Rutgers football has a kicking competition, with Jai Jai Patel the frontrunner at the moment.
From South Brunswick, N.J., Patel has a strong leg and showed good accuracy at the high school level. According to Kohl’s Professional Camps, one of the top recruiting evaluators in the nation for specialists, Patel was a five-star recruit and the No. 39 kicker in the nation.
He was a part of the 2022 recruiting class and had interest from Florida State, Georgia Tech and North Carolina State among other programs. He also held several Ivy League offers.
Speaking on Saturday following the first scrimmage of training camp, Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano was asked about the kicking competition.
“Jay is the first kicker, Jai Patel…As far as placekicking. I think he’s doing a good job,” Schiano told reporters.
“Jude is the kickoff guy. And then Flynn (Appleby) is the punter. So right now that’s how we stand. Will that stay that way? I don’t know, they’re always competing. Pretty sure Flynn is going to be the punter.”
Last season, Jude McAtamney was the only Rutgers player to kick field goals last season. The former Division II kicker had some strong moments but also showed signs of a learning curve in the jump up to the Big Ten level.
@JaiPatel44 @RFootball pic.twitter.com/eG8A1KXodl
— Nick Gatto (@NickGatto) January 16, 2023
He went 12-of-18 with a long of 49 yards and one field goal blocked. They were 23-of-24 on point after attempts
As for Schiano mentioning Appleby, that isn’t a real surprise. Appleby was a redshirt last season and was brought in as the heir apparent to Adam Korsak.
Last season, Korsak won the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s top punter.
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