What to Expect Jazz Peavy Edition
What to expect from Wisconsin WR Jazz Peavy for the 2017 Wisconsin Football season
Badger of Honor looked at possible “breakout candidates” over the last few weeks. Jazz Peavy does not fit in the category considering the numbers he’s already posted for UW.
Jazz Peavy will need to take a leadership role as he and George Rushing are the only senior WRs on the Wisconsin roster. Among 13 Badger WR, 10 are freshman and sophomores. So lets run down what to expect from Peavy for the 2017 Badger football season.
For starters, Peavy is a 6’0″ 189 senior from Kenosha, Wisconsin. His sophomore year Peavy caught 20 passes for 268 yards. His junior year was the breakout for the Badgers.
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Peavy had 43 catches 2nd on Wisconsin. His 635 receiving yards and five receiving TDs led the Badgers. Part of his value was also his usage on running the ball on jet sweeps. Peavy was actually the fourth leading rusher on Wisconsin. He had 21 carries for 320 yards and one TD.
Peavy’s work on jet sweeps is especially valuable. He torched The Ohio State (in the first half) gaining 70 yards on six carries. Peavy’s 71-yard scamper against Minnesota set up the game winning score to turn that result around for Bucky.
As Badger of Honor has written before, the jet sweep is a valuable play. The threat alone forces defenders to account for it so even as a decoy it removes one defender from the box. Used sparingly it adds width to the rushing attack. The play punishes defenses who overload the line of scrimmage stacking defenders to snuff out Wisconsin runs between the tackles.
Peavy should continue to get heavy usage running the football. Given his speed and elusiveness look for the Wisconsin to get him the ball and space.
In 2016 Peavy was the primary punt returner for the Badgers. He had 99 yards on 17 returns which is a 5.82 yards/return average. Wisconsin was 9th in the Big Ten in punt returns. Upping that number would help with field position and make life easier on the offense.
Jazz Peavy will play an important role for the Wisconsin passing offense. He is a bit undersized for an outside receiver but that obviously isn’t a problem in college as his stats show. He can line up out of the slot or motion into the backfield.
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In sum, Peavy is probably the most versatile chess piece for the Wisconsin offense. Expect to see a lot of him, used in unique ways.