Tag: Rutgers football recruiting

Breaking: Jaelyne Matthews is set to take his Rutgers football official visit in June

Jaelyne Matthews will be making an official visit to Rutgers in June.

Rutgers football will be hosting Jaelyne Matthews in June for an official visit.

The four-star offensive lineman, a member of the 2025 recruiting class, received his first offer from Rutgers as a freshman. Matthews had committed to Penn State last year but re-opened his recruitment in September.

He is an offensive tackle for Toms River North (Toms River, New Jersey). Matthews will participate in the Under Armour All-America Game this January on ESPN.

In early December, Matthews cut down his recruitment to a top nine that included: Georgia, Miami, Penn State, Tennessee, Michigan, Maryland, Rutgers, Texas and Ohio State.

He is ranked the sixth-best recruit in New Jersey and the No. 24 offensive tackle in the nation:

 

Rutgers currently has three commits in their 2025 class. Two of the commits are from New Jersey in linebacker Talibi Kaba (a three-star who is the No. 12 player in New Jersey) and Jayden Elijah (a three-star offensive lineman who held offers from Florida State, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas A&M).

[lawrence-related id=35464,35451]

Matthews praised the commitment of Elijah to Rutgers in a social media post last week.

Did Rutgers football make the top eight for four-star Darren Ikinnagbon?

New Jersey edge rusher Darren Ikinnagbon has his top eight.

New Jersey defensive lineman Darren Ikinnagbon unveiled his top eight on Wednesday night, with three Big Ten programs making the cutdown. Rutgers football was one of those programs to make it to the next round for the in-state target.

A 6-foot-5, 251-pound edge from Hillside (Hillside, New Jersey), Ikinnagbon is an elite prospect. He is ranked a four-star and 247Sports has him as the No. 7 player in New Jersey in the class of 2025.

He is the No. 239 prospect nationally and the No. 24 edge rusher.

His top eight, as listed on Wednesday night, included the following schools: Georgia, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Rutgers, Duke, Tennessee, Ohio State and Penn State all made the top list for Ikinnagbon.

Last week, his high school teammate made a commitment to one of Ikinnagbon’s top eight schools.

Talibi Kaba, a linebacker at Hillside, committed to Rutgers football last week. Ranked the No. 12 player in New Jersey by 248Sports, Kaba held offers that included Boston College, Duke and Iowa State among others.

How does the hiring of Scott Vallone as tight ends coach impact Rutgers football? How about recruiting?

Rutgers football hired Scott Vallone as their new tight ends coach.

Scott Vallone is the hire for Rutgers football as the tight ends coach. It is an interesting hire to say the least for the Scarlet Knights.

A former standout defensive lineman at Rutgers, Vallone is a highly-regarded and well-respected young coach. High school coaches value him and his recruiting style while young players can relate to him as one of the younger members of the staff.

It all makes for a very good hire by head coach Greg Schiano and his staff.

Vallone replaces Andrew Aurich, who coached the offensive line and running backs at Rutgers before taking over as tight ends coach last year. Aurich was named the head coach at Harvard this week.

But the hiring of Vallone will signal a shift for Rutgers, even if there is a sense of continuity and development with his elevation from an offensive line assistant last year to becoming the tight ends coach this year.

Scroll down and check out five things to consider in the hiring of Scott Vallone as the new tight ends coach at Rutgers.

What members of the ’24 Rutgers football recruiting class are four-star recruits?

Rutgers football’s 2024 recruiting class includes six players ranked as a four-star.

Rutgers football pieced together a very strong recruiting class, one that is balanced and talented.

And in what is an encouraging uptick in recruiting, the class features a significant number of blue-chip recruits.

A total of six committed (and signed) players are ranked as four-star recruits by the big four recruiting services (On3, 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals). While there is no single Rutgers player who is a consensus four-star, three of the six players ranked have been given four-star status by multiple media outlets.

Below are the six players who have been ranked a four-star in the 2024 Rutgers football recruiting class. Their On3 Industry Ranking (which averages the four major recruiting sites) is used to order the rankings:

[lawrence-related id=35257,35237,35224]

White is the only Rutgers commit to be a four-star recruit according to three sites (On3, 247Sports and ESPN)

 

Rutgers football sends out an offer to Demetrius Campbell

Rutgers football has offered class of 2025 offensive lineman Demetrius Campbell.

