Tag: Avery Young

Tampa Bay Bucs signed former Scarlet Knight Avery Young to their 90-man roster

On Monday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Rutgers’ former defensive back Avery Young to their training camp roster.

On Monday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Rutgers’ former defensive back Avery Young to their training camp roster. Young’s signing marks the Bucs’ first roster move since opening training camp on July 26. Tampa Bay waived first-year tackle Grant Hermanns to make room for Young on the 90-man roster.

Young, the undrafted free agent, signed with the San Francisco 49ers in May but was waived last Tuesday and cleared waivers on Wednesday. The former Rutgers captain played five seasons with the Scarlet Knights and earned the program’s Iron Knight Award for demonstrating mental and physical toughness at a high level.

While playing with Rutgers, Young played three seasons at cornerback and the last two at safety. The 6-foot, 198-pound defensive back recorded 84 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, one interception, five pass breakups, and one forced fumble while starting all 12 games at safety last season for the Scarlet Knights.

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During the 2022 season, Young achieved All-ECAC Defense and Honorable Mention All-Big Ten Conference (Coaches and Media). For his Rutgers career, Young recorded 169 solo tackles, 326 total tackles, three sacks, three interceptions, 26 pass breakups, five forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery in 57 games.

Young will join former Rutgers teammate Christian Izien on the Buccaneers’ 90-man roster. Also, Young will join his brother Jordan Young, an undrafted free agent out of Old Dominion, on the Bucs’ training camp roster.

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Rutgers football: Desmond Igbinosun continues to grow at safety

Safety Desmond Igbinosun is returning to Rutgers football for the 2023 season, looking to take the lead at the safety position.

Desmond Igbinosun returns to Rutgers football for the 2023 season, looking to take the lead at the Scarlet Knights safety position.

The junior safety appeared in ten games last season, recording nine starts, 55 total tackles, four pass breakups, and one forced fumble. Igbinosun appeared in 17 games and has 69 tackles for his Rutgers career. Can the New Jersey native (Union, N.J.) emerge as the number one safety for the Scarlet Knights?

The 2023 season will be Igbinosun’s third season with the Scarlet Knights. So far this spring, his progress has been noticed by safety coach Drew Lascari. Lascari spoke about Igbinosun’s development after Friday’s practice.

“I think Des is continuing to develop every day. Having that Big Ten experience this past year as a starter helped him tremendously,” Lascari told reporters.

“He got better as the season went on and we’re really excited. We think the sky’s the limit for Des and where he is going.”

Igbinosun came in this spring with a focus on his leadership skills. His goal is to emerge as a leader of the safety group and try to lead as an example on and off the football field.

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The safety group is different than last season, with the departure of former starters Christian Izien and Avery Young. The Scarlet Knights played a high percentage of three safety schemes in 2022 which could lead to even great opportunities for Igbinosun this fall.

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Watch: Avery Young picks off C.J. Stroud as Rutgers battles Ohio State

Rutgers football defensive back Avery Young picks off C.J. Stroud.

Avery Young intercepted C.J. Stroud early in the third quarter, helping to pull Rutgers a bit closer at Ohio State.

Young, sitting in deep coverage, read Stroud well, made the interception and then returned it 16 yards. The Rutgers defensive back came into the game with seven solo tackles as well as two passes defended.

The big play was Young’s first interception of the season.

Rutgers went into halftime down 28-7. The interception led to a Jude McAtamney 35-yard field goal to cut into the lead.

Coming into the game, C.J. Stroud had 16 touchdowns and just one interception through the first four games of the season.

Check out Young’s first interception of the season as he does a tremendous job of reading Stroud’s throw into triple coverage:

 

Stroud came into the season as a frontrunner for the Heisman and the Maxwell Award.

Rutgers football named team captains for 2022 season

Rutgers football announced the captains for the 2022 season

Rutgers football is relying on a veteran core to provide a lift both on the field for what is still a young and rebuilding team. After a team vote Wednesday, six players will be leading the Scarlet Knights as captains for the 2022 season.

The choices shouldn’t and weren’t a surprise to anyone following this program over the previous two seasons. Each selection has been with Rutgers for at least one season and the group of captains features multiple super seniors.

Quarterback Noah Vedral, tight end Johnny Langan, wide receiver Shameen Jones, defensive lineman Mayan Ahanotu, defensive back Avery Young, and punter Adam Korsak were voted by their teammates to lead the Scarlet Knights into Saturday’s season opener.

Both Korsak and Vedral are used to this honor as both were voted captain last season. The Australia-born punter is now a captain for the third time during his career – the second three-time captain in program history.

That means there are four players who are brand new captains.

Ahanotu is entering his third season with the Scarlet Knights. He has played in 22 games, starting in 10, over the last two seasons and was recently named to the Shrine Bowl 1000.

Jones is now in his sixth season with the program, accumulating 26 starts at receiver in 44 games. He has 86 career receptions for 882 yards.

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Langan has been a jack-of-all-trades for the Scarlet Knights – seeing snaps at running back, receiver/tight end, and even some snaps at quarterback. He was named Rutgers’ MVP for the Gator Bowl last season after hauling in 57 receiving yards, rushing for another 20, and dropping in two completions for 21 yards.

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Young has provided versatility for the defense, moving from cornerback to safety last season. The move paid off as he finished second on the team with 81 tackles. He has been on the field for over 3000 snaps.

