I know everyone is disappointed with the way the season went but I think there's reason for optimism. And that's a lot coming from me. It wasn't too long ago that we were UConn and Temple bad. Just blown out every week no matter who the opponent was. Chris Ash made us a national laughinstock where medicore P5 teams would beat us by 40. This year expectations were through the roof. However, we got hit hard by injuries this year. Not an excuse because every team deals with injuries but this year was particularly bad. Even with all the injuries, we still could've won Nebraska and UCLA. Which would've been what everyone predicted pre-season.
The reason why I'm optimistic about the program is that we have some good young players. Ian Strong and Duff are going to be stars. They are both big bodied receivers and are only going to get better. They both look like future NFL potential. Benjamin and Raymond were both awesome. Minnesota is a very good team. I thought we'd be dead in the water without Monangai but they both ran similar. We are 5-4 with another chance to go to a bowl. We have 3 winnable games on our schedule. I'm not saying we're going to win, but they are winnable. At this juncture, we're a mid level P5 team.
Hell it's been a long time since we've had even average QB play. Athan is a mid level P5 QB. He's rated a 78 in NCAA 25. That's probably what I'd rate him. He's serviceable. The last even semi respecful season for a QB at Rutgers was Chris Laviano in 2015. Nearly a decade ago. He went for 2247, 16 TDs and 12 picks. Athan's going to beat that season. Which makes Athan comparable to Gary Nova. There are similarities. Athan's good, is actually very good. However, he makes some bonehead mistakes at times. What I like most about him is he's kind of a gamer. I thought Vedral was a good teammate and tried hard. However, his physical limitations stopped him from being an effective QB. Same with Gio. Kaliakmanis was exactly what we needed. Athan is never the worst player on the field. According to PFF, Athan is our fourth best offensive player. It goes Hollin Pierce, Sam Brown, Kyle Monangai and then Athan.
But with all the injuries, to be 5-4 at this point isn't a complete disaster. With some of the young players flashing and the recruiting class we have coming in, there's a lot of reasons for optimism. Greg was right and called us all out. Don't doubt Greg.
The reason why I'm optimistic about the program is that we have some good young players. Ian Strong and Duff are going to be stars. They are both big bodied receivers and are only going to get better. They both look like future NFL potential. Benjamin and Raymond were both awesome. Minnesota is a very good team. I thought we'd be dead in the water without Monangai but they both ran similar. We are 5-4 with another chance to go to a bowl. We have 3 winnable games on our schedule. I'm not saying we're going to win, but they are winnable. At this juncture, we're a mid level P5 team.
Hell it's been a long time since we've had even average QB play. Athan is a mid level P5 QB. He's rated a 78 in NCAA 25. That's probably what I'd rate him. He's serviceable. The last even semi respecful season for a QB at Rutgers was Chris Laviano in 2015. Nearly a decade ago. He went for 2247, 16 TDs and 12 picks. Athan's going to beat that season. Which makes Athan comparable to Gary Nova. There are similarities. Athan's good, is actually very good. However, he makes some bonehead mistakes at times. What I like most about him is he's kind of a gamer. I thought Vedral was a good teammate and tried hard. However, his physical limitations stopped him from being an effective QB. Same with Gio. Kaliakmanis was exactly what we needed. Athan is never the worst player on the field. According to PFF, Athan is our fourth best offensive player. It goes Hollin Pierce, Sam Brown, Kyle Monangai and then Athan.
But with all the injuries, to be 5-4 at this point isn't a complete disaster. With some of the young players flashing and the recruiting class we have coming in, there's a lot of reasons for optimism. Greg was right and called us all out. Don't doubt Greg.
