I had the pleasure of going to Rutgers Football media day last sunday, so I figured I'd give you guys some insight as to what I was able to find out when I was there. QB- One of the biggest themes of the day was just a supreme confidence in Mike Teel. It was interesting because you could tell there was a lot of people that wanted to bring up Teel's up and down past, but there wasn't a hint of doubt when it came to team members/coaches. I talked to Jabu Lovelace, even he was raving about the progress Teel made, especially when it came to connecting with his wideouts. RB- Ray Rice is good. Besides that, Schiano said that he saw a bigger role for Kordell Young, but also a decent portion of the running game going to true freshman Mason Robinson. I thought he was brought in to play corner, but the staff likes him as a RB, which may mean the staff thinks Rice will be playing on Sunday next year. At FB, Jack Corcoran is the starter, but Jordan Brooks should see time. WR- By far the most progressed group from last year, the WR corps looks terrific this year. RU is looking for their WR corps to stay relatively unchanged throughout the year, after last year which saw Shawn Tucker go down early and Dennis Campbell fall off. Kenny Britt is a flat out man, talked to him for a while, and while I couldn't get him to say he was the best WR in the Big East, I think he's ready to make the next step. He says he gained 8 pounds from last year, but it looks more like 18. Same for Tiquan Underwood, looks a lot bigger, more muscular, and a long way away from the 160 pound kid he was as a freshman. Tim Brown is still 5-7, but is also still the fastest guy on the team. There wasnt much talk about the TE spot, Kevin Brock, Shamar Graves, and Fabian Ruiz will all get time. OL- Pedro Sosa may be the best offensive lineman in the conference, Zuttah and Fladell aren't far behind. They have a lot of depth, Ryan Blascyzk won the starting job at center as has been one of the most impressive guys at camp, and as of right now Kevin Haslem seems to be winning the starting RG job over Anthony Davis, they said the 2 -deep might be released today as well. DL- Definitely my favorite player to talk to was Eric Foster, far and away. They're going to need a guy like him to step up even more than last year, which I believe he's fully capable of. Pete Tverodov and George Johnson are supposedly the frontrunners for the starting jobs at DT and DE vacated by Meekins and Beckford. LB- Losing Thompson and Frierson may hurt more than any other losses on the team, but there's a lot of talent to replace them. Renkart is locked in at strong side, and likely Kevin Malast at weak. I asked Renkart if there was a chance he'd slide to the middle, but he said no; which means it'll be a little harder for Manny Abreu to take a starting job. Chris Quaye appears to be the frontrunner in the middle, but the LB corps runs a solid 7 deep (if D'Imperio's healthy). DB- Losing Roberson hurts a bit, but regaining Leslie Jackman and Zaire Kitchen healthy is big. The twins will be solid at corner, and the safeties are one of the best in the country, especially when you factor in the 3rd safety Glenn Lee. Specials- Ito might kick off, kick FGs, and punt; unless San San Teh can show something. Thankfully for RU, Ito's terrific at all three (might be a better punter than kicker).
