This is the fall when Johnny Langan is expected to take a big developmental step forward and become one of the top tight ends in the Big Ten. It certainly has been a twisting, winding trip for Langan, who came to Rutgers as a quarterback.
Langan arrived at Rutgers in 2019 as a transfer following one season at Boston College, where he was a redshirt and did not play. He came to Boston College as a quarterback, following a high school career at Bergen Catholic was he was a three-star quarterback recruit and the No. 22 recruit in the state of New Jersey.
But a position switch to linebacker was in the offing for Langan, and he decided to transfer to Rutgers. He ended up playing quarterback for Rutgers during the second half of the 2019 season following the dismissal of head coach Chris Ash. But come the next season, Langan had moved to tight end and was on his way to becoming ‘Johnny Offense.’
The transition from quarterback to tight end was brought up in a recent interview with NBC Sports analyst Matt Cassel.
“It was crazy, playing quarterback I never really blocked anyone. That was definitely the biggest transition for me. At quarterback, I like to say that I was a physical player, I ran the ball a lot,” Langan told NBC Sports.
“It wasn’t the physicality of it, but it was really the technique, staying balanced. Because when you’re running the ball, you’re just trying to run through someone. If you try to block, you can get snagged off. That was probably the biggest learning curve for me there.”
Langan is a jackknife for Rutgers, capable of playing a myriad of positions. He is the program’s Wildcat quarterback in addition to playing as an H-back and as a conventional tight end.
Last season, Langan set a career-high in receptions (31) and receiving yards (296).
Cassel dove into other areas of Langan’s life, including how the Rutgers tight end likes to relax.
“I like to spend my weekends in the summer at the Jersey shore. That’s my spot,” Langan said.
“Just going down there every weekend, smelling the sea salt in the air. Driving over the bridge, there’s nothing like it.”
Also in the interview, he admitted to loving chicken parm.
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