Rutgers Banks on Its Skill Talent While a New Quarterback and Rebuilt Defense Decide the Season
Rutgers went 5-7 (2-7 Big Ten) in 2025, close losses to Minnesota and Penn State leaving the Scarlet Knights a game shy of a bowl. Year 7 of Greg Schiano's second stint turns on two questions: who replaces Athan Kaliakmanis, the first Rutgers quarterback since Mike Teel to throw for 3,000 yards, and whether a gutted, portal-rebuilt defense can climb out of the Big Ten's basement. Schiano fired his coordinators and handed the unit to former South Dakota head coach Travis Johansen, while Kirk Ciarrocca stays on to run an offense that returns its two best weapons.
Offense
For the first time in three years, Rutgers opens camp without a settled starter. The competition pits rising redshirt sophomore AJ Surace, a well-regarded prospect out of high school whose father coaches at Princeton, against Boston College transfer Dylan Lonergan. Surace has spent three years in the program as Kaliakmanis' backup but owns almost no game experience. Lonergan, a former four-star recruited to Alabama by Nick Saban, brings the resume: he started nine games for the Eagles last fall, completing 190 of 284 for 2,025 yards with 12 touchdowns and five interceptions. Whoever wins inherits a supporting cast good enough to keep the offense functional, and how quickly the job is decided may be the single biggest factor in the season.
KJ Duff is the centerpiece and should rank among the best receivers in the Big Ten. He posted one of the finest seasons a Rutgers pass catcher has ever had, 60 grabs for 1,084 yards and seven touchdowns at 18.1 a catch, and set a school conference record with 241 yards against Purdue. At 6-6, 225 he is a matchup problem who led the nation in contested catches. The concern is depth behind him after Ian Strong transferred to Cal. Ben Black, who caught eight passes for 119 yards, steps into a larger role, and Dylan Braithwaite is among the returnees competing for the two spots opposite Duff alongside Jordin Houston and Vernon Allen III. Logan Blake headlines a functional tight end group.
Antwan Raymond is the offense's proven commodity. In his first season as the lead back he ran for 1,241 yards at 5.1 a carry with 13 touchdowns, earning second-team all-conference and joining a short list of Rutgers backs to top 1,200 yards in a season. Ja'shon Benjamin returns as a capable change-up after 328 yards, and LA Tech transfer Clay Thevenin (634 yards) adds another veteran body. A ball-control ground game would take pressure off a first-time starter at quarterback.
The front is in transition after losing its center and left guard to graduation, and new position coach Jim Turner has work to do. The anchors are veteran tackle Tyler Needham, who has started 20 games over two years, and right guard Kwabena Asamoah, a lock to start with 26 career starts and a legitimate next-level frame. A healthy Dantae Chin adds strength inside at left guard. The remaining tackle spot and pivot were unsettled through the spring, so the line's ceiling depends on younger and transferred pieces settling fast.
Defense
This was the worst Rutgers defense of the Big Ten era, 125th nationally and just two sacks over the final six games, and Rutgers has not topped 23 sacks in a season in more than a decade. The fix runs through the portal. Toledo transfer Malachi Davis arrives as the designated pass rusher after 5.5 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss earned him third-team all-conference honors, and coaches are betting one of the new ends becomes the first Scarlet Knight in ten years to reach five sacks. J'Dan Burnett joins from Tulsa, while the interior gets a lift from the return of Doug Blue-Eli, who missed all of last season with injury, alongside Zaire Angoy and Keshon Griffin.
Linebacker is traditionally a Schiano strength and looks like the steadiest level of the defense. Abram Wright returns after 58 tackles, and Moses Walker is back healthy after a season lost to injury. The headline addition is Rice transfer Ty Morris, who piled up 88 tackles and 9.5 tackles for loss, with Drake transfer Sean Allison (125 tackles) adding more production. If the line generates any push, this group can run and tackle.
Cornerback is the roster's most competitive battle, with all three starting spots up for grabs and new faces everywhere. Villanova transfer Zahmir Dawud (44 tackles, 13 pass breakups), Boston College's Kevyn Humes and South Dakota's Mikey Munn (20 breakups) headline the imports. The anchor is safety Kaj Sanders, the leading returning tackler at 65 stops, who was at his best down the stretch when Schiano took a more active hand in the defense. Mercer transfer Chris Joines adds experience at the other safety. The talent is fresher, but cohesion is unproven.
This is a genuine strength and the most settled unit on the roster. Kicker Jai Patel (13 of 18 on field goals with a long of 51), punter Jakob Anderson, coming off a breakout year averaging better than 44 yards, and long snapper Michael O'Connor all return. Rutgers has led the country in blocked kicks since 2009 and stays aggressive attacking them, even while fair-catching the majority of punts and kicks. Ben Black handles return duties.
Overview and Prediction
The schedule cuts both ways. Oregon and Ohio State fall off the slate, but Indiana, USC, Michigan and a trip to Penn State remain, and the November stretch is unforgiving. Rutgers should be favored in its September nonconference dates against UMass, Howard and a Boston College team it visits, and the season will be defined by how many of the middle-tier games, at Maryland, at Northwestern, home for Nebraska and Michigan State, it can flip.
The preseason consensus pegs Rutgers in the back half of the Big Ten, somewhere around 16th to 18th, on the fringe of bowl eligibility rather than comfortably inside it. That verdict is fair. The offense has a star receiver, a 1,200-yard back and a serviceable line; the defense has more bodies but no track record; and the whole thing hinges on the quarterback decision. Reach a bowl and this counts as progress. Miss one for a second straight year, and the pressure on Schiano becomes the story.