Last year’s captains:

  • LB Olakunle Fatukasi
  • P Adam Korsak
  • WR Bo Melton
  • RB Isiah Pacheco
  • DL Julius Turner
  • QB Noah Vedral

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New Rutgers coaches have defense buzzing: ‘They’re really bringing life into this defense’

Rutgers football is seeing benefits from four new coaches on the defense.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — There is a new energy among the Rutgers football program, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Four new hires have revamped the defense and given a new feel to the unit.

The headline addition this offseason was Joe Harasmyiak, who was brought in from Minnesota after spending the past two seasons as their defensive coordinator. Also added to the revamp was Corey Hetherman as the linebackers coach.

Drew Lascari was promoted within the program to coaching the safeties and Mark Orphey was hired from Alabama as a cornerbacks coach.

“Man, they’re amazing, they bring new energy, they kind of sort through that barrier between old and young on the team and they bring us in as one,” senior defensive back Avery Young said on Wednesday.

“Coach H (Harasymiak) is doing a great job, and all the other defensive players and coaches that you know, stepped up and got hired and got these jobs. So it’s just amazing to have them on staff. They’re really bringing life into this defense that we needed.”

The defense underperformed last year and the new blood in the coaching staff seems to have addressed at least the energy issue. Whether the schemes and execution have improved is another issue entirely.

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As for the secondary, the group is experienced and talented. Young is a big piece of what could well be the team’s strongest unit.

In 2020, Young was an honorable mention selection by the media for the postseason Big Ten accolades.

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Saturday’s scheduled scrimmage will be a big step towards the defense – and the team as a whole – coming together.

“It’s fun. You know, if you love football – you love putting the pads on. So it’s all competitive,” Young said.

“All that competitive nature comes out every time you buckle them up. So we’re just excited to get better throughout the week. And we know that we got to ‘CHOP’ each practice and eventually when we get to the scrimmage to just let it fly again.”

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Top three NFL draft-eligible cornerbacks in the Big Ten for 2022

A look at what could be the three most draft-eligible cornerbacks in the Big Ten heading into 2022. #B1G

It is never too early to talk about the NFL Draft, and one of the most polarizing and fun positions to discuss is the cornerback position. The Ohio State football program makes a solid argument as DBU (or BIA as it may), but Penn State also has an extremely impressive resume with names like Rich Gardner, David Macklin, and Paul Lankford.

Obviously, we have to have one Buckeye stud on this list and he will be hoping to land at the top of the NFL draft like other former Ohio State legends like Jeff Okudah, Damon Arnette, and Denzel Ward.  We also have a rare Rutgers appearance on this list, but let’s dive in.

Avery Young is returning for Rutgers football in 2022

Safet Avery Young is set to return for his senior season with Rutgers football.

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Rutgers football got some big news over the weekend with the return of Avery Young for another season. The experienced safety will be a steadying presence as Rutgers football gets younger in the secondary.

The junior has played in 44 games for Rutgers over four years. He was a junior this season due to the 2020 season not counting for eligibility due to COVID-19.

Young made 13 starts in the backend for Rutgers this past season. He ended the 2021 campaign strong, with 13 tackles (a career high) and a sack in the regular season finale loss against Maryland.

He finished the season with 78 tackles, two tackles for a loss, two sacks and an interception. Young returned one kickoff for 12 yards and five punts returned for a total of 16 yards.

 

Rutgers is likely to be active in the transfer portal this year and could be adding a cornerback to add some immediate help in a secondary that struggled giving up big plays. The return of Young is big for Rutgers, adding experience and much-needed depth in a still emerging secondary.

His brother Aaron Young is a sophomore running back at Rutgers.

Draft prospects for the Lions to watch in college Week 6

6 potential NFL draft prospects to know for the college football slate on October 9th

Another fall weekend brings us several promising college football games to digest. Many promising young NFL draft prospects will take the fields around the nation, and the Detroit Lions scouting staff will fan out to catch these potential future Lions in action.

The focus this week is on defensive backs, though we did sprinkle in a couple of other positional prospects too.

Add these players to the lists from the last couple of college football weekends, too.

NFL draft prospects for the Lions to watch in college football Week 5

NFL draft prospects for the Lions to watch in college football Week 4

Rutgers beats Syracuse 17-7: What we learned about the Scarlet Knights

Rutgers football beat Syracuse on Saturday, improving to 2-0. The Scarlet Knights showed that they have an elite defense in beating their old Big East rival.

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It was tight. It was at times ugly. But Rutgers football pulled out a 17-7 win at Syracuse on Sunday. With the victory, Rutgers improves to 2-0.

Syracuse is now 1-1 on the year.

The win comes after a sluggish start to the game as Rutgers managed just five first downs and 58 yards of total offense in the first half. But in the second half, a touchdown run by Kyle Monangai midway through the third quarter followed by Noah Vedral connecting with tight end Jovan Haskins for a 30-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter gave the Scarlet Knights the win.

Rutgers now heads into their final out of conference game against Delaware next week with momentum. Here is what we learned about the Scarlet Knights in Week 2:

All-Auburn Offensive Team during Gus Malzahn era

Taking a look at the elite of the elite for Auburn on offense during the eight years of the Gus Malzahn era on the Plains.

The Gus Malzahn era at Auburn started out with a bang on the offensive side of the ball has Nick Marshall, Tre Mason and company lit the scoreboard on fire on their way to a SEC title and spot in the BCS National Championship Game.

While the Tigers’ offense would never reach those heights again under Malzahn during his eight years in charge, there were still plenty of great offensive players to come to the Plains during that time.

But who is the top of the top and the elite of the elite? We name our All-Auburn Offensive Team from the Malzahn era along with who would serve as second string.

(Note: When it comes to offensive linemen, we did not choose someone for each position but the top five guys that made the biggest impact.)