Jonathan Taylor leaving for the NFL Draft was expected. Tyler Biadasz leaving for the NFL Draft was expected. Quintez Cephus leaving for the NFL Draft was seen as a legitimate possibility at the very least. Wisconsin football knew that those three players probably (if not definitely) weren’t going to be part of the 2020 roster.
This, however, comes as a jolt and a real loss for the Badgers heading into the offseason and spring ball: Aron Cruickshank, who gave Wisconsin a kickoff return touchdown in the Rose Bowl and provided a number of timely boosts in the 2019 season, announced on Wednesday afternoon that he would enter the transfer portal:
JUST IN: Per @247Sports sources, #Badgers wide receiver Aron Cruickshank has put his name in the transfer portal.
Cruickshank has confirmed that with @Badger247. pic.twitter.com/8peXMknR5m
— Evan Flood (@Evan_Flood) January 8, 2020
This was a tweet from the Rose Bowl, but it works pretty well right now.#Badgers https://t.co/zMeuVpRO0s
— Evan Flood (@Evan_Flood) January 8, 2020
A lot is going on for me right now but yes it is true that I have entered my name in the transfer portal with 2years of eligibility and a redshirt, I will like to thank my coaches and most of all my teammates I hope you all the best. RESPECT MY DECISION !
— ITzAC (@Ac_Hollywood_) January 8, 2020
The value of Aron Cruickshank as a kick returner was evident and substantial. Cruickshank could flip the field — and shorten it — to reduce the burden carried by the offense whenever it struggled. The touchdown in the Rose Bowl against Oregon was an example of the lightning-in-a-bottle scoring punch Wisconsin needs as a complement to its methodical style of offense. Those home-run-style plays offer a quick-strike component to the Badgers’ identity. They also save hits from running backs — in the case of the 2019 season, Jonathan Taylor. Wisconsin will miss all of that.
What the Badgers will also miss is something they never had: Substantial production as a wide receiver. This was presumably what Cruickshank was going to work on in the offseason, enabling both him and Wisconsin to evolve in 2020. Now, the Badgers aren’t going to enjoy the fruits of that evolution. It will happen elsewhere.
It is interesting to note that Cruickshank gained more scrimmage yards as a rusher in 2019 than as a receiver. Given his speed, if he was a reasonably polished route runner — to the point where he could naturally fit into the passing game — Paul Chryst would have used him. This isn’t on the coaching staff in terms of player usage. This is a developmental question, and Cruickshank needed more time in his evolutionary arc.
He obviously didn’t want to spend that time developing his game as a Badger. It’s a tough blow because Cruickshank’s potential is so evident. In many ways, the loss of his actual production as a kick returner pales in comparison to what he might have become as a receiver, if he had another season to put on the “W” and catch passes from Jack Coan.
Yet, in a portrait of the complexity of life, the very fact that Wisconsin fans won’t get to see Aron Cruickshank take the next step as a receiver does, in some way, soften the blow of his exit. It’s not as though Wisconsin is losing a proven receiver; UW is losing a receiver who has a lot to prove. That isn’t a worst-case scenario.
It also isn’t the scenario the Badgers wanted to unfold.