Ian Thomas leaves Rutgers Football for the second time

Yesterday, news surfaced that CB Ian Thomas decided to leave the Rutgers football program for the second time in as many years. No reason was given for his departure this time around, so I think we can all assume that baseball is not in the cards for Thomas, although your guess is as good as mine. Matt Hladik tweeted that he simply didn't return:

#Rutgers announces that CB Ian Thomas did not report back for summer session, is no longer with program

— Matt Hladik (@MattHladik919) June 16, 2014

Coach Kyle Flood was pretty tight-lipped on the situation when asked about it during his charity golf outing:

Ian did not report back for the summer program, and I would just leave it at that.

When Thomas actually did play, he was a solid contributor to the secondary, and was most definitely in play to be opening day starter in Seattle against the Cougars. Gareef Glashen remains a likely starter at corner to start the season, but past him, the other side is wide open. Bryant Gross-Armiento was turning some heads in practices, but he decided to transfer out as well. That leaves sophomores Anthony Cioffi and Nadir Barnwell with great chances to become key players this season. After going through the trial by fire in 2013, they'll need to really step up with the increased quality of opponents.

The other option is to give a serious look at the true freshmen coming in. Andre Boggs is already getting looks at corner, and Kam Lott and Saquan Hampton could surprise as well. We'll know more once training camp begins.