Peyton Powell transfers from Rutgers

On Tuesday night, defensive back Peyton Powell announced he was transferring from Rutgers. He cited the university’s mandate requiring all students to receive a COVID-19 vaccination as the reason.

After moving from quarterback to defensive back, Powell was expected to compete for a spot on the two-deep this season. However, Powell has not been with the program since training camp began.

Asked about Powell at the start of practice in early August, head coach Greg Schiano said, “Right now he is not part of the team. We’ll see if he does become part of the team. But as we speak, he was not on the roster.” This past Monday following practice, Schiano responded that “it’s the same situation” after he was asked for an update on Powell’s status.

The Midland, Texas native never played a snap for Rutgers. After originally committing to Texas while still in high school, he ultimately signed with Baylor. After entering the transfer portal after one season, Powell committed to Utah before flipping to Rutgers. Fran Brown recruited Powell to Baylor and subsequently was able to recruit him to Piscataway as well. After not being ruled eligible to play last season, the former 4-star prospect now enters the transfer portal for the second time in his career without having played a down of college football.

On Monday, the Big Ten announced that teams that have roster issues due to COVID-19 and are unable to play a game this season would have to forfeit with a loss applied to the conference standings. On Tuesday, both Ohio State and Michigan announced students must be vaccinated to attend the fall semester, making it a total of nine Big Ten schools that have now issued that mandate. Rutgers was the first to announce back in March.

Earlier this week, wide receiver Monterio Hunt also entered the transfer portal for reasons unrelated to the vaccine mandate. He was not expected to be part of the rotation at receiver this season and is a graduate transfer with two years of eligibility remaining that can play immediately.

For our preseason coverage of Rutgers football, click here.