Tag: Rutgers football recruiting

Watch the moment where Jyon Simon fake picks USC, commits to Rutgers football

Jyon Simon pulled off quite the joke during his commitment ceremony.

For a collective moment, Rutgers football fans watching Jyon Simon’s commitment last week held their breath. Simon seemed to be heading elsewhere.

In fact, it appeared for a brief, fleeting few moments that Simon was committing to Big Ten rival USC. But then Simon revealed the joke and made his commitment to Rutgers.

Last week during his commitment ceremony, Simon initially declared for USC, holding up a playing card with the Trojans helmet. He then shook his head and threw the card to the side.

Then holding up a playing card emblazoned with the word ‘Joker’ on it, Simon committed to Rutgers. On the card – the second one – Simon was wearing a Rutgers jersey.

“So some schools I just talked to either the person that recruited me or the position coach,” Simon told Rutgers Wire this week.

“At Rutgers, I talked to their whole staff not daily but weekly. Like there was not a week where Rutgers did not check on me (and) ask me what I’m doing, ask me how I’m feeling.

“So that that love that they had for me – it was just off the charts. It was amazing. So when I went out to Rutgers, it was a done deal.”

His finalists were Texas, Tennessee, USC (University of Southern California), Pittsburgh, Jacksonville State. NC State and Colorado.

Simon is a three-star defensive lineman. He is a 6-foot-1, 260-pound defensive lineman from Raines High School (Jacksonville, Florida).

As a junior, he had 77 total tackles, 15 tackles for a loss and nine sacks.

Trent Oiler is set to take a June official visit to Rutgers football

Trent Oiler is planning an official visit to Rutgers.

Wisconsin tight end Trent Oiler is locked in for an official visit to Rutgers football in June.

Oiler was offered by Rutgers football in January. He currently holds offers from Boston College, Central Michigan, Coastal Carolina, and Missouri in addition to Rutgers.

In the class of 2024, Rutgers landed two players from Wisconsin in Sam Pilof and Carter Kadow. A three-star linebacker who had offers from Penn State and Wisconsin, Pilof was among the first commits in the Rutgers class  a season ago.

The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Oiler plays his high school football for Brookfield East (Brookfield, Wisconsin). He is the No. 25 tight end in the country according to On3, where is also ranked as the fifth-best recruit in the state.

Oiler is also a standout sprinter, He recently ran an impressive 6.67 time in the 55 meters.

It is an especially impressive performance given that Oiler is a solid 225 pounds.

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In addition to being a standout tight end, Oiler also lines up as a defensive end.

Rutgers football commit Jyon Simon sets official visit date

Jyon Simon sets up a Rutgers football official visit.

Just days after he committed to Rutgers football, Jyon Simon announced an official visit date to the Big Ten program.

The defensive lineman from Florida will be on campus the weekend of June 14-16 for his official visit. But wait, there is more.

Simon told Rutgers Wire over the weekend that he is trying to schedule another visit to Rutgers soon (an unofficial one).

A three-star recruit, Rutgers was the pick from among eight finalists (Texas, Tennessee, USC (University of Southern California), Pittsburgh, Jacksonville State. NC State and Colorado.

An interior defensive lineman, he checks in at 6-foot-1, 260-pound defensive lineman from Raines High School (Jacksonville, Florida). Last season, he had 77 total tackles, 15 tackles for a loss and nine sacks.

He is one of two players from Florida to commit to Rutgers last week, the other being four-star running back Antwan Raymond.

As for Simon, he took an unofficial visit to Rutgers earlier in April which prompted his commitment.

“So actually after I went on my visit with Rutgers, it was just ‘Man, I got to be there.’ I just felt at home,” Simon told Rutgers Wire.

“So I was like, ‘Why not shut it down?’ So I called coach Schiano and asked him if I could commit but still go on visits to other schools. He told me how he felt about it. So that was it – it was just a done deal after that.”

Following his commitment on Wednesday, Raymond then re-classified to the class of 2024.

Weekend offer from Rutgers football goes out to Eddie Bowen

Eddie Bowen was given a Rutgers football offer over the weekend.

Pennsylvania athlete Eddie Bowen was offered by Rutgers football on Saturday.

A class of 2025 recruit, the Preferred Walk On (PWO) offer was sent out to Bowen while he was at Rutgers for an unofficial visit. Bowen plays his high school football for Central Bucks South (Warrington, Pennsylvania).