Class of 2025 offensive lineman Demetrius Campbell was offered by Rutgers football on Thursday. The offer from Rutgers puts the Big Ten program into a growingly crowded recruitment.

An offensive tackle from Orlando Christian Prep (Orlando, Florida), Campbell has an offer list that includes Boston College, Iowa State, Louisville, Maryland and Miami and now Rutgers.

He is listed at 6-foot-6 and 300 pounds.

Rutgers has had success recruiting Orlando Christian before. Vilay Nakkoun Jr. was a quarterback and a defensive back with the program who was part of the Scarlet Knights’ 2023 recruiting class.

He held several offers including from South Florida. Nakkoun took a redshirt last season.

Campbell posted about the Rutgers offer on Thursday via his social media channel:

 

The past week has been a busy one for Campbell, with the offer from Rutgers his latest in a flurry of schools entering the picture. In the past week alone, Maryland, Miami, Boston College and Louisville all offered Campbell.

[lawrence-related id=34889,34885,34879]

Rutgers is coming off a 7-6 (3-6 Big Ten) season where they won the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl in a 31-24 game against Miami.

Rutgers football recruiting: PWO Justin Kaye is set to decide this week

Rutgers football is in the mix for Justin Kaye ahead of his decision.

New Jersey standout offensive lineman Justin Kaye is set to announce his college decision this week. Rutgers football remains in the mix for Kaye.

Kaye is a 6-foot-7, 290-pound offensive tackle from Toms River North (Toms River, New Jersey).

Kaye announced his final 10 this week, a group that includes five programs from the Power Five: Miami, Rutgers, Boston College, Penn State and Northwestern.

He was offered as a Preferred Walk On (PWO) last fall by Rutgers following an unofficial visit for the win over Wagner. His offers from both Miani and Northwestern came during January.

Prior to that, he told RutgersWire in January that his top schools were “Rutgers, Boston College, Penn State, Marist and UPenn.”

e[lawrence-related id=34831,34820]

He posted his updated top schools on Tuesday:

 

Boston College remains a bit of a wildcard in this list, with head coach Jeff Hafley having left the program on Wednesday to take a defensive coordinator position with the Green Bay Packers.

[lawrence-related id=34838,34807]

Rutgers is coming off a 7-6 (3-6 Big Ten) season where they won the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl over Miami.

 

Rutgers football: Justin Kaye receives PWO offer from University of Miami, offer from Tennessee Tech

Justin Kaye has pulled in a couple of interesting offers this week.

As the 2024 college football season inches closer by the day, Justin Kaye has continued to draw interest from the college ranks. The Rutgers football recruit received a Preferred Walk On offer from the University of Miami on Monday and a scholarship from an FBS program on Wednesday.

Kaye is a 6-foot-7, 290-pound offensive tackle from Toms River North (Toms River, New Jersey). He was offered as a Preferred Walk On (PWO) this fall by Rutgers.

The list of schools he has been connected to includes Northwestern, Marist College and Stony Brook. Kaye has received scholarship offers from Marist and Stony Brook and recently a PWO offer from Northwestern.

 

There was also another offer that came in this week for Kaye from the Ohio Valley:

 

[lawrence-related id=34539,34481]

He has also visited Penn State and Connecticut, according to Rivals. His recruitment seems to show no signs of slowing down.

Former Rutgers recruit Yazeed Haynes transferred to Syracuse

Former Rutgers recruit Zeed Haynes transferred to Syracuse after committing to Georgia a little over a year ago.

Yazeed Haynes, who had been committed to Rutgers in last year’s recruiting class, has transferred to Syracuse. Haynes committed to Rutgers originally in March 2022 before joining Penn State three months later and then committing to Georgia.

While at Georgia, Haynes recorded only one catch for 20 yards this past season. According to 247Sports, the four-star prospect was ranked the No. 295 prospect nationally, the No. 47 prospect at his position, and the No. 5 prospect in Pennsylvania in 2022.

