Kansas receiver Dezmon Briscoe outhooves Kansas State defenders on his way to the end zone on Oct. 6. Briscoe, a true freshman, has helped bolster the Jayhawks' receiving corps this season.

In years past, when NFL running backs cracked the 1,000-yard mark, they often showed their appreciation to the linemen that helped them get there by gifting Rolex watches or taking the hogs out to expensive steak dinners.

Kansas University quarterback Todd Reesing has no such plans for the flock of wide receivers who helped elevate him from unknown gamble to Heisman Trophy candidate in just four months.

That’s not to say Reesing doesn’t appreciate the plays guys like Marcus Henry, Dexton Fields, Dezmon Briscoe and Kerry Meier made down the field. He does. It’s just, the sophomore QB has a different way of rewarding his playmakers.

“I think they’re going to get balls thrown to them,” Reesing said when asked if designer watches were in order. “Seriously, though, towards the end of the season they really elevated their play. During the last four or five games of the season, (our wide receivers) played as well as anybody on our team.”

Not that anyone was surprised.

Entering the 2007 season, those inside the KU football circle knew what they had at the wide receiver position. Depth, talent and potential were the three words most commonly used to describe the receiving corps. And that was without realizing that Briscoe would become a major contributor as a true freshman.

Before the Jayhawks’ first snap of the 2007 season, the one player most pointed to for a breakout season was senior Marcus Henry. The assessment was spot-on.

After three unspectacular seasons on campus, Henry delivered in ’07 with 52 receptions, 994 yards and nine touchdowns. The yards and touchdowns were team-highs. The catches were just off the pace of Fields, who leads with 56 grabs.

“From Day 1 in training camp, it was a different year for me,” Henry said. “I just had a different attitude and came every day with the mindset that, when the ball was in the air, it was mine.”

It didn’t take long for Henry and Reesing to find their groove. In the season-opening victory over Central Michigan, Henry caught one of Reesing’s four first-half TD passes and finished the game with team-highs in receptions (7) and yards (103).

“When everyone asked me who I thought would be a breakout player for us this year, I said Marcus, too,” Reesing said. “His ability, his size, his speed and the way he catches it; he’s up there with the best of them.”

He’s hardly alone.

While Fields displayed the possession-type of skills everyone expected from him (56 receptions, 733 yards, 6 TDs), Briscoe and Meier were big-time surprises. It’s rare for a true freshman receiver to make the kind of splash Briscoe made this season.

His 41 catches ranked fourth on the team. His 476 yards ranked third. And his seven touchdowns were second only to Henry.

Although numbers like that might have come as a surprise to most, several Jayhawks were hardly shocked by the output of the 6-foot-3 speedster from Dallas.

“The only thing surprising about him is that we got him to come here before we went 11-1,” sophomore safety Darrell Stuckey said of Briscoe.

Henry shared Stuckey’s admiration for Briscoe and said, when it’s all said and done, No. 80 is going to put up some big numbers in crimson and blue.

“I’m pretty blown away by what he did,” Henry said. “I know my freshman year I didn’t play that many snaps. He’s just such a good athlete. He’s going to be a great receiver because he picked up this system so fast.”

And then there was Meier. Banished to the second team after losing a highly publicized preseason quarterback battle with Reesing for the starting job, Meier found a way to make an impact. Credit the coaching staff for its creativity in getting Meier onto the field. But credit Meier for keeping his head into things enough to make a difference when his number was called.

As his 24 catches, 250 yards and two touchdowns prove, Meier was more than just a novelty act at wide receiver. Although it took him a handful of games to crack the rotation, once he did he became one of Reesing’s favorite targets on some of the Jayhawks’ biggest possessions.

In all, the KU receivers helped Reesing set school records in touchdowns and yards during his first full season as a starter.

Kansas’ new-look, wide-open offense and offensive coordinator Ed Warriner had plenty to do with that. But if not for the play of the Jayhawks’ wide receivers, Reesing might have just been another name thrown into the program’s quarterback hat.

Instead, he became a Heisman hopeful.