Rutgers football spring practice preview | 5 key storylines to watch

[Tango Two]

Rutgers football spring practice preview | 5 key storylines to watch

Rutgers football will be back on the field as spring practices begin leading up to the Scarlet-White Game. Here are key storylines to keep an eye on.

www.app.com

 

[DJ Spanky]

Decent article: nice to see that the writer did their research.

Having Kaliakmanis back for 2025 brings a ton of clarity for the Scarlet Knights, who averaged 28.9 points per game last season, their best mark since 2008.

Kaliakmanis threw for 2,696 yards, becoming the first Rutgers quarterback to eclipse the 2,000-yard mark since 2015 and he had the most passing yards since 2014.

Did not know that about PPG - I knew it was definitely better than the last few years.

If AK improves on his production this past season we could really have one of the best offenses we've seen in well over a decade. This past season had him showing up in a number of stats on the season passing charts:

YARDS

6. Athan Kaliakmanis (2024) 2,696

ATTEMPTS

4. Athan Kaliakmanis (2024) 395

COMPLETIONS

5. Athan Kaliakmanis (2024) 213

TOUCHDOWNS

5. Athan Kaliakmanis (2024) 18

Rutgers Football Passing Leaders

 

[newwavedave1]

Athan has some good stats, but I'm not sold on the guy

 

[LeapinLou]

We REALLY need Toure to be healthy and produce at his 2023 level. Biggest key of the season.

 

[Plum Street]

Decent article: nice to see that the writer did their research.



Did not know that about PPG - I knew it was definitely better than the last few years.

If AK improves on his production this past season we could really have one of the best offenses we've seen in well over a decade. This past season had him showing up in a number of stats on the season passing charts:

YARDS

6. Athan Kaliakmanis (2024) 2,696

ATTEMPTS

4. Athan Kaliakmanis (2024) 395

COMPLETIONS

5. Athan Kaliakmanis (2024) 213

TOUCHDOWNS

5. Athan Kaliakmanis (2024) 18

Rutgers Football Passing Leaders

Might go down as a one of the best ones we have had

 

[ashokan]

Athan has some good stats, but I'm not sold on the guy

Its a twisty situation to line out
He had best WR/OL in years but early on coaches had the training wheels on so that defenders often knew what was coming. Lots of passes were short chips like a West Coast offense

Things got interesting when Kyle went down and passing game loosened-up with more WR sets and longer passes.
AK liked that and was trying to play his butt off making different passes and running.
I wish RU would get rid of the silly Siamese mesh

 

[robjknight]

Looking forward to Football season- think we will do better than many predict in spite of tougher schedule.
Having Toure back is huge . Athan finished better than most predicted last year and expect he takes another step forward and with a deep RB and Receiver group, I expect PPG goes up and Completion % goes into the 60's.

 

[DJ Spanky]

Looking forward to Football season- think we will do better than many predict in spite of tougher schedule.

I think the big thing is we're gonna have an offense that can put up some serious points. Been a long time since we've had that.

 

[WhichReligionIsRight]

How is the O-line shaping up for the 2025 season?

I also hope TE Kenny Fletcher makes it back from injury. He was showing well as the season progressed.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Its a twisty situation to line out
He had best WR/OL in years but early on coaches had the training wheels on so that defenders often knew what was coming. Lots of passes were short chips like a West Coast offense

Things got interesting when Kyle went down and passing game loosened-up with more WR sets and longer passes.
AK liked that and was trying to play his butt off making different passes and running.
I wish RU would get rid of the silly Siamese mesh

He had better wide outs then we’ve recently had, but nothing special for a BIG team. Nova had much better. Pierce and company, however, the best group of linemen we had in as long as I can remember. Big hole to fill there. I thought we handled it ok when Kaleb Johnson graduated (there were other issues but we didn’t have a glaring LT problem when he left as some feared we might). Hopefully we can adjust well to someone else playing that position. Biggest question mark entering the season IMO on offense.

 

[AM ClocksPF]

How is the O-line shaping up for the 2025 season?

I also hope TE Kenny Fletcher makes it back from injury. He was showing well as the season progressed.

Does anyone know what the injury was? I watched the game where he went out and I did not see any Knee injury ( I thought it was a shot to the upper body) but he was out for lad the season.

 

[rutgersal]

Its a twisty situation to line out
He had best WR/OL in years but early on coaches had the training wheels on so that defenders often knew what was coming. Lots of passes were short chips like a West Coast offense

Things got interesting when Kyle went down and passing game loosened-up with more WR sets and longer passes.
AK liked that and was trying to play his butt off making different passes and running.
I wish RU would get rid of the silly Siamese mesh

He wasn’t as accurate as he needed to be so coaches protected him. As the year drew on, the coaches started to feel more confident in him, and he could rely on Duff, Strong, and Miller, a Huge upgrade from last year. Duff in particular got acclimated by mid season. If AK could throw at least 58%, it’ll be huge.

 

[yesrutgers01]

He wasn’t as accurate as he needed to be so coaches protected him. As the year drew on, the coaches started to feel more confident in him, and he could rely on Duff, Strong, and Miller, a Huge upgrade from last year. Duff in particular got acclimated by mid season. If AK could throw at least 58%, it’ll be huge.

Duff and Strong didn’t become impact WR’s until late in the season. I agree that it happened as coaches became more confident.
I’m excited to see what happens this year with them.

 

[ashokan]

He wasn’t as accurate as he needed to be so coaches protected him. As the year drew on, the coaches started to feel more confident in him, and he could rely on Duff, Strong, and Miller, a Huge upgrade from last year. Duff in particular got acclimated by mid season. If AK could throw at least 58%, it’ll be huge.

Early on he sailed the ball too often on those endless sideline, safety passes.
DBs totally knew what to expect and its hard to get a ball outside a WR on a sideline with a DB on him.
You cheat to the outside to avoid the INT and end-up passing to the guys on the bench.

I remember once when RU played Penn St and the DB coach told his DBs that they would get 4 INTs vs RU - they got 5.
RU's passing attack is not something opposing DCs lose sleep over.
In 2023 GS said RU's OL couldn't block for long passes and that means pass defenders are always in tighter
GW was better with longer passes too

 

[yesrutgers01]

Early on he sailed the ball too often on those endless sideline, safety passes.
DBs totally knew what to expect and its hard to get a ball outside a WR on a sideline with a DB on him.
You cheat to the outside to avoid the INT and end-up passing to the guys on the bench.

I remember once when RU played Penn St and the DB coach told his DBs that they would get 4 INTs vs RU - they got 5.
RU's passing attack is not something opposing DCs lose sleep over.
In 2023 GS said RU's OL couldn't block for long passes and that means pass defenders are always in tighter
GW was better with longer passes too

There is a huge part of that deep sideline responsibility that falls on the WR. There has to be something planted in the DB’s head that the WR may cut in or that the QB could go back shoulder. On so many of those passes, our WRs hugged the sideline from the moment they broke the los- made it so easy on the defense

 

[TRU2RU]

Does anyone know what the injury was? I watched the game where he went out and I did not see any Knee injury ( I thought it was a shot to the upper body) but he was out for lad the season.

Broken wrist