B
efore Zach Azzanni got a chance to work with Jared Abbrederis on the practice field, the first-year Wisconsin wide receiver
coach had already built a profile on Abbrederis based on what he had seen of him on video from the 2011 season. The tape never lies; which is more clinical than cliché. "Obviously, he's a savvy player,'' Azzanni said of
the "instincts'' that jumped off the screen. "Some players feel the game a little bit differently out there. When they catch the ball and they're about to get hit, they know how to get down. There are some things you can't coach and do drills for.'' There was something else that Azzanni saw in Abbrederis, who had 55 catches for 933 yards and eight touchdowns last season. "I saw a guy who can be as good as he wants to be,'' he said, "if he keeps improving his techniques. A lot of times I think he was just out there playing.'' Once Azzanni actually got to see Abbrederis
play on a daily basis, he discovered, "Jared un- derstands how to get himself open sometimes on things you can't cover in a practice situation. He can sometimes improvise and get separation (from a defensive back) on some looks that we haven't seen.''
But he was also quick to point out that Abbre-
deris can apply instruction to his own game. "On some of the things that he saw against UTEP,'' Az- zanni said of last Saturday's opponent at Camp Randall Stadium, "he took coaching and put it out on the field and then put his own little 'Abby' on it.''
That would be the Abbrederis signature — the
Abby — and what distinguishes him from others. Returning from an injury that sidelined him for the second half of the Oregon State loss and the Utah State victory, Abbrederis caught six passes for a career-high 147 yards and one touchdown against UTEP.
32 » VARSITY SEPTEMBER 27, 2012
