Football Athan Kaliakmanis Named QB1, Gavin Entering Portal

[Mr_Twister]

Will be interesting to see if Gavin ends up at Minnesota, or a better program than our’s and is well-compensated as a backup.
Landing at Akron and/or Virginia Tech would make for an interesting start to our season.
The new QB’s bio says his Dad wrestled at Seton Hall. I did not know the Pirates had a wrestling program at one time.

 

[Eagleton96]

Gavin didn't work out and Athan now the man.

I don't think Gavin was strung along about being the #1,once Athem showed up I feel Wimstatt was told he had to show he was the better passer or Kaliakmanis would be given the job and according to how all QBs did and he could wind up #3 in the pecking order.
Wouldn't be surprised if Schiano and Ciarrocca expected this transfer once they decided between Gavin and Athan for #1

GW definitely was not strung along. The "smart" move according the pundits would be for GS to wait to name the starter until after the portal closes, thus locking that player in for the year. Instead GS let Wimsatt know in time for him to hit the portal. Classy move. And also the smarter move if you look at the bigger picture.

 

[Shelby65]

Hopefully Greg didn’t rush the decision.

no, definitely not. he’s seen GW in practices and games for 3 years

 

[pmvon]

TheKnightReport - Athan Kaliakmanis named Rutgers Football starting quarterback for 2024

Rutgers Football HC Greg Schiano has named Athan Kaliakmanis as the starting quarterback for the 2024 season.

rutgers.rivals.com

TheKnightReport - Rutgers Football QB Gavin Wimsatt to enter transfer portal

Rutgers Football Gavin Wimsatt announces his plans to enter the transfer portal.

rutgers.rivals.com

View embedded media

Shelby was right all along.

 

[koleszar]

My guess is that GW would not have accepted a demotion to #2. And that Ajani wouldn't have stuck around to be #3 with Surace breathing down his neck, but would stay for #2. So that was the decision: string GW along in the battle to be #1, thus guaranteeing Ajani would be #3, or demote GW to #2, having him transfer, and keeping Ajani as #2. I think this was an excellent call by the staff.

I think it was more that they saw a kid they gave every opportunity possible, to help him develop and realized he's now reached his full potential. And that full potential is a career best 47.8% passer. Time to move on and not waste any more practice snaps on him.

 

[Eagleton96]

Whether or not it was my perception is irrelevant. The relevant question is was it the perception of other players on the team?

You said there was a perception. I not aware of any evidence of such a perception among the team members. The only place I heard this idea was here... from people like you.

 

[Shelby65]

Shelby was right all along.

Shelby doesn’t hide from incorrect prognostications. Shelby doesn’t move the goalposts or lawyer to find miniscule backtrack routes. Shelby has integrity to go with Shelby’s strong feelings.

Shelby is nothing like Fieldhouse Al.

 

[pmvon]

Shelby doesn’t hide from incorrect prognostications. Shelby doesn’t move the goalposts or lawyer to find miniscule backtrack routes. Shelby has integrity to go with Shelby’s strong feelings.

Shelby is nothing like Fieldhouse Al.

Shelby is a good sport but didn’t Shelby violate his last self imposed schiano bashing moratorium?

 

[WhichReligionIsRight]

Glad HC Schiano announced it so GW (or AK) could enter the portal if they wanted.
It would have been easy to "drag" it out and keep everyone.

While it may be questionable roster management, he certainly did the best for GW.

Other recruits surely take notes on this. Kudos to Schiano/staff.

Good luck to GW. I will miss his running. Hope we don’t face him.

 

[Knight Owl]

Offensive line must seem pretty good. Receivers of all body types and skill sets are now available certainly.

 

[WhichReligionIsRight]

Shelby doesn’t hide from incorrect prognostications. Shelby doesn’t move the goalposts or lawyer to find miniscule backtrack routes. Shelby has integrity to go with Shelby’s strong feelings.

Shelby is nothing like Fieldhouse Al.

Shelby channeling his inner Rickey Henderson/James Brown.

 

[Eagleton96]

Other recruits surely take notes on this. Kudos to Schiano/staff.

Good luck to GW. I will miss his running. Hope we don’t face him.

Guaranteed if we face him he will tear us up.

 

[RUfromNJ]

Shelby channeling his inner Rickey Henderson/James Brown.

"Jimmy's gonna put the moves on Elaine."

 

[HPNJRUfan]

Well guess everyone got what they wanted. Really disappointing.

After watching the spring game - don't see why everyone was so high on this Athan kid and have wanted to run Gavin out of town for the three years he's been here.

 

[RUTGERS95]

Wow, that escalated quickly. Good luck to Gavin, happy with the move overall.

but it wasn't quick as this has been a 'not secret' that he and his family wanted assurances and were not given any and were looking before this.

Credit to Greg, he is a man of integrity as I thought he would wait to keep the room but went Cortez and allowed Gav to seek playing time elsewhere.

good job Greg

 

[tico brown]

They have a commitment from Ashenfelder a 3 star from Florida.

Got to look at his tape.

It’s a start.

 

[tico brown]

Well guess everyone got what they wanted. Really disappointing.

After watching the spring game - don't see why everyone was so high on this Athan kid and have wanted to run Gavin out of town for the three years he's been here.

If he hasn’t improved by his fourth year, maybe its time to improve the team.

 

[NickRU714]

Shelby channeling his inner Rickey Henderson/James Brown.

No way. Are you a Giants fan?

Malik Nabers is our new 3rd person king.

 

[RUTGERS95]

Hallelujah !!!

Shelby was completely wrong on this and is considering a self-imposed 3 week refrainment from Schiano bashing.

takes a big man to admit when wrong. none of the fools bashing you would do so and hence, tip my hat to you

 

[Shelby65]

Shelby is a good sport but didn’t Shelby violate his last self imposed schiano bashing moratorium?

