Quotable
True freshman Jon Pollock on his January arrival at Rutgers:
“I am going to walk in there and honestly, the only thing on my mind is that I am going to be there to work 110% every day. I am going to let my play speak for itself. I am not going in there cocky or expecting anything, I am just going to go and work and earn everything.”
Fat Cat Top Five
Top Five Returning RU defensive backs
5.) Najee Clayton
4.) Davon Jacobs
3.) Isaiah Wharton
2.) Anthony Cioffi
1.) Blessuan Austin
Bobby’s Crystal Ball
Rutgers’ next commit will be a defensive player
Recruiting Tidbits
DB K.J. Sails – East Bay (Fla.)
Sails, who spent a lot of time with Rutgers commit and fellow Central Floridian Jon Pollock as teammates during the O-D Bowl All American Game last week, was able to connect with Rutgers new assistant defensive backs coach Aaron Henry recently.
“It was good, he’s a really good dude,” Sails told Scarlet Nation about their conversation. “He said that I could come in and make an immediate impact.”
Sails will take his third official visit to Cincinnati next weekend and he told our Cincinnati affiliate, BearcatNation.com, that West Virginia is guaranteed an official visit leaving Rutgers to fight it out against a number of schools for his fifth and final visit.
DT Jeff Pooler - Dunbar (Ohio)
The Dayton native, who is two days away from moving out to West Virginia to enroll early and become a member of the Mountaineer program, has a quick decision to make after receiving an offer from Rutgers on Thursday.
So what does Pooler intend to do about that offer?
“Family decision in the morning, we just got news that the grant and aid doesn’t bind me to West Virginia. So we’ll decide in the morning,” Pooler told Scarlet Nation last night.
A one-time Maryland commit, Pooler is familiar with Rutgers head coach Chris Ash from his time leading the Ohio State defense.
“(Coach Ash) knew about my game,” said Pooler. “Ohio State was going to offer me but I told them I was too solid with Maryland.”
Pooler has been committed to West Virginia since early November.
WR Donald Stewart – Paramus Catholic
Scarlet Nation has learned that Stewart continues to be a priority for the Rutgers staff which is still fighting to earn his final official visit the week of January 29th. Stewart told Scarlet Nation that he was scheduled to have a phone call with multiple members of the staff this week. Michigan and Stanford still appear to be the main competition here. Michigan has continued to make New Jersey a priority in this recruiting class. Stewart also looks to have positioned himself recently to gain admission into Stanford.
ATH Eddie Hahn – Red Bank Catholic
The versatile UConn commit told Scarlet Nation that he’s been in contact recently with Rutgers WR coach Zak Kuhr. Hahn mentioned that Rutgers has evaluated his film and is trying to figure out what position he would fit best.
“I think they are waiting to see how everything shakes out,” said Hahn.
Hahn takes his official to UConn on the weekend of January 22nd so if Rutgers invites him for a visit it would be the weekend of January 29th.
DE Karamo Dioubate – Prep Charter (Pa.)
The Philadelphia defensive lineman decommitted from Penn State yesterday. Dioubate took an official visit to Auburn last month and plans to see Michigan State on January 22nd. Although it was the previous staff that offered, Dioubate still has some interest in Rutgers due to the work of Ash. Earlier in his recruitment, the buzz was that Dioubate wasn’t going to attend a school far from home.
QB Anthony Russo – Archbishop Wood (Pa.)
The current coaching staff has made Russo a priority and he has heard from new offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer while an in-home visit is expected to take place just as soon as the dead period ends. There were a few rumors going around regarding other potential quarterback prospects in this class, but it appears that the new coaching staff intends to make Russo its lone quarterback commit this recruiting cycle.
WR Isaiah Wright – Kingswood-Oxford (Conn.)
The Rutgers commit visited Temple officially last month and has remained quiet about his intentions. However, Scarlet Nation has learned that Wright is looking forward to his upcoming Rutgers visit and has no other trips scheduled. As of now, it does not look like Wright is going to stray from his pledge to RU
ATH Tyree Rodgers – Camden Catholic
An Old Dominion commit, Rutgers has initiated contact with Rodgers and expressed interest. At this point, Rodgers is still in the formative stages of talking with Rutgers, mainly assistant defensive backs coach Aaron Henry. Rodgers is also close with Kelvin Harmon, which could entice RU to pursue a package deal with the both of them. At this point, there is a good chance Rodgers would consider taking an official visit to RU.
WR Ahmed Bah – Grand Street Campus (N.Y.)
