A starting quarterback has not yet been named by Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano ahead of Saturday’s season opener at Boston College. But that hasn’t stopped Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley from being impressed with the quarterback competition at Rutgers while singling out Gavin Wimsatt for some pretty heady praise.
Wimsatt, a redshirt freshman quarterback, played in four games last season for the Scarlet Knights. He is engaged in a quarterback competition with incumbent starter Noah Vedral and redshirt sophomore Evan Simon.
Acknowledging that he is uncertain what direction Rutgers might go on Saturday in terms of who starts at quarterback, Hafley gave a detailed rundown of the trio of quarterbacks his team could face. Wimsatt in particular got some impressive analysis from Hafley, who is now entering his third season at Boston College.
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The comments from Hafley ring a bit more authentic than simple coach speak days ahead of playing a game.
“The freshman, to me that guy was when you watch him doing in the games he came into last year as a high school senior to the spring game, the development he’s had – that guy is a baller,” Hafley told reporters on Tuesday about Wimsatt.
“He’s big fast, got good feet, he can swing. That guy is gonna be a star.”
Wimsatt, a former four-star recruit, graduated high school early…very early in fact. After playing the first three games of his high school season for Owensboro High School (Owensboro, KY), he enrolled at Rutgers last September.
He played in four games, including the second half of the Gator Bowl against Wake Forest.
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As for Vedral and Simon, Hafley certainly sounded the good talking points about the other two viable options on the Rutgers roster. Hafley called Vedral “a great leader.”
“He can run the offense really well. He can run the ball, He can throw the ball. I respect how tough he is,” Hafley said. “And you can see he took some shots. You know, he gets back up. I think he’s a really good player.”
Given that Schiano has yet to name a starter for Saturday’s opener, Hafley doesn’t know which quarterback will get the nod against Boston College. He says that he has an opinion of what Schiano will do, but it is just that, an opinion.
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As for the third quarterback in the mix, Hafley sounded a positive impression about Simon as well. Last season, Simon came in and looked solid in relief duty on several occasions, showing a strong arm and some solid decision-making ability in difficult circumstances.
“He throws the ball really well, really accurate,” Hafley said about Simon. “He has good presence in the pocket.”
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