PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Al-Shadee Salaam has made a position change for Rutgers football.
The former running back is now a defensive back, with head coach Greg Schiano confirming the move on Wednesday during his press availability. Bobby Deren of 247Sports was the first to report it on Saturday following a 52-3 win by Rutgers over Wagner.
Salaam, a junior, had six carries for 28 yards a touchdown this season. On Saturday, he registered two tackles as Rutgers improved to 4-1 (1-1 Big Ten) on the season.
Schiano explained the move and whether it was temporary or permanent.
“What’s permanent, right? Nothing’s permanent in life. But that’s where we’re headed with it,” Schiano said.
“Yeah, he’s gonna play corner. He’s learning the position as we go. And we have depth at running back and we thought he was too good of a player. So we made a change.”
Rutgers has three very talented running backs currently. Kyle Monangai is among the best running backs in the Big Ten through the first five games of the season and Samuel Brown V, who was very strong as a freshman last year, is also very much in the mix.
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Ja’Shon Benjamin, a true freshman, has also flashed multiple times this season. Benjamin is a former three-star running back out of Florida.