5 reasons Wisconsin makes the College Football Playoff

3. Passing game will bring a different level of balance on offense

Wisconsin always has a physical defense and at least one solid running back who they can rely on to produce yards on the ground. Last season and again this year, they’ll have a reliable and high-powered passing game to balance it out.

Quarterback Alex Hornibrook is a rising junior who has two years of significant playing time and one year as a starter already under his belt. He completed 62 percent of his passes last year for 2,644 yards and 25 touchdowns. Hornibrook loses a reliable target in tight end Troy Fumagalli.

Sophomore Quintez Cephus was charged with sexual assault in mid-August and is not with the team. His roommate, Danny Davis, who witnessed the event has been suspended for two games. Cephus, the leading receiver from last year, has an uncertain future. Davis, A.J. Taylor, Kendric Pryor, a sophomore and pair of freshmen, will be the three returning players relied upon to carry the passing game opposite Hornibrook.

True freshman Aron Cruickshank is a 5-foot-9, 165-pound speedster who played quarterback, running back, receiver and defensive back in high school. He was expected to contribute on special teams but as an early enrollee, he’s shown since this spring that he’ll be hard to keep off the field of offense too. Cruickshank should not only help fill in as a receiver, but he could give the Badgers a player with the kind of speed and potential that they’ve never had on the outside.