Wisconsin’s group of wide receivers would be imposing enough even without the return of Lee Evans, who is returning to the team this season after undergoing two major knee surgeries.

After all, Jonathan Orr and Brandon Williams finished this past season ranked first and second, respectively, on UW’s all-time freshman receiving yardage list. In addition to setting records, both were honored with postseason awards as they were named to the freshman All-Big Ten team. Sporting News even put the duo on its second team freshman All-American list.

And though Darrin Charles struggled with an ankle injury last year, he came on down the stretch and has been opening eyes at spring practice.

All three have immense talent, and, according to offensive coordinator Brian White, each brings a unique set of skills to the offense.

“They all do different things,” White said. “Darrin’s [6-foot-7] and a great leaper for the ball, Jonathan’s a really explosive guy that can double-move you, [and] Brandon’s a great underneath, crossing-route guy.”

But none, at least at this point, is Lee Evans, who two years ago set the Big Ten single-season receiving yardage record with 1,545 yards and was an All-American and a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation’s top college receiver.

Evans is attempting to return from the torn ACL he suffered in last year’s spring game, which kept him out of the entire 2002 season.

Though Evans is still rehabbing the injury at this point, the coaching staff hopes he’ll be at full speed by fall camp.

“Lee’s doing very well,” White said. “He’s right on schedule.”

If Evans can come even close to matching his 2001 performance, his headlining talent gives the Badgers one of the deepest receiving corps in the country and creates match-up nightmares for the players on the other side of the ball.

“[Getting Evans back] is going to help a lot,” Orr said. “It was hard for teams to defend us without Lee, and I can imagine [that with him] it’s going to be, like, maybe a hundred times harder.

“I think with our receiving corps, [opposing defenses] won’t be able to focus too much on one guy, and if they do, we have good enough depth that we can hurt them in different ways.”

Of course, this being a Wisconsin football team, don’t expect quarterback Jim Sorgi to put the ball in the air 50 times a game.

“We’re still going to run the football and be a team that wants to be physical,” White said.

UW’s talented stable of receivers should contribute to that goal as well.

Most importantly, the attention UW’s wideouts will demand from opponents should open things up for the Badgers’ running game.

“More is better than less,” White said. “And the more weapons you have on offense, particularly at receiver, it’s only going to expand holes for your running back. You don’t have to be as perfect.”

One aspect of the younger receivers’ game that could stand to be a little more perfect, however, is their blocking on running plays.

Orr admitted that as freshmen, he and Williams took a little while to get acclimated to the physical aspect of blocking at the college level.

“If you look at last year, [tailback Anthony Davis] could have broken a few more [runs] if we had been blocking a little better for him,” Orr said. “That’s something we’ve really been focusing on [in the off-season].”

The catching and running have been going pretty well, too.

Ultimately, said White, “I’m really excited about this whole group. [They] have really all shown me that they can play winning football for us and deserve to be put in situations to make a lot of plays.”