The RU decommit has not heard from Rutgers and only picked up offers from Buffalo and Stony Brook after he decided to re-open his recruitment. It doesn’t appear the RU staff is going to pursue Bah since he decided to move on.
DB Tyrone Hill – Don Bosco
The Maryland decommit has not heard from RU coaches yet and has been talking to Pitt quite a bit. With an official visit lined up to Pitt, the Panthers staff is likely to close him out as it does not look like Rutgers is going to make a run at him.
DB Marcus Ffrench – New Brunswick
The Pitt commit as not really heard from Rutgers the way he did when he initially picked up an offer the day Ash was hired. The offer was relayed by former recruiting coordinator EJ Barthel. Ffrench has spoken to Ash, but at this point he is waiting to hear further in regards to a potential visit. He is still waiting to take his official visit to Pitt as well. Scarlet Nation has learned that Ffrench would be receptive to a future at RU if the staff made him a priority.
DT Mike Dwumfour – DePaul
One of the first offers of the Ash era, Dwumfour was a prospect favored by Ash at Ohio State. However, Dwumfour never received an Ohio State or Rutgers offer before committing to Penn State. That makes this one a steep battle and it would take a major turn of events to get Dwumfour to flip from PSU.
DE Quayshon Alexander – DePaul
Things have opened back up for the soft Nebraska commit, who has already taken official visits to Michigan, Nebraska and Pitt. He will likely take his final two visits to Indiana and Rutgers and that RU visit is expected to be finalized soon as there is a good deal of mutual interest. It also helps having Alexander’s brother, Kiy Hester, already a member of the RU squad.
WR Hasise Dubois – DePaul
The Virginia commit was contacted early on by the new RU coaching staff and has been considering taking an official visit to Rutgers. However, Rutgers has opted not to pursue teammate and friend Terrell Vassel and that could affect Dubois’ stance on Rutgers. He still has plans to take official to Virginia and has not set anything up with Rutgers. Things looked to be much farther apart between Rutgers and Dubois than they were a couple of weeks ago.
Offensive Line recruiting
With a pair of offensive line commits already in this current class, there is a real chance Rutgers could accept commits from three more offensive linemen as five looks to be the target number. Here is the latest on some of the current O-line targets.
OL Yasir Durant – Imhotep Charter (Pa.)
The Philadelphia lineman has consistently listed Rutgers among his leaders, but he briefly lost contact with the coaching staff. That changed after Durant recently got in touch with the new Rutgers OL coach A.J. Blazek.
“He told me he enjoyed my film and is just getting to know me more and academics,” Durant told Scarlet Nation.
With less than a month until signing day, Durant is working to develop a relationship with the new staff.
“I haven’t really got a chance to hear their plan so it’s a little different,” said Durant.
Durant has not scheduled an official visit to Rutgers. He only has one scheduled to San Diego State of January 22nd.
OG Austin Warner – Oswego (Ill.)
Warner committed to Northern Illinois commit this past June and played in the Semper Fi All-American Bowl last weekend. He has also recently been contacted by the Rutgers offensive line coach A.J. Blazek.
“I talked to him a lot when he was at Western Illinois,” Warner said of Blazek. “I was actually with him the day I committed. I have a pretty good relationship with him. I have talked to him a good amount. He is a great guy.”
No Rutgers offer has been extended, but Warner said he would consider Rutgers should things pick up.
“I would definitely look into that and go out there to see the school and stuff,” he said.
OT Brandon Walton – Seminole (Fla.)
A new offer went out last night Walton, who is currently a Florida Atlantic commit. He has ties to new RU defensive line coach Shane Burnham, who was recruiting Walton while he was coaching at Iowa State. Back in September, Walton told CycloneReport.com the following about Burnham.
"I talk to Coach Burnham on about a weekly basis and Iowa State seems like a good program," said Walton. "I like the relationship I've kept up with Coach Burnham. He seems like a straight-forward guy.”
Walton put together a reputable list of 22 offers and was a strong Miami lean before the firing of former head coach Al Golden.
OL Jordan Johnson – Ed White (Fla.)
A brother of former RU offensive lineman Kaleb Johnson, the younger Johnson is being followed by Rutgers O-line coach A.J. Blazek on Twitter but that is the extent of his recent contact with the staff. Johnson told Scarlet Nation that he has not yet been contacted by the new staff, although he was previously in contact with former recruiting coordinator EJ Barthel before his departure. Johnson has official visits set up to UCF and Georgia Tech. As of now, there is nothing on the horizon between him and Rutgers.
