Welcome Aboard: Jesus “BOBO” Wilson, the Bucs newest wide receiver!

The next installment of my “Welcome Aboard”  series about another rookie undrafted free agent signed by the Buccaneers right after the 2017 NFL Draft. Jesus “BoBo”  Wilson is a former Florida State Seminole and has been reunited with his former college quarterback and current Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston. He’s hoping that the familiarity and chemistry between them will help him secure one of the few wide receiver spots remaining on this team, but it’s going to be a battle. With four receivers already cemented in place in Evans, Jackson, Humphries and third round pick Chris Godwin, there will likely only be two or three more roster spots left to be filled by wideouts. And “BoBo” will really have to impress them on special teams if he wants a real chance at one of them.

As a senior at Columbus High School in Miami, Wilson had 26 receptions for 524 yards and 7 touchdowns for a 20 yards per catch average in 14 games. He was ranked anywhere between the 23rd and the 148th best receiver in the country depending on which scouting service you were looking at and ended up choosing FSU over schools like Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Ole Miss, UCF and USF.

As a freshman in 2013, Wilson was a backup receiver and punt returner accounting for just 3 receptions for 23 yards and 8 returns for 89 yards. During the summer of 2014, Wilson was accused of stealing a fellow student’s scooter and crashing it resulting in two misdemeanor charges of petty theft and criminal mischief, 2 years probation and 30 days on a jail work camp. After putting the incident behind him, he stepped his game up in his sophomore season with 7 starts and 42 receptions for 527 yards and 4 touchdowns.

His junior year in 2015, he was the only Seminole receiver to start all 13 games and finished the season with 58 receptions for 622 yards and 3 touchdowns. His 2016 senior year was cut short by a season-ending foot injury but he still managed 30 receptions for 390 yards and added another 155 yards on 9 returns for a 17-yard average despite missing the final 5 games. In his four years at FSU, he totaled 133 catches for 1,562 yards and 8 touchdowns. The Seminoles spread the ball around quite a bit which accounts for the lack of eye-popping stats, but Wilson did average 12 yards per catch and a touchdown every 16 catches.

He had surgery to repair his foot and was able to recover in time to participate in the 2017 NFL Combine where he posted a 4.57 forty yard, a 9’11” broad jump, a 4.57 twenty yard shuttle, a 4.47 three-cone drill and 10 reps on the 225lb bench press. At 5’9″/190lbs, he was ranked 75th out of 438 draft eligible wide receivers for the NFL Draft but he was not selected. The Bucs came calling with a free agent contract offer and Wilson pounced on the opportunity to play with his former teammates Jameis Winston, Roberto Aguayo and Javien Elliott.

While he may have a lot of friendly faces on the team, he’s going to be fighting for his NFL life in camp. There are 11 wide receivers in camp right now and the four I mentioned earlier seem to be pretty secure in their jobs. That leaves “BoBo”  battling it out with Donteea Dye, Freddie Martino, Bernard Reedy, Josh Huff, Derel Walker and fellow undrafted rookie free agent Thomas Sperbeck for what will probably only be two spots on the roster. The WR competition has to be the best one of any other position battle in training camp and should be really exciting to watch…at least for us fans. Until then, as always…GO BUCS!!!