PISCATAWAY, N.J. — This time last year, Tyreem Powell was a bit of a question mark on the Rutgers defense. Now, not only has Powell emerged as one of the leaders on this Rutgers team, he is now considered one of the best linebackers in all of college football.
Powell and Rutgers take on Northwestern on Sunday (12:00 PM ET, CBS) in a game that is the season opener for both Big Ten games.
The 2022 season saw Powell emerge from spring practice as a starter at the linebacker position. He responded to his new workload by putting together a season where he had 70 total tackles (34 solo) along with three sacks and four passes defended. He is expected to be one of the leaders of a Rutgers defense that has the potential to be top five in the Big Ten this season.
“There has been an improvement from each and every year that I started here. Each and every year I can get better,” Powell told Rutgers Wire following practice on Thursday.
“There’s always an improvement from details and doing better in the meeting rooms and the practice field. So for me, I’m always just looking for improvement and ways to make my game better. I’m all about the work.”
Powell is one of several defensive players for Rutgers who have legitimate NFL ceilings. He is beginning to get recognized as one of the top linebackers prospects in the Big Ten.
Three weeks ago, Powell was selected to the preseason watch list for the Butkus Award, given annually to the nation’s top linebacker. A Big Ten linebacker, Iowa’s Jack Campbell, won the award last year.
“Jordan Wolkstein (director of football communications and branding) actually had communicated to me about (the watchlist),” Powell said.
“It’s just a great award great nomination. I’ll just keep my head down, keep working. But it’s great to see my name on that. I’m just going to keep working hard.”
Powell is not the type to unnecessarily draw attention to himself. It isn’t that he is uncomfortable with the spotlight, it’s simply that Powell’s focus is on helping Rutgers return to the spotlight it enjoyed for much of head coach Greg Schiano’s first stint with the program.
Rutgers hasn’t had a winning season since 2014, its first season in the Big Ten. That also marked the last time Rutgers won a bowl game.
When asked about the significance of Sunday’s opener being against a Big Ten opponent, Powell didn’t see anything other than a chance for his team to come out and compete.
“We know this is another Big Ten opponent. We know how hard Big Ten games are in this league,” Powell said.
“We just got to keep our heads down, keep chopping until that game is finished.”
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Rutgers lost 21-7 at Northwestern in 2021 in the last meeting between these two Big Ten programs.