No, Shelby made and honored that commitment after the bowl game but it is long past its expiration date. And this new vow would only be for a few weeks.

 

[pmvon]

No, Shelby made and honored that commitment after the bowl game but it is long past its expiration date. And this new vow would only be for a few weeks.

I will be monitoring Shelby’s activities closely but he seems to be a man of his word.

 

[Bagarocks]

I guess in the scheme of things this is the best time to disrupt the QB room, Gives time to settle and let playing with receivers over the summer.
All you guys sayin he was better and the starter, you were right.
Spring game confirmed what coaches have seen since he arrived on campus fer sure.
Now go win us 8 games AKay

 

[RU848789]

Looks like Ajani Shepherd will be the number two. That's more than OK in my book... kid looks sharp and confident.

He was the best QB on the field in the spring game, although that doesn't mean all that much. Sorry to see GW go though... he was never a world beater but would've rather seen him fight for playing time.

 

[Bagarocks]

Guaranteed if we face him he will tear us up.

The Rutgers way isnt it.

 

[JudgeSmails56]

Gyros, souvlaki, tzatziki, feta and ouzo for the first tailgate!!!! You heard it here first and you're welcome. Hell, I might break some plates right now to celebrate!!!

Haha sounds awesome.

 

[Knight Shift]

He was the best QB on the field in the spring game, although that doesn't mean all that much. Sorry to see GW go though... he was never a world beater but would've rather seen him fight for playing time.

I think I agree, and I made this point above, but many fans thought the same of Tom Flacco and Hayden Rettig. And at least one fan thought the same of Cole Snyder. 🤫

 

[DJ Spanky]

No real evidence of which? The natural scrambling? I saw every snap from GW and I had the very strong impression that he wasn't a good natural scrambler. Didn't know when to take off, not particularly good at creating time. I thought he was a below average runner except for designed run plays where he was good but nothing special...mostly running through VERY large holes created by defenses respecting the threat of KM.

You need to work on your reading comprehension: this is what I was replying to.

Irrelevant? It's not the whole story but it's certainly very relevant. It's been reported many times that he's an underrated runner. Probably a better natural scrambler that GW. But he was never used in a RO before as a featured runner.

Forgive me if I misunderstood the above, but that sounds like you're talking about AK in response to this post I made:

On the TKR Pod they said he has a faster 40 time than Wimsatt.

40 time is irrelevant. There were faster runners than Ray Rice (remember him getting caught from behind against Pitt?) who didn't make it in the NFL.

So to sum up, I'm talking about AK's running ability, not GW.

 

[DC8690]

Hopefully Greg didn’t rush the decision.

I think we have also seen enough of GW to know he wasn’t the guy.

 

[wheezer]

You knew nothing improved when his second pass missed a wide open RB 10 yards away by 5 yards

Absolutely this
And, very deep passes just overthrown a bit

Very frustrating

 

[Eagleton96]

You need to work on your reading comprehension: this is what I was replying to.



Forgive me if I misunderstood the above, but that sounds like you're talking about AK in response to this post I made:



So to sum up, I'm talking about AK's running ability, not GW.

Thanks for the clarification. That will be another story line to follow.

 

[LeapinLou]

Credit to coach for the timing on this. I’m guessing there are a ton of coaches out there that would drag this to the summer to hook wimsatt as backup.

Excellent point. Schiano walking the walk on Family Trust Chop

 

[sct1111]

I think with our receivers this year who seem to be pretty talented and fast we needed someone to be able to stretch the field. Will make Monangai even more effective. Kaliakmanis is just better at the deep ball.

 

[retired711]

I'm shocked Greg didnt name a starter till after the portal closed or sometime during the summer. As to your comment, my guess is Sheppard and/or Surace will be a fine as the second stringer and will have higher upside than GW. I wish Gavin the best if he heads elsewhere.

I'm sure Greg timed this deliberately so that Wimsatt could transfer. Say what you will about Greg, he is a gentleman.

 

[RU Cheese]

I still think GW would make a great wideout. With his size and speed he could be a weapon. Just think how many high school QB's switch positions after they have been at college for a few seasons.

Well he couldn't crack it at QB-2-TE U so I respectfully disagree.

 

[RU Cheese]

Guaranteed if we face him he will tear us up.

Yes, because he will be whoever's backup.

 

[LeapinLou]

It was a "wow" moment when I first saw this news. But as this whole situation is sinking in, I'm liking it more and more. I really wanted Gavin to succeed here. We all did. But if there is a cap on what he's capable of, I'd rather have AK give it a go while getting Shepherd and Surace more meaningful reps so one of them can be in a legit position to take over next year.

 

[Zimm80]

Other recruits surely take notes on this. Kudos to Schiano/staff.

Good luck to GW. I will miss his running. Hope we don’t face him.

I wouldn’t worry too much about facing him in the next two years, a GS defense would have him running everywhere but downfield, & percentage wise his passing game is very suspect , I also think the writing has been on the wall for sometime now , in my opinion Offensive Coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca had no confidence in GW & could not succeed as a offensive coordinator at RU if GW was his starting QB.

 

[RU Cheese]

I will be monitoring Shelby’s activities closely but he seems to be a man of his word.

In Shelby's defense, the best way to stop the Schiano-bashing is for Schaino to stop giving people reasons to bash him.

 

[MADHAT1]

In Shelby's defense, the best way to stop the Schiano-bashing is for Schaino to stop giving people reasons to bash him.

last season seems like a good start

 

[Shelby65]

I will be monitoring Shelby’s activities closely but he seems to be a man of his word.

Ok, Shelby does appreciate those kind words and in return will hereby commit to refraining from Schiano bashing until May 22 at 8:00 a.m.