True freshman Jon Pollock on his January arrival at Rutgers:
“I am going to walk in there and honestly, the only thing on my mind is that I am going to be there to work 110% every day. I am going to let my play speak for itself. I am not going in there cocky or expecting anything, I am just going to go and work and earn everything.”
Fat Cat Top Five
Top Five Returning RU defensive backs
5.) Najee Clayton
4.) Davon Jacobs
3.) Isaiah Wharton
2.) Anthony Cioffi
1.) Blessuan Austin
Bobby’s Crystal Ball
Rutgers’ next commit will be a defensive player
Recruiting Tidbits
DB K.J. Sails – East Bay (Fla.)
Sails, who spent a lot of time with Rutgers commit and fellow Central Floridian Jon Pollock as teammates during the O-D Bowl All American Game last week, was able to connect with Rutgers new assistant defensive backs coach Aaron Henry recently.
“It was good, he’s a really good dude,” Sails told Scarlet Nation about their conversation. “He said that I could come in and make an immediate impact.”
Sails will take his third official visit to Cincinnati next weekend and he told our Cincinnati affiliate, BearcatNation.com, that West Virginia is guaranteed an official visit leaving Rutgers to fight it out against a number of schools for his fifth and final visit.
DT Jeff Pooler - Dunbar (Ohio)
The Dayton native, who is two days away from moving out to West Virginia to enroll early and become a member of the Mountaineer program, has a quick decision to make after receiving an offer from Rutgers on Thursday.
So what does Pooler intend to do about that offer?
“Family decision in the morning, we just got news that the grant and aid doesn’t bind me to West Virginia. So we’ll decide in the morning,” Pooler told Scarlet Nation last night.
A one-time Maryland commit, Pooler is familiar with Rutgers head coach Chris Ash from his time leading the Ohio State defense.
“(Coach Ash) knew about my game,” said Pooler. “Ohio State was going to offer me but I told them I was too solid with Maryland.”
Pooler has been committed to West Virginia since early November.
WR Donald Stewart – Paramus Catholic
Scarlet Nation has learned that Stewart continues to be a priority for the Rutgers staff which is still fighting to earn his final official visit the week of January 29th. Stewart told Scarlet Nation that he was scheduled to have a phone call with multiple members of the staff this week. Michigan and Stanford still appear to be the main competition here. Michigan has continued to make New Jersey a priority in this recruiting class. Stewart also looks to have positioned himself recently to gain admission into Stanford.
ATH Eddie Hahn – Red Bank Catholic
The versatile UConn commit told Scarlet Nation that he’s been in contact recently with Rutgers WR coach Zak Kuhr. Hahn mentioned that Rutgers has evaluated his film and is trying to figure out what position he would fit best.
“I think they are waiting to see how everything shakes out,” said Hahn.
Hahn takes his official to UConn on the weekend of January 22nd so if Rutgers invites him for a visit it would be the weekend of January 29th.
DE Karamo Dioubate – Prep Charter (Pa.)
The Philadelphia defensive lineman decommitted from Penn State yesterday. Dioubate took an official visit to Auburn last month and plans to see Michigan State on January 22nd. Although it was the previous staff that offered, Dioubate still has some interest in Rutgers due to the work of Ash. Earlier in his recruitment, the buzz was that Dioubate wasn’t going to attend a school far from home.
QB Anthony Russo – Archbishop Wood (Pa.)
The current coaching staff has made Russo a priority and he has heard from new offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer while an in-home visit is expected to take place just as soon as the dead period ends. There were a few rumors going around regarding other potential quarterback prospects in this class, but it appears that the new coaching staff intends to make Russo its lone quarterback commit this recruiting cycle.
WR Isaiah Wright – Kingswood-Oxford (Conn.)
The Rutgers commit visited Temple officially last month and has remained quiet about his intentions. However, Scarlet Nation has learned that Wright is looking forward to his upcoming Rutgers visit and has no other trips scheduled. As of now, it does not look like Wright is going to stray from his pledge to RU
ATH Tyree Rodgers – Camden Catholic
An Old Dominion commit, Rutgers has initiated contact with Rodgers and expressed interest. At this point, Rodgers is still in the formative stages of talking with Rutgers, mainly assistant defensive backs coach Aaron Henry. Rodgers is also close with Kelvin Harmon, which could entice RU to pursue a package deal with the both of them. At this point, there is a good chance Rodgers would consider taking an official visit to RU.
WR Ahmed Bah – Grand Street Campus (N.Y.)
