Wisconsin football: Chimere Dike has the tools to be special

Get to know the future of Wisconsin football. Wide receiver Chimere Dike could be a big part of Wisconsin’s offense in the future.

In our preview of the receiver position for the Wisconsin football team, we talked about how this group would be made up. There are four senior receivers on this team: Danny Davis, Kendric Pryor, Adam Krumholz, and Jack Dunn. After that, things get a little hazy. There are a pair of sophomores in Mustapha and Abbott who could be contributors this year or next, but there is an incoming freshman who may be able to earn some playing time regardless of who is in front of him.

Chimere Dike is the next up on Badger of Honor’s freshman focus series.

High School

Dike is a 6-0, 180-pound receiver out of Waukesha, Wisconsin. According to 247Sports rankings, he is a 3-star recruit and ranked the 94th receiver in the country and 582nd overall nationally. As a senior at Waukesha North, he caught 59 passes for 962 yards.

Dike picked Wisconsin over Iowa State. He only had the two offers, but I feel like he only received those two because he and Wisconsin were pretty much a done deal.

Allen Trieu, 247Sports’ National Recruiting Analyst compares him, ironically enough, to former Wisconsin football player, Alex Erickson. Here is the rest of his scouting report on Dike:

"Lean right now. Still has room to fill in and get bigger. Likely will not carry lots of weight come college though. Fluid, natural athlete. Tracks the ball well in the air and exhibits good body control. Track athlete with good verified speed. Made an impact as a return man and as a ball carrier in addition to his receiving exploits. Showed toughness as a runner as well as a defensive player. Physicality should only improve as he gets stronger. Was generally a home-run guy on deep routes and screens in high school and will need to work on route running in college. Excellent football player, very versatile and can help an offense in a variety of ways and will be a strong return man candidate also. Projects as an impact college player and will have a shot to play on Sundays."

After Dike spends a season with the Wisconsin strength and conditioning coaches, I have no doubt that he will fill out and become a problem for future Big Ten defensive backs.

College Preview

As we talked about earlier, Dike may not see a whole lot of playing time this year as a freshman because there are four seniors ahead of him on the roster. But Evan Flood from Badger247 wrote an article (free) about which true freshman would help the Badgers in 2020, and he listed Dike as his second-highest choice.

"Wide receiver is generally among the easier positions to transition to from high school to college. It also helps that Chimere Dike (Waukesha, Wis.) is a stickler for doing the little things it takes to win.For instance, Dike is a very advanced route runner who goes about his business with a surgeron-like precision. His speed and athleticism mirrors that of Jazz Peavy coming out of high school, but Dike was a much more refined wide receiver from a route running and hands standpoint. Dike has speed to burn, able to get behind the secondary or take a short gain and turn it into a home run.With Kendric Pryor, Danny Davis, Jack Dunn, and Adam Krumholz all back, there’s not a huge need at wide receiver, but will all four of those guys being seniors, it’s probably a good idea to start getting Dike’s feet wet if he’s ready."

Dike may not be ready to contribute this season, but he will definitely have a role within this offense in the future. Plus, it looks like he already has a connection with QB1 Graham Mertz.