I wanted to dive into the source of the two deep (pre-season) to figure out which classes our players came from that Rutgers recruited from HS, which players were transfers and which players were walk ons. Here's what I found:
Here's the full breakdown by class/source:
Some takeaways for me:
- The class of 2020 is carrying this team and this program. Schiano and company had a very high hit rate on the guys he brought in after he was hired. The majority of our best players all came from the class of 2020, particularly the guys who Schiano landed after taking the job (Kyle Monangai, Robert Longerbeam, Tyreem Powell, Aaron Lewis, Wesley Bailey, etc. He also landed Max Melton after he was hired who went onto the NFL already).
- The class of 2021 has produced a good amount of players in terms of both starters and 2 deep players, but I wouldn't say the class has produced many impact players. Shaquon Loyal, Gus Zilinskas and Kyonte Hamilton are the only 3 guys that (IMO) even come close to being impact guys. The other 6 players from the 2021 class in the two deep are well below average B1G starters/depth.
- The class of 2022 was a complete dud. These are the guys in their JR or RS SO seasons. Only 29% of that class is currently in the 2 deep, with many of those players being some of the most problematic on the team (Moses Walker, Dariel Djabome, Taj White, etc)
- 25% of our two deep are either transfers or walk ons.
- We will be losing (at least) 9/11 starters on defense and 4/11 starters on offense next year, with most of those players being our best players on the team. We will need to heavily subsidize this roster with portal players this off-season if we want to be competitive in 2025.
| Offense | ||||
| Position | 1st Team | Recruiting Class/Portal | 2nd Team | Recruiting Class/Portal |
| QB | Athan Kaliakmanis | Transfer | Ajani Sheppard | 2023 |
| RB | Kyle Monangai | 2020 | Sam Brown V | 2022 |
| WR | Dymere Miller | Transfer | Christian Dremel | Walk on |
| WR | Chris Long | 2020 | Ben Black | 2024 |
| WR | Ian Strong | 2023 | KJ Duff | 2024 |
| TE | Kenny Fletcher | 2022 | Victor Konopka | 2020 |
| LT | Hollin Pierce | Walk on | Reggie Sutton | 2018 |
| LG | Bryan Felter | 2020 | Taj White | 2022 |
| C | Gus Zilinskas | 2021 | Terrence Salami | Walk on |
| RG | Kobe Asamoah | 2022 | Nick Oliveira | 2023 |
| RT | Tyler Needham | 2021 | Shedrick Rhodes | Transfer |
| Defense | ||||
| Position | 1st Team | Recruiting Class/Portal | 2nd Team | Recruiting Class/Portal |
| DE | Wesley Bailey | 2020 | Jordan Walker | Walk on |
| DT | Kyonte Hamilton | 2021 | Zaire Angoy | 2021 |
| DT | Malcolm Ray | Transfer | Keshon Griffin | 2021 |
| DE | Aaron Lewis | 2020* | Jordan Thompson | 2021 |
| LB | Mohamed Toure | 2019 | Moses Walker | 2022 |
| LB | Tyreem Powell | 2020 | Dariel Djabome | 2022 |
| CB | Eric Rogers | Transfer | Al-Shadee Salaam | 2021 |
| FS | Flip Dixon | Transfer | Kaj Sanders | 2024 |
| SS | Shaquon Loyal | 2021 | Joe Lusardi | Walk on |
| CB | Robert Longerbeam | 2020 | Bo Mascoe | 2023 |
| NB | Desmond Igbinosun | 2021 | Sage Clawges | 2023 |
Here's the full breakdown by class/source:
| Class | Starters (% of starters) | Players on 2 deep (% of 2 deep) | Signees (Class only) |
| Transfer | 5 (23%) | 6 (14%) | --- |
| Walk on | 1 (5%) | 5 (11%) | --- |
| 2018 | 0 | 1 (2%) | NA (basically no one with eligibility left) |
| 2019 | 1 (5%) | 1 (2%) | NA (basically no one with eligibility left) |
| 2020 | 7 (32%) | 8 (18%) | 22 |
| 2021 | 5 (23%) | 9 (20%) | 22 |
| 2022 | 2 (9%) | 6 (14%) | 21 |
| 2023 | 1 (5%) | 5 (11%) | 20 |
| 2024 | 0 | 3 (7%) | 27 |
Some takeaways for me:
- The class of 2020 is carrying this team and this program. Schiano and company had a very high hit rate on the guys he brought in after he was hired. The majority of our best players all came from the class of 2020, particularly the guys who Schiano landed after taking the job (Kyle Monangai, Robert Longerbeam, Tyreem Powell, Aaron Lewis, Wesley Bailey, etc. He also landed Max Melton after he was hired who went onto the NFL already).
- The class of 2021 has produced a good amount of players in terms of both starters and 2 deep players, but I wouldn't say the class has produced many impact players. Shaquon Loyal, Gus Zilinskas and Kyonte Hamilton are the only 3 guys that (IMO) even come close to being impact guys. The other 6 players from the 2021 class in the two deep are well below average B1G starters/depth.
- The class of 2022 was a complete dud. These are the guys in their JR or RS SO seasons. Only 29% of that class is currently in the 2 deep, with many of those players being some of the most problematic on the team (Moses Walker, Dariel Djabome, Taj White, etc)
- 25% of our two deep are either transfers or walk ons.
- We will be losing (at least) 9/11 starters on defense and 4/11 starters on offense next year, with most of those players being our best players on the team. We will need to heavily subsidize this roster with portal players this off-season if we want to be competitive in 2025.
