Around this time last year, so much of the news surrounding Rutgers football’s defense centered on the number of stars and high-impact contributors announcing they’d return for 2024.
Each announcement was a major boon for a unit that looked poised to be the team’s strength under a highly regarded coordinator.
But each return meant there would be another hole to fill before the 2025 season – something Greg Schiano and the coaching staff have expeditiously addressed in recent weeks.
While Rutgers still needs a new coordinator to replace Joe Harasymiak, the Scarlet Knights have bolstered their defense with seven transfer portal additions, reshaping and revamping a unit that has improvements to make for the 2025 season.
Rutgers added a solid mix of experience and production to the unit – especially along the defensive line – to fill areas of need. The Scarlet Knights have still have several impact players returning, including linebacker and leading tackler Dariel Djabome, as well as Mohamed Toure, who’s coming back after missing this past season with a torn ACL.
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Schiano and his coaching staff want to be judicious with the transfer portal, only bringing in players they believe are good fits.
That requires extensive legwork.
“We do an extensive dive on each player,” Schiano said in Arizona in the days leading up to the Rate Bowl. “When you have as many staff members as we do, somebody usually knows somebody at that school. And somebody knows their high school coach, and somebody knows somebody in their community. How do you know if he’s a cultural fit unless you do a deep dive on him? I don’t know any other way. Certainly you can’t just go by talking to them on the phone. That’s not a very good test for that.”
Finding players who have been successful at their previous schools is also important – for the seven defensive players Rutgers has added via the portal, the combined records of their previous teams this past season was 61-22.
The addition of experienced players also gives Rutgers’ younger players another year to develop as rotational pieces before needing to step into larger roles.
The new-look defensive line
The Scarlet Knights’ defensive line is going to look a lot different in 2025.
They lost defensive ends Aaron Lewis (out of eligibility) and Wesley Bailey (transferred to Louisville), while starting defensive tackles Kyonte Hamilton and Malcolm Ray are also out of eligibility. So is Troy Rainey, an important interior rotational piece.
Here’s who Rutgers brought in to revamp the unit:
DE Bradley Weaver (Ohio)
The 6-foot-4, 262-pound Weaver was a big addition for the Scarlet Knights. He had 44 tackles (15.0 for loss) with 8.5 sacks this past season.
Against Syracuse, the Bobcats’ only Power 4 opponent of the season, Weaver played well with five tackles and one sack.
DE Eric O’Neill (James Madison)
O’Neill, a native of Staten Island, had 52 tackles this past season, including 18.5 for loss with 13 sacks. He also had an interception and three pass breakups.
Weaver and O’Neill this past season had nearly as many sacks combined (21.5) as Rutgers had as a team (22).
This will be O’Neill’s third college program – he spent three years at LIU before transferring to JMU for one season.
DT Darold DeNgohe (James Madison)
DeNgohe is more than a one-year stopgap with three years of eligibility remaining.
The 6-foot-2, 290-pound DeNgohe, who played at LaSalle College High School in Pennsylvania, had 28 tackles (6.0 for loss) with one sack this past season.
DT Doug Blue-Eli (South Florida)
This is a homecoming for the 6-foot-2, 315-pound Blue-Eli, a native of Paulsboro who’s previously played at Monroe Community College, TCU, South Florida, and now, Rutgers.
Blue-Eli had 37 tackles the last two seasons, including five for loss. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
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The bolstered secondary
Like its defensive line, Rutgers’ secondary is also going to have a new look. The Scarlet Knights are losing starting cornerbacks Robert Longerbeam and Eric Rogers, as well as safeties Shaquan Loyal, Flip Dixon and Desmond Igbinosun.
Loyal was second on the team this past season with 77.0 tackles (4.0 for loss) while Dixon was third with 62.0 tackles.
Longerbeam and Loyal each had two interceptions.
Here’s who Rutgers has added to its secondary:
CB Cam Miller (Penn State)
Adding a player like Miller was significant – he’s played at a high level with considerable Big Ten experience with the Nittany Lions. The 6-foot, 183-pound Miller had 27 tackles with five pass breakups in 16 games this season, including four starts.
Rutgers recruited Miller out of high school (he attended Trinity Christian Academy in Florida) so Schiano was already familiar with him.
CB Jacobie Henderson (Marshall)
Rutgers added Henderson, who has two years of eligibility remaining, in December.
For the Thundering Herd in 2024, the 5-foot-11, 191-pound Henderson racked up 50 tackles (1.5 for loss) with two interceptions. Marshall played Virginia Tech and Ohio State early in the season and Henderson had four tackles in each game.
Miller and Henderson will be part of a rotation that includes returners Bo Mascoe and Al-Shadee Salaam.
The group gives the Scarlet Knights the flexibility to move players around.
S Jett Elad (UNLV)
The 6-foot-1, 205 pound Elad had a stellar season at UNLV. He finished with 84 tackles (5.0 for loss) with one sack, one interception and six pass breakups.
Elad had 10 tackles (1.5 for loss) against Syracuse and six against Kansas.