He is 6-foot-2 and currently checks in at 240 pounds. As a defensive end who had 49 total tackles last year with 9.5 tackles for a loss and 3.5 sacks. In addition to football, he also plays varsity lacrosse.

This month, Bowen has taken visits to Bucknell, Colgate, New Hampshire, Princeton and Villanova among others. Last month, he visited Delaware and Temple among other programs.

On Saturday, Bowen watched Rutgers as they went through their second scrimmage of spring. Their final scrimmage takes place on Saturday in the annual Scarlet-White Game.

 

Recently, Bowen ran a 4.46 laser time during one of his workouts.

 

 

Hardy Watts recaps his weekend visit to Rutgers football

Hardy Watts talks about his recent Rutgers football visit.

Four-star offensive lineman Hardy Watts took a productive visit to Rutgers football this past weekend.

From the Dexter School (Brookline, Massachusetts), Watts is a 6-foot-6, 290-pound offensive lineman who is the No. 229 player in the nation in the 247Sports Composite and also the No. 13 interior offensive lineman. His visit to Rutgers over the weekend was another chance to further his relationship with the program.

Watts has an offer list that includes Alabama, Boston College, Clemson, Kentucky, Miami, South Carolina, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech among others.

The visit left a good, positive impression on Watts, who is a class of 2025 recruit.

“It was great, it was awesome for me to get down and check it out,” Watts told Rutgers Wire on Sunday before diving into what stood out.

“How one the same page everyone was. Coach Schiano has done a great job building what a team is.”

During the visit, Watts spent significant time with offensive line coach Pat Flaherty, one of the most accomplished position coaches in college football.

 

Entering his second year back at Rutgers, Flaherty spent nearly two decades in the NFL as an offensive line coach. It was in this role that he won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants.

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What stood out about the time spent with Flaherty? That was a simple answer for Watts.

“How good at developing a lineman he is. He is a vault of football knowledge,” Watts said.

“We talked about football and him as a coach.

“He truly can develop a lineman and his experience in both college and the NFL proves that.”

 

He’s the Mann! Jayden Mann offered by Rutgers football on Friday

Jayden Mann was offered by Rutgers football on Friday.

Rutgers football offered offensive lineman Jayden Mann on Friday. Mann is one of the top recruits in New York’s class of 2025.

Mann holds offers from Auburn, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Minnesota, Syracuse, Tennessee and West Virginia among others. He is a 6-foot-5, 290-pound offensive tackle from Cardinal Hayes (Bronx, New York).

Mann is a three-star recruit according to 247Sports. He is the sixth-ranked recruit in New York and No. 84 offensive tackle in the nation.

He has good upper body strength and moves down field well.

 

Rutgers has recruited New York effectively the last couple of recruiting cycles. In the 2024 class, they landed K.J. Duff, a wide receiver from Long Island who was the top-ranked recruit in the state.

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In 2023, they landed Ian Strong, an athlete from New York who produced a ‘SportsCenter Top 10’ play in his first game as a true freshman. Strong was the top-ranked player in New York according to 247Sports.

Rutgers football makes the top 10 for four-star defensive back Graceson Littleton

Rutgers football is in the top 10 for Graceson Littleton.

Graceson Littleton included Rutgers football in the top 10 list that he announced on Friday.

Rutgers was one of four Big Ten schools to make Littleton’s cut down.

The No. 218 player in the nation in the 247Sports Composite, Littleton is a 6-foot, 180-pound defensive back from Wiregrass Ranch (Wesley Chapel, Florida) and is a member of the class of 2025.

He is ranked the No. 28 defensive back in the nation and the No. 33 recruit in Florida.

Joining Rutgers in Littleton’s Top 10:

Programs such as Cincinnati, Duke, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Minnesota, Tulane and West Virginia were left out of Littleton’s top 10.

This week, Rutgers football landed two prominent commits from Florida.

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The first was running back Raymond Andrews, a four-star who not only committed to Rutgers on Wednesday but then re-classified to the class of 2024.

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On Thursday, Jyon Simon committed to Rutgers. The defensive tackle, one of the top prospects in Florida’s class of 2025, picked the Scarlet Knights from an offer list that included  Texas, Tennessee, USC (University of Southern California), Pittsburgh, Jacksonville State. NC State and Colorado.

Jaelyne Matthews announces college commitment date…did Rutgers football make his top four?

