By Jackson Dargan

Although many people think of Wisconsin as a smash mouth running football team, it has yielded some top receivers who have made careers for themselves at the next level. Guys like Chris Chambers, Lee Evans, and the legendary Al Toon have come through UW

Kraig Appleton could be the next big time receiver produced by the University of Wisconsin. Standing at 6-foot-4 inches he is a large, and strong target for quarterbacks.

Coming out of high school Appleton was highly recruited and was named to the Army All American game, while also being named one of the top-10 receivers in the class of 2009. After a brief commitment to Illinois, he decided the UW best fit him.

“The coaches here at UW told me exactly how we do things here, opposed to Illinois who just told me what I wanted to here,” he said.

As soon as he arrived at UW in the early summer he stood out to the coaches in his ability, however it isn’t any easy task to learn the in depth UW playbook that features many various formations.

“Kraigs got some size, he’s a big receiver” UW wide receivers coach DelVaugn Alexander said, ” He’s constantly getting better with him learning the playbook”.

“It was real slow and hard at first trying to handle the playbook, but now I feel I’m coming along in the offense”.

Early in the summer, and early in the season the coaching staff flirted with the idea of giving him a redshirt but decided to drop the idea because of what he brought to the team making him one of only several true freshmen not redshirting.

“I felt I was ready to play coming out of high school but there’s always room for improvement,” Appleton said.

Although he played in a highly competitive high school football division, college football is on an entirely different level.

“Guys are faster, bigger, and you need to make sure your minds right with no blown plays or else they’ll make you pay for it.”

Although highly talented, he’s stepping into a receiving corps which features an up and coming Nick Toon, Isaac Anderson and Second Team All Big Ten selection last year David Gilreath. Appleton nonetheless is still finding ways to make an impact.

“The (receivers) we got here are real talented, but they are still finding time to help me when things get a little cloudy,” Appleton said.

Alexander sees a lot of potential in Appleton and he was proud of his young receiver’s breakthrough performance this past Saturday.

“Kraigs a big time competitor and that could be seen in those two catches where he had defenders draped all over him,” Alexander said.