Sooner rather than later, Rutgers football will be going through a changing of the guard at quarterback. Whether that happens as early as the season opener remains to be seen.
Noah Vedral is the unquestioned most experienced quarterback on the Rutgers football roster but it is Gavin Wimsatt who is likely to create the most headlines heading into training camp. The former four-star recruit showed flashes last season as a true freshman and has been hailed as the future of the program.
And while Wimsatt wasn’t necessarily polished upon his arrival at Rutgers, his performance in the Gator Bowl was encouraging.
Now with the benefit of a full offseason, Wimsatt is in the midst of a quarterback battle with Vedral and Evan Simon.
Head coach Greg Schiano didn’t tip his hand at all in speaking on Wednesday at the Big Ten’s annual football media day.
“We have a quarterback competition, but you mentioned Noah. Noah is the ultimate competitor. He is an awesome guy to have on our team. He wants to be a coach and is going to be a great coach. So any of you coaches that are listening to this, I would highly recommend getting him on your staff when he’s done playing. We’re going to try,” Schiano told reporters.
“But Noah is competing really hard. He’s a monster in the off-season program. Gavin Wimsatt is another guy that is competing for the job, and then Evan Simon.
“I’d say all three of those guys go into training camp — Noah, as you mentioned, has two years’ worth of starts under his belt. So certainly an advantage for him with experience.”
It is likely a true and open competition for Rutgers. Vedral has the experience but Wimsatt’s upside and athleticism are exciting for an offense that has been a bit pedestrian since 2014.
Ahead of the opener at Boston College in five weeks’ time, it is unclear if Wimsatt or Vedral will get the nod on the road.
“But I think the one thing I’ve learned over the years is, when you have good players, you’ve got to let them compete, and it’s got to sort itself out. If it doesn’t sort itself out by Game 1, then we’ll play more than one guy. If it does, then we’ll play one guy and we’ll have another guy ready to go and a third if he had some issues,” Schiano said.
“I’m not concerned about it. I’m not going to make it happen. I’m going to let it happen and observe it and make the decision based on that.”
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