Early Signing Period: Elijuwan Mack Signs With Rutgers Football

Even though Rutgers has plenty of bodies at the safety position, Chris Ash really pressed for the services of Elijuwan Mack to help strengthen the pipeline to the Bergen County Parochial Schools and received a verbal commitment back in June. Greg Schiano honored the commitment and the defensive back from St. Joseph’s (Montvale) sent his letter of intent Wednesday.

Mack has elite closing speed and quickness from the safety position. If he can play some corner, there is always opportunity there. When you watch him, it feels like he could make every tackle and would have tallied more interceptions. So there is a reason his ranking is not higher, but also room for growth. He’s a big hitter so he might even play special teams only as a freshman.

High School Position: OLB, SS (6’0”, 185 lbs.)

Projected college position: Strong Safety

High School: St. Joseph’s (Montvale)

Hometown: Garfield, NJ

Most notable other offers: Minnesota, Virginia Tech, Louisville

Mack originally committed to Chris Ash, but was retained by Schiano and his staff led by defensive backs coach Fran Brown. Rutgers returns three of the four members of the two-deep at safety, plus some true freshmen who needed some time to get their feet wet. That said we have seen true freshman in the first Schiano era start from Day One and continue all four years like Ron Girault and Courtney Greene. And what we saw from the back end of the defense in 2019 wasn’t enough for anyone to feel safe about their position, nevermind the fact that a new coaching staff is coming in.

Floor: Jon Aiken

Most likely: Jarvis Johnson

Potential: Devin McCourty

Check out his highlights below:

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