Why WR Dekel Crowdus could be Wisconsin football's biggest sleeper
The former Kentucky and Hawaii wideout transferred to Wisconsin this spring with little fanfare. Nevertheless, Dekel Crowdus could be a uniquely valuable asset for the Badgers this fall.
Maybe it’s because the spring transfer portal window typically comes with less hype. Maybe it’s because his resume consists of two seasons of modest production at two programs generally distant from the national radar.
Whatever the reason, wide receiver Dekel Crowdus' transfer into the Wisconsin football program largely flew under the radar. He’ll spend his final year of eligibility in Madison, making 2025 the last stand for the once highly sought-after receiver.
What could Crowdus add to the Badgers offense? What’s there to like about his game — and where does he still need to improve? After watching the film, BadgerNotes breaks down why the receiver is arguably the biggest sleeper on Wisconsin’s roster:
Crowdus, a Lexington, Kentucky native, was something of a big-time prospect in the 2021 recruiting cycle. 247Sports had him as a four-star, while Rivals had him as a high three-star. He racked up dozens of scholarship offers, including the likes of Ohio State, Texas, Penn State, and Florida State, before committing to his hometown Wildcats.
After taking a redshirt freshman season due to injury, Crowdus was an afterthought the following year at Kentucky, reeling in just four catches for 82 yards. He didn’t play in 2023, and transferred to Hawaii for 2024, where he put together his biggest campaign to date, reeling in 16 catches for 401 yards and four touchdowns. In early May, Crowdus quietly transferred to Wisconsin.
A quick glance at his stats will tell you that he excels as a deep threat. It’s not often a receiver parlays a modest 16 grabs into over 400 yards, and his yards-per-catch of 25.1 would have placed him third in the nation in that category last season (20 catches is the minimum to make the NCAA leaderboard for that statistic).
The Badgers have some speedy receivers on the roster already — Vinny Anthony and Jayden Ballard come to mind — but Crowdus immediately becomes one of the fastest men in Madison upon his transfer to Wisconsin.
*Note: Crowdus wore No. 6 at Hawaii and No. 3 at Kentucky
Above, UNLV is in man coverage with a single high safety over the top. As if Hawaii needed another reason to target Crowdus on this play, the Runnin’ Rebels’ cornerback gives him a generous eight-yard cushion at the line of scrimmage. The wideout gets a free release, and runs right by the corner for an easy 75-yard score.
When teams played press coverage against Crowdus, it was easier to knock him off his route and take him out of the play. But when untouched at the line of scrimmage, he could take the top off the defense in the blink of an eye.
One way Hawaii discouraged defenses from pressing Crowdus at the line of scrimmage is lining him up in bunch formations, aligning him near other receivers to dissuade defensive backs from getting up close and personal.
Below, New Mexico is in zone coverage, but Crowdus deftly splits the safeties and again scores essentially untouched.
Just because he often blew by everybody on the opposing defense doesn’t mean all of his deep receptions were a walk in the park. Over the course of his 37 career targets, Crowdus also displayed the ability to track deep balls where the throw was a little wayward, or, such as in the case below, thrown over the wrong shoulder:
This is perhaps the most impressive catch Crowdus has made thus far in college. He understood exactly how to run his route to get open against Sam Houston’s zone coverage and had to make a leaping, over-the-shoulder grab when his quarterback put a little too much on the throw. This easily could’ve been his fifth touchdown of the season had he gotten a better ball, which brings us to our next point about Crowdus: his quarterback play has been pretty atrocious to this point.
The following is one of his first targets at Kentucky. In the only season he saw the field with the Wildcats, he had future NFL gunslinger Will Levis throwing him the ball. That didn’t save him from abysmal throws like this one: