Rutgers Scarlet Knights November Football Recruiting Round-Up

It's Mid-November, and the Scarlet Knights are getting blown out in comical fashion every Saturday like clock work. If you're still following the games each Saturday afternoon, I tip my hat to you, because I simply can't bare to even turn the games on anymore.

With that said, the 2016 recruiting cycle is entering the beginning of it's homestretch, and your Scarlet Knights currently rank 50th overall, with 17 three-star commits leading the way in head coach Kyle Flood's third full season at the helm. We've attached a few intregal pieces into the article to keep you up to date on where exactly the program stands through this tumultuous season. Surprisingly, there have been few decommitments so far, but that could change with the firing of Flood, and more so certainly if the next head coach is one with either a less-than-stellar track record *cough* Al Golden *cough*, or one that doesn't fit the promises made to commits under Flood.

When you look below, you'll see the 2016 Big Ten Conference class rankings, with Rutgers arriving at a modest 11th out of 14, currently ahead of only Indiana, Purdue, and Illinois; all three of whom could also be searching for new head coaches this offseason. For a team with zero current four-star commits, Rutgers certainly has made a statement with their class, ranking third in the conference in three-star commits, behind only Iowa and Northwestern, two schools that historically also struggle to land top-level commits. Iowa is currently chasing a spot in the College Football Playoff, while Northwestern has turned the corner and is hovering near the top of the Big Ten.

Kyle Flood has coached poorly this season, and the results on the field are all you need to see to agree with that, but he's improved as a recruiter. He's ranked in at 50th, 53rd, and 55th respectively since 2013, the first year he recruited entirely on his own without Schiano's legacy looming over his own. The 2013 class has begun to show the most return, with starts like Chris Laviano, Sebastian Joseph, Janarion Grant, and Kemoko Turay all bringing top production to a relatively porous football team.

With the early season suspension of six players, and the eventual three-game suspension for Flood's administration scandal, I was interested to see how some recruits and commits felt about the situation, and if their minds would change before signing day if Flood were to no longer be at the helm. I had the chance to briefly speak to a top Rutgers target in Lucas Niang about what's been going on at Rutgers, and how it has or may eventually impact his decision, with 247Sports currently predicting the Scarlet Knights as his school of choice at 67%

When I asked Lucas who his current top-five schools were on November 1, his response was ...

My top five are Miami, TCU, Auburn, Rutgers and Oregon ... in no specific order.. my focus right now is setting up official visits

I asked Lucas if he has been keeping an open line of communication with any of the coaches on staff at Rutgers and his response was...

Yes, I talk to coach (Ben) McDaniels once a week, and I connected well with other coaches there, which is the biggest reason they're in my top-5.

I then asked how the off-field issues with coach Flood and the player suspensions may end up impacting his decision when he chooses to commit ...

It does have an impact, but mostly for my parents...

I then ended our conversation by asking Lucas what were his top-three deciding factors when choosing a school...

First off, the education for me is most important. After that, it's the atmosphere the team has, and how well I can see myself succeeding with the program.

I also got a few quotes from commits and targets who have asked to remain anonymous given the current state of flux the program is in, and one that stuck out to me was from a top commit, and also a quote from a parent who respectfully asked to remain anonymous as well ...

Top (Anonymous) Commit:

It's uneasy. It's kept me up at night like "Is this the right school for me? I put my future in this man's hands, and he might not even be there when I arrive... then what?

Parent of a top target

Chris, it's certainly alarming what's going on at Rutgers. When we first met with Coach Flood, he prided himself on honesty and being forthright, and to see him go through that suspension was tough for us as a family, because it wasn't who we met earlier this year. It's nothing personal, but this is our child, and like any other parent, we have our concerns. But we've decided to let the process play itself out before making a decision either way just yet

I'm no mind-reader, but... ouch. That doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement for the current regime.. But, as the parent said, the process needs to play itself out before any judgment can be made.

I've decided I'm going to attempt to maintain a scholarship distribution chart, first released by Rivals, and assisted by @scarlet4ever. The school doesn't make lists like this publicly available, so at any given time, this will be my "best guess" in regards to who's on scholarship, and who's simply a Walk-On player.

- See more at: https://www.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=988&CID=1739116#sthash.IlbBz1bH.dpuf

I did reach out to top quarterback commit Anthony Russo, who did not accept my invite to be included in this article. Russo has been a hot topic among Rutgers football fans, some of whom believe he may not end up being a part of the final 2016 class.

Note: Special thanks to 247Sports for the rankings, and Rivals.com for the Distribution Chart. All numerical rankings were provided by 247Sports.com for this article.

Love it? Hate it? Want to discuss it? Follow Chris on Twitter @warontheweekend, where he'll keep you informed and up to date on all the latest Rutgers recruiting information.