8-yard average (second best in UW annals) on twenty punt returns. His 55 receptions rank eighth, 933 receiving yards placed sixth and his eight touchdown grabs are tied for fifth on the Wisconsin annual record charts.

    Abbrederis returned to the split end position during his junior campaign after lining up at flanker the previous year. He led the Badgers and ranked third in the Big Ten Conference
    With 837 yards gained via 49 receptions, reaching the end zone with five of those grabs. His special team duties were relegated only to punt returns, gaining 111 yards on 17 runbacks, as the All-Big Ten Conference first-team choice tallied 1,031 all-purpose yards.

    His football career is far from over, but the journey Abbrederis took to the top was worth it, at least to the UW staff, as they saw their inherited receiver record one of the finest seasons by a receiver in school history. He set the UW record with 78 receptions and recorded just the fourth 1,000-yard receiving campaign in UW annals (1,081), as his seven scoring grabs placed seventh on the school record list.

    The All-Big Ten Conference first-team selection was named the winner of the Burlsworth Trophy as the nation’s most outstanding player that began his career as a walk-on. “You think about the hard work that you put in through the years that brought you to where you are today,” Abbrederis said after accepting the fourth-annual award. “All those memories come back and you’re honored, blessed.”

    1. The only thing that strikes me as very odd is the 4 reps on the bench press, while physical strength isn’t as important for wide receivers as say offensive linemen, he’s so many standard deviations away from the norm that something must have happened, probably an injury of some sort.

      1. Tim Tebow – 28 reps

        Aaron Rodgers – who cares

        which one you want?

      2. Badgers have a history of players not being strong in the upper body. They prefer to concentrate their strength and conditioning on the legs, hips and core strength.

        Still a major concern that he could only do 4 reps tho.

        I don’t like that he’s straight line and lacks elusiveness. He has no suddenness in him. I don’t think he’ll be much of a returner for that reason, even tho his college stats are decent returning.

        1. Stroh, I appreciate your thought on it, however, keep in mind who he is going to be lined up against. 4th or 5th db’s. The guy runs good routes and got open against much better athletes over and over. That is an instance where technique trumps athleticism. He’s going to be good in his role. Which, I agree will be more limited.
          GoPack!

          1. What role? That remains to be seen. Right now it remains to be seen if he makes the roster… I think he will becuz almost all rookies make the Packers or at least the PS. I’ve watched him as much as anyone. Haven’t missed watching a Badgers game in a long time. His route running might be about the only thing he does well enough. It worked for Steve Largent so there’s a chance.

            Call me not sold!

            1. Fair enough. You and I will agree to disagree. I think he is a good addition.

        2. I’d say historically the Packers don’t put much emphasis on straight line speed or elusiveness when it comes to their returners, hence all the running backs they like to try down there. At this point, I’d take anyone who can reliably field the ball and get some yardage, I think Abbrederis can do that.

    1. Nothing wrong with that, though Abbrederis is a lot taller and bigger. If anything Cobb resembles Welker more physically while Abbrederis looks more like Driver

    2. Not hardly. Cobb is much closer to Welker, not only in size, but elusiveness and suddenness.

  2. I say we go Christian Jones or DeAndre Coleman in the 6th and Tahj Boyd or Colt Lyerla in the 7th

  3. Widely considered the best route runner in the draft. Sets up moves and gets open. Fits the offense really well and we now have another good return option. Great pick. GoPack!

    1. I think that might be a more important factor that people are forgetting because he’s a hometown product. I’m still not sure who will start as the Packers kick returner and it does give Micah Hyde some flexibility if he ends up playing more on defense.

  4. 4 reps on the bench. Is that the lowest at the combine? Needs to hit the weights so he can fight off jams, but love the pick for the end of the 5th.

    1. If it’s not the lowest of the combine I would be surprised. Typically the worst performers just barely miss out on double digits as opposed to not even hitting 5 reps.

  5. Luxury pick. Too talented to pass up. I had a feeling he might be undervalued the same way both guys in new england, wes welker, and any other short slot receiver usually is/was. wouldn’t surprise me at all if he ends up having the best career of any of the 5th round picks. As a UW alum, of course I realize the potential for bias, but I actually didn’t want the Pack to draft him. Once he lasted to the end of the 5th, I love the fact we may have a long term returner and 4/5 WR. The guy will be a great slot back-up and really help on every special teams unit.

    1. Considering how many wide receivers the Packers actually go through during a game I wouldn’t call this a huge luxury pick. Keep in mind a couple years ago the Packers really liked their “big 5” package of all wide receivers.

      1. The Big 5 package has been retired. THey have a legit Running game now and they won’t be in a hurry to take Lacy or any RB out of the game.

        Going to be using more and more no huddle to take advantage of Rodgers knowledge of the offense and the game in general. That means no more than 3 WR most of the time. 4 WR on the field might happen occasionally but even that won’t be very often.

          1. This is what was supposed to post:

            The ‘Big 5’ will return when Johnathan Franklin lines up as the set back and motions into the slot.

            Remember the mantra is ‘multiple, multiple, multiple.’

            Purely a gimmick IMO, but M3 won’t be able to resist playing with all of his toys.

        1. I don’t think they “retired” the big 5 package, only they didn’t have 5 quality wide receivers to actually make it work in recent years. It’s not like the Packers are in the no huddle 100% of the time so it’s not like having 5 wide receivers on the field really hampers you that way. In reality, they could go 5 receivers, then motion Cobb into the backfield and do it that way as well.

  6. Luxury pick. Too talented to pass up. I had a feeling he might be undervalued the same way both guys in new england, wes welker, and any other short slot receiver usually is/was. wouldn’t surprise me at all if he ends up having the best career of any of the 5th round picks. As a UW alum, of course I realize the potential for bias, but I actually didn’t want the Pack to draft him. Once he lasted to the end of the 5th, I love the fact we may have a long term returner and 4/5 WR. The guy will be a great slot back-up and really help on every special teams unit.

  7. Well, it looks like we have 5 WRs again. History of concussions is concerning.

    1. Indeed, but I’m guessing the value at that point is probably too good to pass up. Worst case scenario it’s not a huge loss as it was a 5th round pick.

    1. Lacks elusiveness and is a straight line athlete. He will catch the ball and get some yards (what its blocked for) but he won’t be a good returner that can make plays, just a guy that won’t make mistakes. If your ok w/ that from a return man that’s up to you. I prefer a little more. THe Goodson CB might be a better returner.

      1. The ‘Big 5’ will return when Johnathan Franklin is in as the setback and motions to a slot receiver spot.

        Remember, the mantra is ‘multiple, multiple’ multiple.’

        Purely a gimmick, IMO, but M3 wont be able to resist playing with his toys.

      2. Of the Packers recent returners, do you feel like any of them have had excellent straight line speed or elusiveness outside of Cobb (who I doubt will ever return again)?

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