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Senior Spotlight: Wisconsin Football’s Jordan Fredrick

By Taylor Johnson

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Badger of Honor in recent weeks and leading up to the start of the season against Alabama is putting a spotlight on all the Wisconsin Badgers seniors. Up next is wide receiver Jordan Fredrick, a native of Madison, WI.

READ ALSO: Senior Spotlight: Alex Erickson

Fredrick came to Wisconsin from Madison Memorial high school as a three-star recruit, but it wasn’t at wide receiver. Although he played receiver in high school, he was recruited by Wisconsin as a safety and was ranked by 247Sports as a top 100 player at the position and 10th best in the state for the class of 2011.

Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin Badgers /

Wisconsin Badgers

The same class had players like Melvin Gordon, Sam Arneson, Trae Waynes, Derek Landisch and Derek Watt in the state. Fredrick was an all-around athlete at Memorial, playing both sides of the ball and succeeding very well. In his career in high school, he caught 113 passes for 1,216 yards and 15 touchdowns, as well as 163 tackles, 14 picks and four touchdowns on the defensive side of the ball.

After a redshirt season in 2011, Fredrick made five starts in 14 games while having his best statistical season to date in the 2012 season. He recorded 17 catches for 196 yards and his lone touchdown that was caught in the Rose Bowl against Stanford. Four times this season Fredrick recorded multiple receptions, including three for 27 yards in a loss at Nebraska halfway through the season.

The 2013 season saw Fredrick’s numbers dip slightly as standout receiver Jared Abbrederis became the star of the passing game. Fredrick played all 13 games and started five of those, recording 10 receptions for 106 yards. His best game of the season came in a 48-0 blowout win against where Tennessee Tech where he caught three balls for 31 yards. It was this season where we saw Fredrick excel more as a downfield blocker than anything for the one-two punch of James White and Melvin Gordon.

With Abbrederis graduating, Wisconsin needed to find some options on the outside. After taking a slight dip the previous year, Fredrick saw his numbers come back up a hair in the 2014 season. He hauled in 13 receptions for 126 yards while continuing to excel as a reliable downfield run blocker. Fredrick had a career game against Purdue where he had a career-highs in receptions (5) and receiving yards (64) in a 34-16 road win.

The upcoming 2015 season has the Badgers still looking for another receiving option not named Alex Erickson. Although he has a great reputation as a downfield blocker, Fredrick needs to step up as a viable receiving option for Wisconsin. He’s one of the few veteran wideouts on the roster but will have to battle the likes of Rob Wheelwright, George Rushing and Reggie Love for playing time.

Next: Senior Spotlight: Jake Stengel

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