CORVALLIS - Jesse Legree arrived at national signing day with no committable FBS offers. Not long after, he’s in position to become one of the most decorated freshmen Oregon State has ever had.
Through his first four starts, Legree has done something no true freshman in program history has managed: he’s topped 100 receiving yards and scored a touchdown in each of those games. He’s also piled up 22 catches for 585 yards and six touchdowns, while winning Pac-12 freshman of the week honors every week this season - four straight awards, more than any player in Oregon State history. Freshman All-American recognition, at this point, feels like a matter of when, not if.
The production has put Legree near the top of the national leaderboard, too. He entered Pac-12 play this week against Colorado State ranked second in receiving yards behind Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith and tied for fourth in touchdown catches.
“I’ve been dreaming about this moment since I decided to play football at a collegiate level,” Legree said. “To go through these past nine months and coach (JaMarcus Shephard), (offensive coordinator Mitch) Dahlen and (receivers) coach (James Finley), the amount of trust they have in me and allowing me to make them big plays, it’s been amazing to feel and be a part of.”
The first real glimpse came on a 71-yard catch against Houston, but the play Legree keeps coming back to is the 75-yard touchdown he hauled in from Braden Atkinson against Texas Tech the next week. The route - a double move - was the kind of play that showed off both timing and trust.
“(It) goes to show how me and BA had put in the work on the outside of the field,” Legree said. “To see that transfer to the game felt great.”
That moment, against a defense from a College Football Playoff team, also highlighted the instincts that have helped him pop so quickly. Legree pointed to film study as a big reason he’s been able to make those kinds of plays. Even more notable has been the week-to-week consistency, with opposing defenses still not fully zeroing in on him.
“At a point teams can try to do other things to try to take them away and we’ll keep trying to do things to not let that happen,” Shephard said. “But I can’t tell you without a shadow of a doubt that someone might not get a good formula in one particular game.
I think every receiver across the country has their moments where the defense does a good job of slowing them down. The great part about it is we’ve got Eric Olsen.
We’ve got (AJ) Newberry. We got a bunch of other guys that they try to take him away, then we can go ahead and try to attack in some other way.”
Legree is already on track toward his personal target of 1,000 receiving yards, and the wideout room is also trying to stay ahead of the standard set by Shephard, who has a background coaching receivers.
At 5-foot-10 and 172 pounds, Legree has also stepped into more of a vocal leadership role in the room. And for him, confidence isn’t really part of the debate anymore.
“When I go to catch a ball - they talk about 50/50, I know it’s 100/0 it’s going to come down with me,” Legree said. “I trust myself to be able to do and make the plays that I do.”
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