 

While playing at North Penn High School (Lansdale, Pennsylvania) during his senior season, Haynes recorded 55 catches for 1,212 yards and 13 touchdowns in ten games. During his junior season at Neumann-Goretti in Philadelphia, the 6-foot-1, 170-pound wide receiver logged 25 catches for 483 yards and five touchdowns. Haynes helped lead the Saints to a 12-2 record and the PIAA Class 3A state semifinals in 2021.

[lawrence-related id=33152,33146]

Haynes is the No. 24 wide receiver and No. 111 overall transfer prospect in the NCAA transfer portal, according to 247Sports. Syracuse landed an athletic, speedy, quick, and natural receiver as they continue to build their roster for next season.

As for Georgia, the Bulldogs recruited some serious talent at wide receiver four-star NiTareon Tuggle and three-star Sacovie White, who committed to their 2024 class. Also, the Dawgs are expected to pursue multiple wide receivers from the transfer portal and are currently projected to add Vanderbilt transfer, London Humphreys.

[lawrence-related id=33131]

Rutgers 2024 recruit Korey “KJ” Duff Jr. received the Offensive MVP Award in the Senior Bowl

Rutgers recruit Korey “KJ” Duff Jr. received the Offensive MVP Award in the New York Catholic High School Football League senior bowl game.

On Sunday, Rutgers football 2024 recruit Korey “KJ” Duff Jr. received the Offensive MVP Award in the New York Catholic High School Football League’s Senior Bowl.

This caps off an impressive season for Duff, who is a four-star recruit.

During his senior season, Duff Jr. guided St. Anthony’s (Melville, New York) to a 6-4 record, ranking the Friars No. 6 in New York’s High School Football rankings. While playing for the Friars in 2023, the future Scarlet Knight recorded 55 catches for 929 receiving yards and nine touchdowns in nine games. He finished his senior season with 929 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

[lawrence-related id=32628]

Duff was a matchup nightmare in high school and will look to continue that trend on the Power Five level. He has excellent hands and is a weapon in the red zone. He is a tight-end / wide-receiver hybrid with a great catch radius and solid body control, showing those skills off in the senior bowl game. Duff Jr’s smooth and precise route running will allow him to be a vertical threat and dangerous after the catch at the collegiate level.

[lawrence-related id=32635,32628]

In three seasons with the Friars, Duff Jr. logged 132 receptions for 2606 yards and 26 touchdowns in 28 games. He averaged 93.1 yards per game and 19.7 yards per catch throughout those 28 games. According to 247Sports, the future Scarlet Knight is the No. 1 prospect in New York and is the No. 26 ranked tight-end among his recruiting class.

 

 

Recruiting insider: What 4-star recruit is visiting Rutgers football this weekend?

Rutgers football is hosting an impressive recruit for an official visit this weekend.

Lugard Edokpayi is taking an official visit to Rutgers football this weekend. This fall, Edokpayi emerged as one of the top recruits in the region, and Rutgers is squarely in the mix for the talented edge rusher.

In mid-November, Edokpayi announced a final five of  Florida State, Maryland, Michigan State and Texas A&M as well as Rutgers. An hour after his list dropped Michigan offered and they appear to be in the mix for the talented prospect from Maryland.

He could potentially join a strong Rutgers football class that includes several four-star recruits in K.J. Duff, Kaj Sanders, Antonio White and Gabriel Winowich.

A class of 2024 defensive end, Edokpayi has great measurables and checks in at 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds. He plays for Bishop McNamara (Forestville, Maryland) and is a four-star according to ESPN as well as On3, where is the No. 28 edge rusher in the nation.

Edokpayi was on the Rutgers campus in early November, where he took an unofficial visit for a 35-16 loss to No. 1 Ohio State. In the loss, Edokpayi said he saw a lot of potential in Rutgers.

“The Rutgers visit was great,” Edokpayi told Rutgers Wire after his visit. “Got to watch the game and talk to some of the coaches.

“Got to talk to (the) head coach and it was a great trip.”

Edokpayi plans to commit some time in December and enroll in January.