Big 10 Prospect Preview: Rutgers
Nov 22, 2014; East Lansing, MI, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights head coach Kyle Flood walks the sidelines during the1st quarter of a game at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
While Rutgers University is just getting comfortable in the Big 10, their presence and star power is still strong. They took Penn State down to the wire in a tough conference loss last season and beat Michigan, Maryland and Indiana in conference play. While the Scarlet Knights are not yet a prime college football landing spot, Head Coach Kyle Flood is doing a tremendous job in both the recruiting and coaching department.
The team enters the 2015 seasons with some key holes to fill. While quarterback Gary Nova was not drafted, he was an important part of Rutgers success last season. Tight-end Tyler Kroft’s production will also have to be replaced after being selected 85th overall by the Bengals. Expect 2016 wide receiver draft prospect Leonte Carroo to step up on the offensive side, while some defensive studs also make their own impact.
Darius Hamilton – DL, Senior
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Hamilton will be a knightmare (see what I did there) for all of the big-time Big 10 quarterbacks. He bull rushes the quarterback with great push due to a strong lower body. The kid stays with the play until the end consistently, which is something NFL coaches and scouts love to see. Something he will need to work on in his senior season will be his hands. He relies too much on that lower body strength and gets his arms and hands locked up against himself. This also causes bad shoulders. While his pass rushing ability is disruptive, he still has a lot of fine-tuning to do on his technique.
Leonte Carroo – WR, Senior
I saw a lot to like with Carroo. The All-Big Ten receiver was second in the conference with over 1,000 receiving yards and ten touchdowns in his second season with the Scarlet Knights. He has good separation speed out of the break and has a tremendous move on his deep route running. He plays primarily outside and will hold onto the ball after some jarring hits by defensive backs. Another note I loved on him is that he stays focused on the field. In the Washington State game last season, a defensive back got up in Carroos face and followed him across the field. Carroo just looked straight on and walked away. Loved that. My biggest knock on him is his lack of effort on blocking and the fact that he doesn’t create plays for his quarterback. While his blocking isn’t awful, I don’t see the effort every single time, which hurt the team on certain drives. Everything else about the kid I love. His 6’1 height, his deceptive speed, ball skills. Everything.
Paul James – RB, Senior
Paul James is one of those kids that plays so well, but always has the injury bug. Despite missing four games with a broken leg during the 2013 season, James rushed for nearly 900 yards and nine touchdowns. In 2014, he suffered a torn ACL against Navy, just three games after rushing for nearly 200 yards and three touchdowns. He is a down hill runner with decent speed and cut, but his speed tends to vary throughout the game. He has good vision as well, which helped lead him to the amount of touchdowns he got two seasons ago. He runs a little high for an NFL back, but if he is healthy, he should find a home next April.
Other Key Prospects to Watch For
- Keith Lumpkin – OT, RS Senior
- Steve Longa – LB, RS Junior
- Quanzell Lambert – Edge, RS Junior
- Kaiwan Lewis – LB, Senior