Can Rutgers Scarlet Knights Go Bowling With B1G Schedule?

Defense

A defensive unit that gave up nearly 30 points per game will have to be much better this year if Rutgers is to have any chance at going anywhere.

Live Feed

Betsided

Luckily, that starts on a defensive line that has lots of raw talent and should be more experienced this year. Junior defensive tackle Darius Hamilton is good enough to be a star no matter what conference he’s in after 11.5 tackles and 4.5 sacks last year. Defensive ends David Milewski and Djwany Mera will be very good as well after combining for 46 tackles last year, and Mera had 5.5 tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks. Together, they should offset the only loss here, end Marcus Thompson, who had 7.5 tackles for a loss and 5.5 sacks last year. Senior Kenneth Kirksey and junior Daryl Stephenson both have experience in the system as well, and then there’s sophomore Jamil Pollard, who should blossom into a star any day now after being a 4-star Rivals recruit. Sophomore Julian Pinnix-Odrick should play some this year as well.  There are also four freshmen on the line that provide depth and make for a strong future, so this group should be very good this year. But it’ll have to deal with Big Ten offensive linemen.

The defense is even more loaded at linebacker. Everybody is back, starting with sophomore Steve Longa, who had an incredible 87 tackles, 7.5 tackles for a loss, and 3 sacks as a freshman last year. Imagine how good he could be this year. In the middle there is veteran senior Kevin Snyder, who had 71 tackles and 7.5 for a loss to go along with 2 sacks, and junior Quentin Gause had 40 tackles and 8.5 tackles for a loss to go along with a sack. This is a unit loaded with playmakers, and you can also throw sophomores Quanzell Lambert and L.J. Liston into the mix after combining for 27 tackles last year. Lambert was a 4-star recruit and managed 4.5 tackles for a loss and 1.5 sacks as a freshman in limited action last year. There are five freshmen here as well, so like the rest of the team, this group is loaded, deep, experienced, and should be much better than last year.

Sep 14, 2013; Piscataway, NJ, USA; Eastern Michigan Eagles quarterback Tyler Benz (12) is sacked by Rutgers Scarlet Knights linebacker Steve Longa (3) during the first half at High Points Solutions Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim O

The secondary joins everybody else with almost the entire unit returning. Senior safety Lorenzo Waters, senior cornerback Gareef Glashen, and sophomore cornerbacks Nadir Barnwell and Anthony Cioffi are all players who played in the rotation last year and should be better this year. After giving up a dismal 312 yards per game last year, being the one spot of the team that was flat out awful, perhaps experience will ease that a little bit. Senior free safety Jonathan Aiken will have to replace Jeremy Deering, but that shouldn’t be much of a problem, and sophomores Davon Jacobs, Deion Stephenson, and Ian Thomas will provide depth. Flood has also recruited three freshmen that will help stack the unit for the future.

Just like the offense, the defense returns so much talent and has enough recruits coming in that it should be much more experienced and deeper than last year, which should also make it better. But it will be hard to see that on the field with the schedule getting much tougher, so we have to be in a wait and see mode. Continue to Next Slide for Special Teams