It’s been a busy start to the offseason for Greg Schiano and Rutgers football.
And it actually started before the Scarlet Knights played their final game.
While Rutgers prepared to play Kansas State in the Rate Bowl in Phoenix, Schiano and the coaching staff were scouring the transfer portal looking for players to bring in to fill multiple spots, especially on defense, to join the players the Scarlet Knights have coming back.
It’s still early – very early – with even spring football more than two months away. A lot can happen between now and the opener for the 2025 season.
But with where things stand right now, here’s who could start for Rutgers next season:
Offense
Right tackle: Taj White
White started five games at left guard after Bryan Felter suffered a season-ending injury, then slid over to right tackle after Tyler Needham got hurt. Right now, he’s likely the best option to keep that spot next season.
Right guard: Kobe Asamoah
Asamoah started all 13 games this past season at right guard. He’s developed into a solid piece of the offensive line.
Center: Gus Zilinskas
Zilinskas has become a stalwart at the position – he’s started the last 26 games at center.
Left guard: Dantae Chin OR Bryan Felter
Felter suffered a season-ending injury after starting the first four games at left guard. Chin started the last four games at this spot after Taj White flipped to right tackle.
Left tackle: Tyler Needham
Rutgers has to replace Hollin Pierce, which won’t be easy. There’s still a chance the Scarlet Knights land a left tackle in the portal. If not, Needham, who missed two games due to injury before returning as a tight end against Michigan State and Kansas State, could be an option. He started the first nine games this season at right tackle.
Running back: CJ Campbell Jr.
Running back is a position of strength with plenty of depth to replace Kyle Monangai – look at how Antwan Raymond and Ja’shon Benjamin played in the Rate Bowl. Now Rutgers welcomes in Campbell, an FAU transfer, to provide some veteran experience. He rushed for 844 yards with 11 touchdowns this season, but he also caught 40 passes for 466 yards and three scores. Campbell’s pass-catching ability will add a needed dynamic out of the backfield.
Tight end: Colin Weber
The tight end position was absolutely devasted by injuries this season, so while the room will be healthy again in 2025, it’ll also have a veteran in Charlotte transfer Colin Weber. The 6-foot-4, 261-pound Weber caught 21 passes for 213 yards this past season.
Wide receiver: DT Sheffield
Rutgers needed to replace slot receiver Dymere Miller and brought in Sheffield to help do that. The 5-foot-10 North Texas transfer this season had 66 catches for 822 yards with 11 touchdowns.
Wide receiver: KJ Duff
The 6-foot-6 Duff is a big target for QB Athan Kaliakmanis. In his debut season, Duff hauled in 27 passes for 425 yards with one touchdown.
Wide receiver: Ian Strong
The 6-foot-3 Strong caught 43 passes for 676 yards and five touchdowns this season, his second with Rutgers. He’s a talented, dynamic target who’s only going to get better.
Quarterback: Athan Kaliakmanis
Kaliakmanis returns after a productive first season with Rutgers. He passed for 2,696 yards, becoming the first Scarlet Knights quarterback to hit the 2,000-yard mark in a season since 2014. Kaliakmanis threw for 18 touchdowns this season.
Defense
Defensive end: Eric O’Neill
The addition of the James Madison edge rusher was a huge one for Rutgers’ defense. He had 52 tackles with 13 sacks this past season. The Scarlet Knights beat out schools like Oklahoma and North Carolina to land him.
Defensive tackle: Darold DeNgohe OR Keshon Griffin
DeNgohe is a James Madison transfer with three years of eligibility remaining. Griffin started four games this season. This could be a battle through training camp.
Defensive tackle: Doug Blue-Eli
Rutgers added the USF transfer last month to step into a position where it needs to replace Kyonte Hamilton and Malcolm Ray. He had 17 tackles this past season.
Defensive end: Jordan Thompson
The Parsippany Hills product started all 13 games at defensive end, 26 tackles (five for loss) with 1.5 sacks.
Linebacker: Mohamed Toure
Toure announced he’s coming back for one more season after missing 2024 with a torn ACL. Toure is a force and a trusted leader of the entire unit. If he can be anything close to what he was before the injury, it would be huge for Rutgers’ defense.
Linebacker: Dariel Djabome
Djabome this past season had 105 tackles, becoming the first Rutgers player to eclipse the 100-tackle mark since Olakunle Fatukasi in 2020.
Safety: Jett Elad
Elad is a UNLV transfer who likely will replace Flip Dixon. He had 84 tackles and one interception this past season.
Safety: Kaj Sanders
The Bergen Catholic product started five games this past season as a true freshman, finishing with 43 tackles.
Cornerback: Jacobie Henderson
The Marshall transfer has two years of eligibility remaining. Henderson had 50 tackles and two interceptions this past season. He’ll give the secondary solid experience and production.
Cornerback: Bo Mascoe
Mascoe started three games this season and notched his first-career interception in the blowout win over Michigan State.
Cornerback: Al-Shadee Salaam
The converted running back played in 11 games this season and made 26 tackles with two pass breakups.
Special teams
Kicker: Jai Patel
Patel went 15-of-19 on field goals this past season with a long of 49 yards.
Punter: Jakob Anderson
Anderson had an average of 42.6 yards per punt this season.
