THE official RutgersAl Rutgers Season Preview

[rutgersal]

2009 sees the Rutgers Football team replete with talent, depth, and experience and with the potential to join College Footballs elite fraternity. I have Rutgers ranked third in my preseason

poll, behind USC and Florida, but ahead of noted luminaries such as Texas, Oklahoma, and Penn State. Rutgers will win in 2009 because we are

among the deepest, most intelligent, best conditioned, best coached, and most talented teams in the country.

I'm going to talk about our Offensive linemen first because

our Football success will be largely dependent on them.

The line is anchored by perhaps the best college football offensive linemen,

BIG DADDY ANTHONY DAVIS, who combines the mobility of a tight end, with

the strength of a powerlifter. Anthony is complemented by our right tackle, Kevin Haslem.

Kevin is another player who has transformed his body, coming to Rutgers

looking like a basketball player and now looking like an NFL offensive lineman.

Guards Caleb Ruch and Art Forst had their good spots and not so good spots when

they first started off in the lineup last season, but they got progressively

better as the season went along. Caleb is striving to fend off Howard Barbieri,

but don't be surprised if both players play significantly this season. As the

Center, Ryan Blazcek is the glue of the offensive line. He is another player

who has flourished, and is a Rimington Trophy candidate, given to the nations

best center.

While some college football running backs may be running away from the po-lice

in five years, some Rutgers running backs should be running in the NFL.

Our running backs, who are also among the nations best, are also going to be

integral to our teams prospects for success. Joe possesses excellent vision

and has a signifcant burst of speed, which was apparent when he took a direct snap and ran

around the end for td against Syracuse. He also ran for big

yards in the second half against NC State in the bowl game, and this helped

Rutgers win the game. Jourdan Brooks complements Martinek nicely and runs

with significant power. Brooks most productive games were against Navy where

he ran 22 times for 138 yards and against Louisville, where he ran 11 times

for 126 yards. Rocket Williams is the newcomer to the group who reminds some

of Ray Rice, but he reminds me of Reggie Bush. I don't think there is a better

corp of backs in the country.

With Rutgers quartebacks having barely any starting experience, the mandate

will probably be to manage the game, win first down, stay out of third and

long situations, and minimize costly turnovers. Tom Savage is a future

franchise quarterback but for now, Dominic Natale is the projected

starter, though both will likely see time.

Jack Corcoran figures to be an integral part of the offense in '09, just

as Brian Leonard was in 2006, as the offense figures to be more conservative

due to the new qb starters. Corcoran has vastly improved his blocking

and demonstrated tremendous hands when he made a fantastic catch in the NC

State bowl game. Andres Morales should be his backup, but must be in the doghouse,

since he's been relegated to third string. Morales is a punishing blocker

who flat out embarrasses linebackers when he is in the game.

The Tight end position is long on talent but short on experience. The starter

is Shamar Graves, who runs around a 4.5 40, and is impossible for a LB to cover.

Shamar had a number of important receptions last year and he has all the attributes

to be a star, but coach wants him to be more consistent. I'm VERY excited

about our new tight end walkon Tony <b>Texas Tornado</b> Trahan. He's huge

has soft hands, and I'm hopeful he will be the Rutgers version of Jeremy Shockey.

DC Jefferson also figures to play a role at tight end, but how big, remains

to be seen. The guy is huge at 6-6 and athletic, and if he can demonstrate

good hands, he'll be an NFL Lock.

Rutgers receivers led by Tim Brown, who has demonstrated good hands and big play ability, averaging

over 20 ypc, and has made a number of impressive td catches over the years.

Complementing Tim is future first round pick Mohamed Sanu. Sanu hails from

South Brunswick, and will likely bring a large contingent to all the games.

Sanu reminds me of Michael Crabtree because he is a flat out playmaker. Mark Harrison

also brings big time ability and he reminds me of Calvin Johnson. Marcus Cooper,

Tim Wright, Julian Hayes and others could also see time. What I'm really interested to see is how well our wide receivers block

on running plays. Thats something we took for granted with Kenny Britt and Tiquan

Underwood, who took their man out of the play on running downs.

After ranking #4 in total defense in 2006, the Rutgers defense slipped

in 2007 and 2008, ranking 17th and 33rd, respectively. This year the

defense should be back in the top 10, thanks to vastly improved depth across

the board, especially at the defensive tackle position.

The defense is led by Senior Captain and All American candidate Ryan D'Imperio,

who could be the best linebacker in the nation, and is the defenses heart and

soul, thanks to his outstanding play. Ryan is everything you want in a middle

linebacker, he's smart, he's eloquent, he's confident, he's tough, he's aggressive,

and he has an outstanding nose for the ball. Antonio Lowery

and Manny Abreu have huge shoes to fill in assuming Kevin Malasts wlb position. Lowery

and Abreu bring superior athleticism to the role, and Physically, they look like

superstars. Lowery in particular seems to have made as much progress in the weight

room as any player I have ever seen. Strongside linebacker Damaso Munoz finished in

2008 ranked 7th in the team in tackles. Impressive considering he shared the position,

in 2008 but assumes the position fulltime in 2009.