The RU decommit has not heard from Rutgers and only picked up offers from Buffalo and Stony Brook after he decided to re-open his recruitment. It doesn’t appear the RU staff is going to pursue Bah since he decided to move on.
DB Tyrone Hill – Don Bosco
The Maryland decommit has not heard from RU coaches yet and has been talking to Pitt quite a bit. With an official visit lined up to Pitt, the Panthers staff is likely to close him out as it does not look like Rutgers is going to make a run at him.
DB Marcus Ffrench – New Brunswick
The Pitt commit as not really heard from Rutgers the way he did when he initially picked up an offer the day Ash was hired. The offer was relayed by former recruiting coordinator EJ Barthel. Ffrench has spoken to Ash, but at this point he is waiting to hear further in regards to a potential visit. He is still waiting to take his official visit to Pitt as well. Scarlet Nation has learned that Ffrench would be receptive to a future at RU if the staff made him a priority.
DT Mike Dwumfour – DePaul
One of the first offers of the Ash era, Dwumfour was a prospect favored by Ash at Ohio State. However, Dwumfour never received an Ohio State or Rutgers offer before committing to Penn State. That makes this one a steep battle and it would take a major turn of events to get Dwumfour to flip from PSU.
DE Quayshon Alexander – DePaul
Things have opened back up for the soft Nebraska commit, who has already taken official visits to Michigan, Nebraska and Pitt. He will likely take his final two visits to Indiana and Rutgers and that RU visit is expected to be finalized soon as there is a good deal of mutual interest. It also helps having Alexander’s brother, Kiy Hester, already a member of the RU squad.
WR Hasise Dubois – DePaul
The Virginia commit was contacted early on by the new RU coaching staff and has been considering taking an official visit to Rutgers. However, Rutgers has opted not to pursue teammate and friend Terrell Vassel and that could affect Dubois’ stance on Rutgers. He still has plans to take official to Virginia and has not set anything up with Rutgers. Things looked to be much farther apart between Rutgers and Dubois than they were a couple of weeks ago.
Offensive Line recruiting
With a pair of offensive line commits already in this current class, there is a real chance Rutgers could accept commits from three more offensive linemen as five looks to be the target number. Here is the latest on some of the current O-line targets.
OL Yasir Durant – Imhotep Charter (Pa.)
The Philadelphia lineman has consistently listed Rutgers among his leaders, but he briefly lost contact with the coaching staff. That changed after Durant recently got in touch with the new Rutgers OL coach A.J. Blazek.
“He told me he enjoyed my film and is just getting to know me more and academics,” Durant told Scarlet Nation.
With less than a month until signing day, Durant is working to develop a relationship with the new staff.
“I haven’t really got a chance to hear their plan so it’s a little different,” said Durant.
Durant has not scheduled an official visit to Rutgers. He only has one scheduled to San Diego State of January 22nd.
OG Austin Warner – Oswego (Ill.)
Warner committed to Northern Illinois commit this past June and played in the Semper Fi All-American Bowl last weekend. He has also recently been contacted by the Rutgers offensive line coach A.J. Blazek.
“I talked to him a lot when he was at Western Illinois,” Warner said of Blazek. “I was actually with him the day I committed. I have a pretty good relationship with him. I have talked to him a good amount. He is a great guy.”
No Rutgers offer has been extended, but Warner said he would consider Rutgers should things pick up.
“I would definitely look into that and go out there to see the school and stuff,” he said.
OT Brandon Walton – Seminole (Fla.)
A new offer went out last night Walton, who is currently a Florida Atlantic commit. He has ties to new RU defensive line coach Shane Burnham, who was recruiting Walton while he was coaching at Iowa State. Back in September, Walton told CycloneReport.com the following about Burnham.
"I talk to Coach Burnham on about a weekly basis and Iowa State seems like a good program," said Walton. "I like the relationship I've kept up with Coach Burnham. He seems like a straight-forward guy.”
Walton put together a reputable list of 22 offers and was a strong Miami lean before the firing of former head coach Al Golden.
OL Jordan Johnson – Ed White (Fla.)
A brother of former RU offensive lineman Kaleb Johnson, the younger Johnson is being followed by Rutgers O-line coach A.J. Blazek on Twitter but that is the extent of his recent contact with the staff. Johnson told Scarlet Nation that he has not yet been contacted by the new staff, although he was previously in contact with former recruiting coordinator EJ Barthel before his departure. Johnson has official visits set up to UCF and Georgia Tech. As of now, there is nothing on the horizon between him and Rutgers.
