Aron Cruickshank’s return is big for Rutgers football on special teams and on offense
The return of Aron Cruickshank is big for Rutgers football, not only because Cruickshank is one of the best returners in college football but he is also becoming a real threat on offense.
Cruickshank is one of the fastest players in all of the Big Ten, an electric presence when he gets the ball in his hands. Limited to the first five games of the season due to a leg injury, Cruickshank had 224 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns on 20 catches last year.
His receiving numbers, despite the injury, all showed a dramatic uptick from the 2020 season where his role in the Rutgers offense was limited.
Cruickshank transferred to Rutgers ahead of the 2020 season after spending his first two seasons at Wisconsin. The Erasmus Hall product was primarily used on special teams with the Badgers.
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On Monday, head coach Greg Schiano said that the return of Cruickshank “is really big.”
“Aron worked himself into being a really good receiver, not only a return man,” Schiano told reporters.
“He had the surgery so we were very concerned. And you know, we’re not out of the woods yet. But he’s making progress and he’s taking care of himself and he’s healing well, and he’s playing – he’s playing he’s not full load yet, but he’s close. And we just got to keep bringing him along at a steady pace, but he needs to be a good, good player for us for sure.”
Cruickshank had 153 punt return yards last year on nine returns. He also fielded 15 kickoffs for 316 yards.
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In 2020, Cruickshank was first-team All-Big Ten as a returner.