The Rutgers Defensive Line will have improved overall talent and depth and

consequently should be among the nations best in 2009. The line is bookended

by the twin towers of terror Alex Silvestro and George Johnson, who figure to

cause many a Knightmare for opposing quarterbacks. Johnson, who has been held

back by back problems in the past, enjoyed productive 2007 and 2008 seasons,

and figures to raise his play up a notch as he makes his bid to be drafted.

Silvestro figures to flourish as he transitions to his more natural end position

from tackle. Backing them up are Sorie Bayoh, Jonathan Freeney, and Justin Francis.

While Francis is not listed in the two deep, there's just no way, he's not going to

see the field. I hope we redshirt rookies like Andre Civil, Larrow, and Merril, but

they could play.

Talent and depth at the defensive tackle spot is what I'm most excited about in 2009.

Blair Bines made a number of HUGE plays in 2008, including tackling a UConn player

for a safety, which proved to be the difference in that game. Redshirt junior Charles

Noonan hasn't played a lot but has made considerable progress in the weightroom

and was recognized as the teams most improved defensive player. Eric LeGrand seems

to have found a home at the defensive tackle position in 2009, and figures to impact.

Scott Vallone would have seen considerable time in 2008, but was injured and consequently redshirted.

I'm MOST excited about Antwan Lowery. Many Rutgers DTs have been

developed, coming over from LB or DE to be DTs. Antwan is a STUD DT from the getgo, and

is good enough to play for any team in the country. Now at 314 pounds, its not difficult

to fathom him at 300 lbs at some point in the season, and stepping into a starting role

next year. He is on his way to becoming the premier college football defensive lineman.

Rutgers returns most of a secondary which ranked #36 against the pass last year. Its led

by Captain Devin McCourty, who is one of the finest corners in the country. McCourty may

not be the fastest player out there, but he plays with excellent technique, which is why`McCourty led the team with 7 pass breakups last year,

including one against Jonathan Baldwin, Pitts great receiver. McCourty is going to make

some NFL team very happy next year. Complementing Devin at the other corner spot,

is Brandon Bing one of the fastest players in the nation. Whats very

impressive about Brandon is that he's a walkon who outplayed recruits who have an

impressive set offers. Joe Lefeged is an All Big East caliber safety

who has a habit of sometimes knocking opposing quarterbacks out.

Zaire Kitchen is a free safety, who hits so hard that one of these days, I'm afraid he's

going to kill somebody. Zaire is a study in perseverance and persistance, as he's had to overcome

a couple of knee injuries.

People realized how effective a strategic weapon the punter can be when Ted Dellaganna

pinned UConn deep in its end a number of times during the UConn game last year. Its

not a stretch to say he played a big role in that victory. Teddy had 13 points of

50 yards or more last year and he should continue to flourish in 2009.

Kicker San San Te's field goals were the difference in victories against UConn and NC State

and this year he will look to improve upon his 70% field goal conversion rate.

As long as Rutgers players realize their potential, I don't think we can be beaten,

despite playing in the difficult Big East conference which has at least 5 teams

capable of beating Rutgers. Rutgers is a solid three deep among most positions and the toughest competition Rutgers

will face this year might be in practice, as starters try to fend off 2nd stringers from grabbing

their jobs. We're actually good enough to play for the National

Championship, but our weak schedule will likely hold us back. No matter, we'll be content

playing in any BCS bowl. See you in New Orleans in January, hopefully against an SEC

opponent.

[usfsig]

Are we getting punk'd? You do know Rutgers already played a game on Monday and lost terribly don't you, or has all the spray, red bull and jager bombs, raving, and hair gel gotten to your head?

[Held_AccountaBull]

this guy probably copy and pasted this from somewhere else. if he actually wrote all that just to troll than its apparent he has no life.

[usf97]

He's a dumb troll much like WVCountyRunnerUps90 or whatever his name is.

The Rutgers Season Preview Happened on Monday

  Cincinnati 47, Rutgers 15  

Rutgers Stadium - Attendance: 53,737

FINAL 1 2 3 4 SCORE

Bearcats 7 24 14 2 47

Scarlet Knights 7 0 0 8 15

[Brad]

Easy boys.. 

[nobull.Bulls]

Whoever is doing this, thank you for the Wednesday entertainment/humor at work

[slick1ru2]

You lost my interest at "2009"

[outrunner]

ruck futgers

[2000bull]

Wow, rutgersAl made a post here? Could it be the same rutgersAl who asked BrianB on the BE Blog when Rutgers could start getting classified or thought of as the "USC of the East"? That was a funny day.

[bull2saintleo]

Are we getting punk'd? You do know Rutgers already played a game on Monday and lost terribly don't you, or has all the spray, red bull and jager bombs, raving, and hair gel gotten to your head?

First thing that comes to mind when seeing this quote is the following guy:

JAGERBOMB!