Rutgers finished 2022 with a usual 4-8 record, defeating only Boston College, Wagner, Temple and Indiana. It lost by single digits against Nebraska and Michigan State but was otherwise blown out in every game. This year, DraftKings Sportsbook has Rutgers’ win total at 4.5, with the under juiced to -120. The Scarlet Knights sit at +25000 to win the Big Ten, which ranks only ahead of Indiana. Let’s get into Rutgers football predictions with a season preview and roster overview.
2023 Rutgers Football Predictions & Season Preview
Rutgers Football 2023 Season Preview: Coaching Staff
Greg Schiano enters his fourth season as Rutgers head coach after he retook the job in 2020. Since then, Rutgers has a 12-22 record. Rutgers has been an impossible job since Schiano first had the job in the mid 2000s, but he will attempt to right the ship here. At offensive coordinator, he hired Kirk Ciarrocca, who has coordinated various Big Ten offenses over the years with mild success. The defense has often been the strength of this team. That unit will be led by Joe Harasymiak for the second straight season.
Rutgers Football 2023 Season Preview: Offense
Quarterback
2021 4-star recruit quarterback Gavin Wimsatt is expected to start. He was the 205th-ranked prospect in the 2021 class. Last year, Wimsatt only made it through eight games due to injury. He completed 65 of 145 pass attempts (44.8%) for 757 yards (5.2 yards per attempt), five touchdowns and seven interceptions. Wimsatt could be a decent rusher. He notched 63 yards on 40 carries last year. He was the 17th graded quarterback in the Big Ten out of 17 qualifiers with at least 100 pass attempts, per Pro Football Focus. Evan Simon is back this year too. He actually played better from an efficiency perspective. He completed 79 of 137 passes (57.7%) for 777 yards (5.7 YPA), four touchdowns and six interceptions. Simon does not look mobile whatsoever after rushing 22 times for -2 yards. Simon was the 14th graded quarterback in the Big Ten last year. The new offensive coordinator could breathe life into this offense, but this could be a pretty brutal quarterback room unless there is some significant growth. Wimsatt has been hyped up this offseason, but we will see if that comes true.
Running Back
Rutgers returns both of its leading rushers in Samuel Brown V and Kyle Monangai. Brown is 6-foot-1, 220 pounds, and rushed 86 5imes for 374 yards, while catching four passes for another 17 yards. Unfortunately, he got injured after seven games. He averaged 3.05 yards after contact and forced a missed tackle on 16.3% of his attempts. Monangai is 5-foot-9, 205 pounds, and rushed 109 times for 445 yards, while catching six of 11 targets for 31 yards. He averaged 2.83 yards after contact and a missed tackle on 22.9% of his attempts. It also returns Al-Shadee Salaam, who rushed 57 times for 210 yards. Additionally, Aaron Young returns for his fifth season after spending most of 2022 injured. He rushed 56 times for 208 yards in 2021. This running back room is actually pretty deep and should be a strength.
Wide Receiver
Rutgers lost Sean Ryan, Aron Cruickshank and Shameen Jones this offseason. This leaves Chris Long as the leading returner with 15 catches for 200 yards last year. None of its returning receivers even saw 30 targets. Long is 6-foot-0, 175 pounds, and played in the slot 28.3% of the time. He posted a middling 1.14 yards per route last year. Its second-leading returner is Isaiah Washington, who caught just three passes for 59 yards last year. He is 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, but he did catch 19 passes in 2021. Christian Dremel has received some hype this offseason after catching one pass last year. He is 5-foot-9, 185 and should contribute more this year as he enters his fifth college season. The team also landed Western Illinois transfer Naseim Brantley, who is 6-foot-4, 200 pounds. Brantley caught 52 of 105 passes for 888 yards and nine touchdowns last year, while spending 95.4% of his time out wide. Beyond him, Rutgers has allegedly hyped up 3-star freshmen Dylan Braithwaite and Jesse Ofurie. On this weak depth chart, they might actually play a fair amount. Overall, it is hard to see this group taking a significant step forward.
Tight End
The Scarlet Knights lost Matt Alaimo to transfer, but they return converted quarterback Johnny Langan. Langan is 6-foot-3, 235 pounds, and enters his fifth season with Rutgers. He caught 32 of 62 targets for 296 yards, while also rushing 31 times for 139 yards. He lined up in the slot on 32.3% of his routes and recorded 1.15 yards per route, which is decent for a tight end. Langan still blocked on 53% of his snaps, but he is one of the more dynamic weapons on this offense. The team also returns Victor Konopka and Mike Higgins. Konopka is 6-foot-7, 250 pounds, and played 99 snaps before his injury. He spent 88 of those snaps blocking. Konopka only caught one pass. Higgins is 6-foot-5, 240 pounds, and played 43 snaps. He blocked on 42 of those snaps. Rutgers recently added Maine transfer Shawn Bowman as well. He is 6-5, 255 pounds and caught 31 balls for 377 yards in eight games last year.
Offensive Line
Rutgers lost guard D.J. DiRenzo and left tackle Willie Tyler. It returns tackle Hollin Pierce, who played 750 snaps last year. This will be his third year starting for Rutgers. He is the favorite to play left tackle this year with Tyler moving on. Right guard Curtis Dunap Jr. also returns this year after 564 snaps. He previously started at Minnesota before moving over to Rutgers last year. At center, Rutgers returns Ireland Brown, who played 616 snaps. Brown looks like the weakest link on this offensive line, but he also has multiple years of starting experience under his belt. Left guard. should be Mike Ciaffoni after he filled in for 302 snaps last year. It could also be Kobe Asamoah, who started a few games down the stretch, but he was not very good. According to reports, Kamar Missouri is the favorite to step up at right tackle this year. He played 67 snaps last year as a reserve, but this will be his third year in the program. This offensive line was not great last year, so there is a chance for improvement here.
Rutgers Football 2023 Season Preview: Defense
Rutgers ranked 50th on defense in 2022. This included the 84th-ranked run defense, 30th-ranked pass rush and 39th-ranked secondary. The Scarlet Knights lose three starters in their secondary, but they return quite a bit of production. They also added four transfers in hopes of improving the defense.
Defensive Line
On the edge, Rutgers returns starters Aaron Lewis and Wesley Bailey. The pair logged 607 and 631 snaps, respectively. Bailey and Lewis each logged eight tackles for loss, which actually came in as a strength for this team. Rutgers also returns some rotational production on the edge. Jordan Thompson played 210 snaps and Rene Konga played 150. The Scarlet Knights also added Ole Miss transfer Isaiah Iton. He only played 97 snaps last year but saw 276 in 2021.
Rutgers lost Ifeanyi Maijeh, but it returnsMayan Ahanotu and Kyonte Hamilton. These two played 355 and 451 snaps. Hamilton logged three tackles for loss and 24 total tackles. Ahanotu also notched 4.5 tackles for loss, which is solid for an interior defender. Even Troy Rainey played 227 snaps and should figure to play a role in this rotation. