Boise State roster countdown 2018: Day 7, A.J. Richardson

93 countdown articles are in our rear view...which can only mean one thing: WE HAVE ONE WEEK UNTIL REAL LIVE BRONCO FOOTBALL. YEAAAAAHAH *cough. With just 7 days left until kickoff, let’s take a look at #7 on the Boise State roster—A.J. Richardson

#7, A.J. Richardson, Senior, WR

Stats

Height: 6’0”

Weight: 212 lbs.

High School: Narbonne High School, Harbor City, CA

How’d he get to The Blue™?

By shunning da Bears (the golden ones). Richardson was a one-time Cal commit, but jumped ship after their coaching change and picked the Broncos. Everything worked out well in the end, as Richardson needed time to rehab a knee injury and was able to gray shirt for the Broncos. Richardson was a standout wide receiver at Narbonne, racking up close to 2,000 yards between his junior and senior seasons at the school—also leading the team to back-to-back CIF Los Angeles City Section Division I Championships. As a senior, named a Semper Fidelis All-American as well as All-Marine League, all-city section and all-state. San Diego State, New Mexico State, Nevada, Duke, Houston, Hawaii, and obviously Cal had extended offers to Richardson.

Nickname

”Oldie”

It feels like Richardson has been on campus since the Reagan administration.

Look-alike

Sorry, Miss Jackson, but I think he looks like Andre 3000

Career Highlights

Appeared in all 14 contests for the Broncos last season and made 13 starts. Appeared in 13 games for the Broncos in 2016 and made one start. All-Mountain West Academic Team in 2015. Semper Fi All-American in 2012. All-Marine League, all-city section and all-state in 2012. Over 2,600 receiving yards and 34 TDs in 3 year varsity career. Named “top ten” receiver in the west by Scout.com.

2018 Prospectus

Richardson seems like he’s been on campus for about a decade. I call this the “D.J. Harper” effect. Maybe it just affects guys that have initials for their first names? I guess you should get used to seeing D.J. Schramm around. I digress. Richardson has slowly but surely become the player that we all knew he could be and had his best season as a Bronco in 2017 as the main “possession” receiver in the Boise State system. Richardson finished the season with 494 receiving yards and two TDs, and while he didn’t have a Cedrick Wilson type impact, he kept the chains moving for the Broncos.

This season, with Wilson long gone and Thomas Sperbeck even longer gone, the Broncos will need playmakers to emerge in the WR unit to keep Brett Rypien happy. Richardson and Modster, as the two seniors in the corps, should definitely help fill that leadership role that followed Ced Wilson to Dallas, but they also should be able to put some yards betwixt themselves and opponents and put points on the board. In fact, the two seniors had a nearly identical number of catches in 2017 (33 for A.J. and 32 for Sean), so Ryp didn’t tip his hand as to who might be more of the go-to guy this fall. Richardson’s yards per catch was about 5 yards more than Modster’s, but Modster got in the endzone more (3 to 2). Go figure.

Both seniors should provide excellent leadership for a relatively young receiving corps and provide a nice safety net for Rypien when he needs an outlet. Richardson isn’t the “go deep” guy of the unit, but if you recall his loooong TD against Air Force last season—he ain’t slow. So the rich WR tapestry will have a significantly different look in 2018, but Old Man Richardson should be a nice security blanket for nervous fans wondering if the youngsters have what it takes.

Is he on Twitter?

Yep, but I think he disagrees with Deandre Pierce’s jelly recommendations

Completely made up fact

For several years, people have tried in vain to decipher what the initials in Richardson’s name stand for. As his senior year is finally upon us, I’ll finally spill the beans. His name is just plain old Apple Jacks.