Tag: New Jersey football

A Super Bowl of a study: Good news for Rutgers football as New Jersey is among the best states at producing NFL players

New Jersey is among the best states in terms of producing NFL talent.

There is no better timing than on Super Bowl Sunday to remember that New Jersey produces elite football players. In fact, New Jersey is among the nation’s best at sending players to the NFL, a point certainly backed up by this year’s Super Bowl.

There are three players from the Rutgers football program in this Super Bowl (Kansas City Chiefs: [autotag]Isiah Pacheco[/autotag]; San Francisco 49ers Logan Ryan and Sebastian Joseph-Day). And while only Pacheco and Ryan are from New Jersey, the point is still underscored that New Jersey football is among the best in the nation at producing athletes who can play on Sunday.

And if Rutgers could keep the top in-state talent home, it would be a perennial top-25 program with College Football Playoff ambitions. That’s a big if, to say the least, but still noteworthy.

In the fourth season of their rebuild under head coach Greg Schiano, Rutgers showed significant progress. They finished the season 7-6 (3-6 Big Ten) while playing the nation’s second-toughest schedule.

They won the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl 31-24 over Miami.

[lawrence-related id=35211,35176]

But Rutgers could take another step forward if they start retaining more of New Jersey’s best talent.

 

Per capita, New Jersey produces 1.07 football players that are sent to the NFL. That is No. 12 in the nation and the fourth-best production of any state with a Big Ten program (Maryland, Ohio and Iowa led the way, respectively).

[lawrence-related id=35131,35107]

It is the best number in the Northeast, a not insignificant stat.

Keeping New Jersey’s best in-state while supplementing with strong regional recruiting from New York and Pennsylvania (Joseph-Day is from Pennsylvania) would certainly be a big step for a developmental program like Rutgers.

Last week, Rutgers received a commitment from Talibi Kaba, the No. 12 recruit in New Jersey and a three-star linebacker prospect. It was an important recruit for Rutgers to land in trying to keep future NFL talent in their pipeline.

MSU Football commit Audric Estime named New Jersey Football Player of the Year

Michigan State commit Audric Estime has been named New Jersey Football Player of the Year after a dominant season for St. Joseph Regional.

[jwplayer d1VLLnNk-PROpJzTY]

A lot of Michigan State Football fans around the country are a little nervous about the commitment of Audric Estime and where that stands heading into the national signing period, but as of right now Estime is still committed to MSU, and he is also the New Jersey Football Player of the Year.

Estime was one of the most dominant players in the entire country this year playing for St. Joseph Regional in Montvale, New Jersey. It seemed like every weekend there was a highlight from Estime that made him look like a man among boys.

On the season, Estime rushed for 1,862 yards and 24 touchdowns. He also had 190 receiving yards and, hilariously, had two sacks as well on the defensive end.

[vertical-gallery id=33089]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]