Boise State numerical roster countdown 2016: Day 9, Bryan Jefferson

The countdown is now in single digits. Where does the time go? With just 9 days left until kickoff, today we'll look at #9 on the Boise State roster—Bryan Jefferson

#9, Bryan Jefferson, RS Freshman, WR

Stats

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 186 lbs.

High School: Leesburg High School, Leesburg, FL

How'd he get to The Blue™?

Jefferson made quite the trek to The Blue. Not quite as far as Elliot Hoyte, mind you...but he made a coast to coast trip to become a Bronco and that's plenty. Jefferson was a big "get" for the Broncos out of Florida's Leesburg High School, where he was rated a 3-star and the 48th player at his position nationally. As a senior at Leesburg, Jefferson hauled in 42 catches for 801 yards and 8 scores...a modest improvement over his junior season where he snagged 41 catches for 609 yards and 5 scores. In the end, Jefferson chose the Broncos over a pretty impressive list of suitors, including Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Duke, FIU, FAU, Iowa, Iowa State, Middle Tennessee State, Oregon State, Temple, UAB, and UCF.

Nickname

"Thomas'"

He gets to be the president of catching touchdowns.

Look-a-like

Basketball-playing-fellow Russell Westbrook (I'm getting worse at this)

Career highlights

Consensus 3-star recruit that was named the 74th best overall athlete in Florida after senior season. 1,961 yards and 18 TDs in his HS career. Helped lead Leesburg to district championship as a junior and a runner-up finish as a sophomore.

2016 prospectus

As we've discussed, and as you're likely to see later today...the Broncos have a pretty deep and talented WR corps this season. Great news if you are a fan of Brett Rypien padding his stats and seeing our own Hal Mumme-less version of the air raid offense play out on The Blue. A perhaps negative effect of all this talent and depth is that there are simply not enough offensive touches to go around after Messrs. Sperbeck, Anderson, and Wilson (I'm guessing) absorb that lion's share. Most of the spring and fall buzz has centered on JuCo-transfer Cedrick Wilson and I think most expect that he'll fill that vacant 3rd receiver spot—of course, what Anderson (deep threat) and Sperbeck (everything else) bring to the table is well-known. This isn't to say, we're going to see just three receivers this year—far from it, but between the likes of Akilian Butler (also frequently mentioned this fall), AJ Richardson, Austin Cottrell, and true freshman Bubba Ogbebor...those touches start to dwindle the further you get down the depth chart.

Jefferson's high school film is as impressive as any of the aforementioned, and I hope that he can carve out a niche on the WR unit. He's a strong yards-after-catch guy, which helps tremendously in the short and medium-range passing game, so I think he definitely has a spot in the 2016 offense. More importantly, since Anderson and Sperbeck are seniors this year—any experience that Jefferson can gain in 2016 will pay huge dividends in the future (and remember, we'll still have Rypien for two more years /knocks on wood SO hard). Bottom line: Jefferson plays sparingly this season, but shows some flashes of brilliance, paving the way for 3 more successful years on The Blue (at least, I hope).

Is he on Twitter?

Thought I was trippin. But it was really Damian Lillard @ Winco

— GK (@bee_Jeff) August 1, 2016

Yes, and he is NOT trippin'

Completely made up fact

The classic TV show "The Jeffersons" is loosely based on Bryan's family. No one is quite sure why TV execs found it compelling that his grandparents "moved on up" from Clermont to Leesburg, but Sherman Helmsley made it work.