Scarlet Knights Land Marcus Applefield

It appears Rutgers is gearing up for the B1G. The Scarlet Knights landed a huge (pun!) commitment today from Weeki Wachi (FL) offensive tackle Marcus Applefield. RU beat out fellow B1G newcomer Maryland, as well as Virginia and Purdue. While Rutgers stockpiled several linemen in the landmark 2012 recruiting class, many of the recruits project as guards. Applefield possess the range and frame to grow into a B1G-caliber blind side tackle, which is perfect timing because redshirt sophomore Keith Lumpkin will most likely declare for the NFL Draft in 2015. This should allow Applefield to redshirt and take his time developing within the system.

What makes Applefield's recruitment interesting is that his commitment comes on the heels of Kyle Flood's firing of offensive line coach Damian Wroblewski. A closer look at the process shows why the Florida prospect stayed true to Jersey ever since Rutgers offered:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Rutgers coach Jim Panagos gets the credit on this one, recruited Marcus Applefield back when he was at UCF <a href="http://t.co/XlKn9K4Djs">http://t.co/XlKn9K4Djs</a></p>&mdash; Josh Newberg (@joshnewberg247) <a href="https://twitter.com/joshnewberg247/statuses/411589571303198720">December 13, 2013</a></blockquote>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>From talking to Weeki Wachee coach Mark Lee, <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Rutgers&amp;src=hash">#Rutgers</a> DL coach Jim Panagos was tireless in recruitment of Marcus Applefield.</p>&mdash; ScoutBrianDohn (@BrianDohnScout) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrianDohnScout/statuses/411584898756276224">December 13, 2013</a></blockquote>

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Also, if you needed a confidence boost in Kyle Flood's recruiting abilities, there's this:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Also coach Kyle Flood sealed deal with outstanding in-home visit this week with Marcus Applefield</p>&mdash; ScoutBrianDohn (@BrianDohnScout) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrianDohnScout/statuses/411585120274223104">December 13, 2013</a></blockquote>

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Once again, this just goes to show you that recruiting is built on relationships. It's nice to get some good recruiting results after all of the hoopla in the past month, not to mention the news that Jonathan Hilliman decided to check out Boston College. If only Andre Williams hadn't rushed for 2,000+ this season...