Rutgers football quarterback competition is down to two

We saw the roster and now we have a depth chart. Rutgers released its first official depth chart on Monday ahead of the season opener against Michigan State. There was one particular word that stole the show — or. This word was used at many positions where a definitive starter was not named.

One glaring use of “OR” that stood out was at the quarterback position. Artur Sitkowski and Noah Vedral are the two deep on the depth chart with the a big, bolded “OR” in between.

“My use of ‘or’ is for several reasons,” Greg Schiano said during his weekly news conference on Monday. “It could be injury. It could be competitive. It could be not certain. I wont go in depth on what the or’s are. They are what they are and we’ll find out at game time.”

The depth chart shows that Schiano and offensive coordinator Sean Gleeson have not seen enough to name a starter just yet. It also shows that they have seen enough to cut the completion to two. The Scarlet Knights began preseason with Sitkowski, Vedral, Johnny Langan, and Cole Snyder in a four-way competition.

“First off, I thought all of the quarterbacks — this is a really, really good group,” Schiano said. “They’re together, they work hard. They’re competing but really a tremendous group of guys led by Coach Gleeson. He’s not only coordinating te offense but he’s coaching the quarterbacks and I think doing a tremendous job. But when you look at it, there’s a reason that it’s Art and Noah as the ‘or’ because they’ve really established themselves as the top two.”

Schiano also spoke on the efforts of Snyder and what he saw from the sophomore.

“I really thought Cole did a very good job,” Schiano said. “When you look at it, I thought and he is a very good quarterback.”

Sitkowski has started 13 games for Rutgers over the past two seasons. He was named the starter as a freshman in 2018 and began just two games last season before being replaced by Langan. Sitkowski decided to take a redshirt for the 2019 season. Vedral, a grad-transfer from Nebraska, is listed as the other quarterback on the depth chart.

Coming over from Nebraska, Vedral seems the most capable to lead the Scarlet Knights’ offense in 2020. His dual-threat ability seems to be a fit for the fast-paced offense that Gleeson will run. Vedral ran an up-tempo, no-huddle style offense while at Nebraska. If he is the starter against Michigan State, Vedral will be the seventh quarterback in as many years to begin the season.

“I’m encouraged by what we saw,” Schiano said. “The two guys that are on the chart as an ‘or’, they’re both really good quarterbacks in my opinion. the ob they’ve done and they’re preparation has been very good.”

Earlier in preseason, Schiano did not rule out the possibility of playing two quarterbacks this season. The first depth chart has backed up that notion.

“At any position really, we’re going to always do what gives is the best chance to win,” Schiano said. “So if I felt paying multiple quarterbacks was the best chance to win, we would do it.”