The Wisconsin Badgers football team made plenty of key additions this past off-season. However, one of the best additions the staff has made is a player whose collegiate future once seemed bleak.
Tucker Ashcraft, a former three-star recruit in the 2023 class from Washington, was a Colorado commitment at one point. Once the Buffaloes reached a terrible 0-5 record, the team fired their struggling coach. At that point, Ashcraft knew his collegiate future would certainly change, but chose to stick around the program.
Following the hiring of Head Coach Deion Sanders, Ashcraft lost his spot on the roster and was left scrambling to find a new home. New Wisconsin Head Coach Luke Fickell needed to fill a serious void at tight end for his first recruiting class. Within a week of Fickell and Ashcraft meeting, the tight end signed his letter of intent.
The Wisconsin Badgers Football Team May Have a New Secret Weapon on Offense
The talented tight end Ashcraft joined the Wisconsin Badgers as Fickell and the rest of his staff began to implement their changes. Fickell and company have a vision of creating a hard-nosed, aggressive football team. In order to do that, one of the more crucial offensive positions for Wisconsin needed improvements.
Both coach and player alike can agree that their current situation was not how they envisioned the commitment playing out. Since joining the Badgers, Ashcraft has soared up the depth chart. Both Clay Cundiff and Jake Eschenbach left the Badgers program shortly before the start of the season.
Luke Fickell came away very impressed with true freshman tight end Tucker Ashcraft.
"Tucker is gonna be a really good football player. By week four, he's not gonna be a freshman anymore."#Badgers
— Evan Flood (@Evan_Flood) September 2, 2023
Quickly, Ashcraft went from a late commitment to the starting tight end for the Wisconsin Badgers football team. In the first game of the 2023 season, the true Freshman tight end appeared in the game and recorded 33 total snaps. Redshirt Senior Hayden Rucci played the majority of snaps, recording 45 at the position. However, Ashcraft may provide a new style of play the Badgers are in need of.
Can Tucker Ashcraft Breakout for the Wisconsin Badgers Football Team in 2023?
Upon losing the top two receivers, many Wisconsin fans were nervous about the tight end position heading into the season. Rucci, primarily a blocker, is not the receiving threat the team needs. Offensive Coordinator Phil Longo utilizes an offense that needs players who can spread the field and make a play when needed. After joining the Badgers in the middle of July, Ashcraft picked up the offense rather quickly.
Clearly, the true Freshman is going to make young mistakes, and that was evident in the game against Buffalo. Ashcraft struggled when he needed to block at times and still did not look sharp when running his routes. Both the staff and Ashcraft understand what the tight end needs to work on.
There is no doubt the young tight end has the tools and skills necessary to make a difference on the field for the Badgers in 2023. The main focus for the rest of the season, according to the staff, will be to develop the athlete into an offensive threat.
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