I thought we might make it until spring position reviews, but that was not the case because even some of the most die hard fans are at a loss for everyone who has come, gone, or remained on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights Football team since last season. So it made sense to reset where we are today after the announcements of Hunter Hayek, Mo Jabbie, and Mike Maietti to the transfer portal and just a little over a week before traditional signing day. We’ll do a side comparison of the position group in 2019 versus 2020 later, but for now review the scholarship players and key walk-ons by position group below:
Quarterback
New faces: Peyton Powell (transfer - Baylor), Evan Simon (early enrollee)
Still here: Art Sitkowski, Johnny Langan, Cole Snyder, Austin Albericci
The Departed: McLane Carter (OOE)
Running Backs
New faces: Kyle Monangai (signed LOI)
Still here: Isaih Pacheco, Aaron Young, Kay’Ron Adams, Aslan Pugh
The Departed: Raheem Blackshear (transfer - Virginia Tech), Elijah Barnwell (transfer - Maine)
Fullbacks / Tight Ends
New faces: Victor Konopka (early enrollee), Shawn Collins (signed LOI)
Still here: Johnathan Lewis, Matt Alaimo, Jonathan Pimentel, Cooper Heisey, Brandon Myers
The Departed: Kyle Penniston (OOE)
Wide Receiver
New faces: Aron Cruickshank (transfer - Wisconsin), Robert Longerbeam (early enrollee), Ahmirr Robinson (signed LOI)
Still here: Bo Melton, Isaiah Washington, Paul Woods, Shameen Jones, Everett Wormley, Tyler Hayek, Prince Taylor, Monterio Hunt, Christian Dremel, Stanley King
The Departed: Mo Jabbie (grad transfer - TBD), Daevon Robinson (transfer - Robert Morris), Hunter Hayek (transfer - TBD), Eddie Lewis (transfer - TBD), Jalen Jordan (transfer - Maine),
Offensive Line
New faces: Tunde Fatukasi (early enrollee), Cedrice Paillant (JUCO transfer), Bryan Felter (signed LOI), Isaiah Wright (signed LOI)
Still here: Raiqwon O’Neal, Nick Krimin, Mike Lonsdorf, Reggie Sutton, Owen Bowles, Jamaal Beaty, CJ Hanson, Omari Cooper, Matt Rosso, Sam Vretman, Anton Oskarsson
The Departed: Zach Venesky (OOE), Kamaal Seymour (OOE), Mike Maietti (grad transfer - TBD), Sam Howson (grad transfer - TBD), Manny Taylor (OOE), Jim Onulak (grad transfer - TBD)
Defensive Line
New faces: Ireland Burke (transfer - Boston College), Malik Barrow (graduate transfer - UCF), Michael Dwumfour (graduate transfer - Michigan), Wesley Bailey (early enrollee), Troy Rainey (signed LOI),
Still here: Mike Tverdov, Julius Turner, Jaohne Duggan, Brendan Bordner, Tijaun Mason, Robin Jutwreten, Matt Thomas, Jamree Kromah, Devin Baldwin, Micah Clark
The Departed: Willington Previlon (OOE), Elorm Lumor (foregoing final year for NFL), Malachi Burby (transfer - Rhode Island), Freddie Recio (transfer - TBD)
Linebacker
New faces: Tyreem Powell (early enrollee), Jack Del Rio (Signed LOI)
Still here: Tyshon Fogg, Olaunkle Fatukasi, Tyreek Maddox-Williams, Rashawn Battle, Drew Singleton, Deion Jennings, CJ Onyechi, Chris Conti, Nihym Anderson, Brian Ugwu, Mohamed Toure, Zukudo Igwenagu
The Departed: Austin Rosa (OOE), Chike Nwankwo (transfer - TBD)
Defensive Backs
New faces: Brendon White (Transfer - Ohio State), Chris Long (signed LOI), Malachi Melton (early enrollee), Elijuwan Mack (signed LOI)
Still here: Avery Young, Christian Izien, Jarrett Paul, Tim Barrow, Tre Avery, Kessawn Abraham, Donald Williams, Naijee Jones, TJ Robinson, Darius Gooden, Larry Stevens, Rani Abdulaziz
The Departed: Damon Hayes (OOE), Malik Dixon (OOE), Kobe Marfo (OOE)
Specialists
New faces: None yet
Still here: Adam Korsak, Justin Davidovicz, Billy Taylor, Zach Feagles, Guy Fava
The Departed: Cole Murphy (OOE)
Overall thoughts
The 2020 Rutgers Football team should be better than the 2019 installment, but by how much? That remains to be seen and this much turnover in a roster is usually recipe for disaster in any league other than the NBA, but perhaps the shake-up will do the program some good. It’s not that uncommon to see what a new coach takes over. Hopefully we see more stability in the coming years under new Head Coach Greg Schiano as he adds his own players to the program.
For the athletes, I took my best guess and apologies if I missed any scholarship players. This is a living, breathing post at this point.