Commitment alert: Rutgers football lands five-star long snapper Jake Eldridge

Rutgers gets a five-star commit in long snapper Jake Eldridge

Rutgers football landed a commitment on Monday night from long snapper Jake Eldridge. The verbal from Eldridge is significant as he is a five-star prospect.

The IMG Academy product is ranked as one of the top long snappers in the nation. According to the Rubio Long Snapping rankings, he is the second-best long snapper in the nation and ranked a five-star.

Eldridge holds offers from Rutgers, UCLA, and Air Force.

 

Eldridge previously committed to UCLA as a walk on, but has switched his commitment to Rutgers after a good visit back in June. He liked the facilities and the people during his first ever visit to the Garden State.

“First off, everyone in the area seemed really nice and welcoming, which is good to see,” Eldridge said. “I’d never been to New Jersey before so I didn’t know what to expect. I really loved the town and the campus. It was not your usual campus with them having three campuses so I wasn’t sure how I was going to like that, but I loved it when I was there.“

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Fans know that it is not often that offers are made to long snappers, and the Texas native is well aware also. Head coach Greg Schiano’s emphasis on special teams over the years really stood out to the highly touted prospect.

“I picked them because they showed me the most love from Day One. Being a special teams player, I’ve seen that is the school that values special teams the most out of any, which is really important for me. I am very grateful for the opportunity they gave me, and for believing in me. I know there are not a lot of offers like that going out to snappers. For it to be at a school I am really happy with is exciting.“

There are currently two former Scarlet Knights in the NFL who are currently long snappers, although they played multiple positions while in Piscataway. Clark Harris (left in 2007) is snapping for the Cincinatti Bengals, while Andrew DePaola is playing for the Minnesota Vikings and has been in the league since 2014. 

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