‘He’s special’: Why Chimere Dike is ready to be Wisconsin’s No. 1 receiver next season

LAS VEGAS — One of the first things former Wisconsin safety Eric Burrell noticed about wide receiver Chimere Dike last year was his natural curiosity and how he applied it to the field. Burrell, then a fifth-year senior, said he hadn’t been around a freshman like Dike who was willing to approach defensive players with constant questions in the pursuit of finding every advantage possible.

What should I have done better? Why did that route work against your coverage? Why didn’t that route work?

It was no wonder, then, why Burrell said by the end of fall camp that Dike was the one offensive player who had given members of the Badgers’ defense the most trouble. He had managed to pair his physical gifts with the ability to learn quickly, and he was going to be a problem in the future.

The traits Dike impressed teammates and coaches with during his first several months on campus are a big reason why so many people inside the program believe he is prepared to make the transition from offensive role player to No. 1 wide receiver next season. With seniors Kendric Pryor and Danny Davis using up their eligibility after the Las Vegas Bowl on Thursday and tight end Jake Ferguson moving on as well, Dike is about to become the guy in Wisconsin’s passing game. And while the touches may change, the approach certainly won’t for Dike.

“He’s been ready since his freshman year,” Wisconsin receivers coach Alvis Whitted said. “I have no doubt about his ability to lead and the things that he can do on the field and just how he goes about his daily routine, how he prepares, how he studies. I think those guys will have no better person to learn from once we start getting back into camp.

“I love that kid like he was my son and he’s the standard right now. He practices the way he plays. Those are the things that I think the other guys will see. I’m excited about the direction that he’s going and training.”

Dike was a three-star high school prospect and the No. 94 wide receiver in the 2020 class, according to the 247Sports Composite. At the time Wisconsin offered Dike a scholarship when he visited campus in January 2019 for junior day to watch a Badgers basketball game, he had one other offer from Iowa State. But he was exactly the kind of player Wisconsin coveted: Athletic, intelligent and willing to learn.

Dike viewed the Badgers as a perfect match and committed five days later before immediately shutting down his recruitment, even as other Big Ten programs inquired about his availability. Dike, a two-time all-state selection for Waukesha North, became the first in-state scholarship wide receiver to sign with Wisconsin in seven years, since Jazz Peavy in 2013. Perhaps not surprisingly, he was one of seven scholarship early enrollees in the 2020 recruiting class in an effort to expedite his learning curve.

“I just want to be the best player that I can be for my team and I think that you have to be willing to learn and find as many resources as possible,” Dike said. “We have so many great coaches, so many great players on this team that you can learn from. I try to use all my resources because I want to be the best player that I can be for this team and for the future as well.”

During his freshman season, Dike played in all seven games for Wisconsin with six starts, establishing a larger role because Pryor and Davis were sidelined with concussions. He caught 12 passes for 189 yards, including a 49-yard touchdown against Northwestern. When Pryor and Davis opted to exercise the extra year of eligibility the NCAA granted players during the pandemic to return in 2021, Dike’s opportunities figured to take a hit, and that is exactly what has transpired.

Dike has recorded the fourth-most targets on the team this season with 31. Ferguson (57), Davis (55) and Pryor (54) have commanded the most attention in Wisconsin’s passing game. Dike has 18 receptions for 242 yards and one touchdown. But he also didn’t catch any passes in games against Notre Dame, Purdue and Nebraska. His total combined targets in those contests was three.

“I think the biggest thing for me is just understanding you have to have patience sometimes,” Dike said. “At some points, there were times when I felt like I could’ve done more, whether it was getting more catches or whatever. But at the same time, I was able to grow as a player. I know that I’m ready to take that next step as a player now because of the way that I was able to still approach things in the right way.

“Obviously, those guys deserve targets, too, so that kind of comes with it. I wouldn’t say that it was necessarily frustrating. I still took a huge step forward I think going into the bowl game and going into next year.”

Dike has produced moments of brilliance early in his Wisconsin career, even if opportunities haven’t been as frequent as he might want. His best sequence this season came late in the first half against Michigan, when he caught a 36-yard pass from quarterback Graham Mertz and then an 18-yard touchdown on the ensuing play to bring Wisconsin to within 13-10 at halftime. No matter how many targets Dike has earned, what has stood out to teammates is that he hasn’t let it impact his effort.

“I’ve said this since the start with Chim: He’s just different,” Mertz said. “The way he acts, the way he works, you could tell the day he walked in here that he was mature for his age.

“We had a walk-through and this dude is sprinting the entire time. Just little things like that where he’s owning those details, owning the effort, owning the energy. He’s a dog. He can go all day doing this stuff. He’s special.”

Wisconsin’s wide receiver room will be significantly different without Pryor and Davis. Dike has played by far the most career snaps among the team’s returning receivers with 836. A.J. Abbott has played 122 offensive snaps, though just 26 this season. Stephan Bracey has played 33 snaps on offense, all of which occurred in 2020.

Freshman Markus Allen has played 17 snaps this season, and Whitted said he and Dike had stood out the most during bowl practices. Allen has a legitimate opportunity to move into the No. 2 wide receiver role. Other scholarship wide receivers include Isaac Smith, Skyler Bell and incoming freshmen Tommy McIntosh and Vinny Anthony.

Dike said his leadership style, which he has demonstrated for the past two seasons, entails being consistent and approaching every day with “a workmanlike mentality” that shows teammates they can count on him. He already has become a mentor for Allen, pulling him aside and helping him to understand what is required to succeed in college.

“His work ethic is like out of this world,” Allen said. “He’s not going to let anybody outwork him. You can tell even in film sessions he is very detailed. He wants to make sure everything he knows is right. He wants to make sure if he’s coming back on the depth, this is the right depth.

“I would say he’s really a perfectionist. He wants everything to be perfect. And I like that because it actually makes me be a better player also learning from him and it complements my game because both of us can try to be perfectionists and try to get everything right so we’re both on the same page.”

Those small details have not only helped to separate Dike from his peers but go a long way toward developing trust and timing with his quarterbacks. Dike said he has such a good rapport with Mertz, one of his best friends, that the two can easily communicate about what each player sees. They have created enough built-in equity that they’re able to challenge each other in a constructive way to improve on subsequent plays.

“Chim’s probably the most technical receiver, most sound, fundamental receiver I’ve ever been around,” freshman quarterback Deacon Hill said. “He’s very athletic, very fast, very good. He doesn’t do much wrong. He’s just one of those guys that you can always rely on to be in the right spot when you want him there.

“If he does something, he’ll come back, talk through it with the quarterbacks. He’ll be like, ‘All right, what did you guys think of this? What should we do? Should I break out? Should I break in? Should I sit?’ He’s definitely the most fundamental guy I’ve ever been around.”

Dike said his greatest strength as a receiver is his ability to do a lot of skills well to make him a complete player: route running, blocking, communicating, leading and learning. He’ll have an opportunity to put it all on display in his biggest role yet next season.

“I see myself as that guy in the room that the team can count on, and I’m ready for that,” Dike said. “That’s what I’ve been working for since I got here is to be that guy. I’m excited to take that next step next year. I’m just going to continue to work and continue to get better every single day and be more consistent so when my time comes and my opportunities come, I’m going to take advantage of them.”

(Top photo: Rich Graessle / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)