On Friday, Rutgers football offered Gabriel Osenda. The offensive lineman from Florida counts Rutgers as his second Power Five offer.
He is a 6-foot-7, 300-pound offensive tackle prospect from Clearwater International Academy (Clearwater, Florida). Rutgers joins an offer list that also includes Cal and Nevada.
Last season, Osenda was impressive for a Clearwater team that was 5-5.
Because he is a 2026 prospect, Rutgers was unable to directly communicate the offer to him. Osenda’s coach at Clearwater told him about the Big Ten program offering on Friday
He passed on to Osenda that Rutgers had offered and that it is a “really good academic school.”
Over the weekend, Osenda broke down what he has learned about Rutgers since the Friday offer.
“I’ve done some research on the school,” Osenda told Rutgers Wire.
“I’ve seen it’s on the Raritan River which is pretty cool and seen videos of the campus which looks beautiful.”
Osenda is familiar with the program a bit, having seen some of their games this past season. Rutgers, while playing the second-toughest schedule in college football, finished their season 7-6 (3-6 Big Ten).
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In the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl, they beat Miami in a game where the offensive line was a very effective unit.
“I’ve watched their games – they like to run the ball and I like that the trenches get down and get aggressive,” Osenda said.
“Playing in one of the best conferences in college football – (the offer) it’s a huge accomplishment for me.”
And while Osenda is just starting to learn about Rutgers, he does have some familiarity as well with [autotag]Pat Flaherty[/autotag].
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Now in his second season at Rutgers, Flaherty transformed the Rutgers line in 2023. He inherited a unit that was the worst in the Big Ten (and perhaps in the Power Five) and diligently coached up the group to be a solid group that held their own.
Flaherty has extensive experience as an NFL offensive line coach, with two Super Bowl rings as part of his two decades in the league.
“His resume speaks for itself coaching six different NFL teams and than four Power 5 college teams means he knows how to coach at all different levels,” Osenda said.
“It’s definitely a given that he will develop the players under him.”
Osenda is hoping to visit some schools local to Florida in the next couple of months as he continues to ramp up his recruitment.
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“Not really eyeing any (visits) since I’m still young,” Osenda said.
“So just building relationships now but I’ve gone on visits to University Of Florida, UCF, and Florida State”