Rutgers football was the first program to offer offensive lineman Jaelyne Matthews.

New Jersey offensive lineman Jaelyne Matthews announced on Friday a commitment date. Matthews, who received his first offer from Rutgers, also is trimming down his decision list even further.

A decision date was supposed to be in July has moved up a month as Matthews announced that his college commitment will take place on June 3 at 2:00 PM. He also announced a top four in his recruitment that includes Rutgers.

Matthews told Rutgers Wire that Georgia, Miami, Tennessee and Rutgers will be the four programs in the mix for his college commitment in six weeks’ time. Maryland and Syracuse made Matthews’ top six but were not included in his current cutdown.

An offensive lineman at Toms River North (Toms River, New Jersey), ESPN ranks Matthews as the No. 93 recruit in the nation and the second-best player in New Jersey.

Last week, Matthews took a visit to Tennessee.

 

He is committed to play in the Under Armour All-America Game.

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This spring, Matthews is playing lacrosse to improve his footwork and coordination as well as continue to work on his offseason  conditioning.

From among two dozen offers, Jyon Simon breaks down his Rutgers football commitment

Rutgers football’s latest commit, Jyon Simon, discusses his decision to commit to the Scarlet Knights.

Jyon Simon committed to Rutgers football on Thursday, making it two big Florida commitments for the Scarlet Knights this week.

A three-star recruit, from Raines High School (Jacksonville, Florida), Simon gives Rutgers a true threat in the interior of the defensive line. He picked the Big Ten program over eight offers.

The other teams in the mix for Simon were Texas, Tennessee, USC (University of Southern California), Pittsburgh, Jacksonville State. NC State and Colorado.

Simon took an unofficial visit to Rutgers, which led to a phone call to head coach Greg Schiano after he left campus.

“So actually after I went on my visit with Rutgers, it was just ‘Man, I got to be there.’ I just felt at home,” Simon told Rutgers Wire.

“So I was like, ‘Why not shut it down?’ So I called coach Schiano and asked him if I could commit but still go on visits to other schools. He told me how he felt about it. So that was it – it was just a done deal after that.”

Simon is committed fully, telling Rutgers Wire “Yes, sir. 100 percent.”

“With all 10 of my toes, I’m standing on them. I really like what coach Schiano is building over there with the coaches that he’s brought in, with the players that he’s brought in and just his knowledge of the game,” Simon said.

“Just the atmosphere…it was a lot of things that pulled me towards this. So first and foremost, the academics. The academic program is amazing – not only in the northeast but in the nation. The player and coaches’ relationship – I love how the coaches interact with their players. They teach the game fundamentally. Their weight room program is amazing. Coach Schiano is different from the rest of the head coaches – his knowledge of the game is amazing and that’s somebody I can trust.”

The team culture is another thing that stuck out to Simon on the visit.

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Heading into his fifth season at Rutgers, Schiano has re-built Rutgers on and off the field. This includes bringing back the CHOP mantra as well as F.A.M.I.L.Y.

“And that motto: Forget About Me, I Love You – just because if everybody on the team does that and they stay locked in, well then we’re going places,” Simon said.

“So I just love that motto and what coach Schiano is brining to the program.”

Breaking! Rutgers football lands Florida defensive tackle Jyon Simon

Rutgers football lands a commitment from defensive lineman Jyon Simon.

Jyon Simon committed to Rutgers football on Thursday, marking consecutive days the Big Ten program has landed blue chip prospects from Florida.

Rutgers was the pick by Simon, a three-star recruit, from among eight finalists. He is a 6-foot-1, 260-pound defensive lineman from Raines High School (Jacksonville, Florida). Last season, he had 77 total tackles, 15 tackles for a loss and nine sacks.

On Wednesday, Rutgers received a commitment from Antwan Raymond, a four-star running back also from Florida. Raymond will enroll early at Rutgers and re-classifies to join the class of 2024.

He picked Rutgers from a final six that included Miami, Mississippi State, South Carolina, South Florida and West Virginia.

Also in the mix for Simon were Texas, Tennessee, USC (University of Southern California), Pittsburgh, Jacksonville State. NC State and Colorado.

Simon made the commitment to Rutgers on Instagram.

He is now the second recruit from Florida in the 2025 class for Rutgers, joining quarterback Sean Ashenfelder.

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Last fall, Ashenfelder committed to Rutgers, becoming the first commitment in the class.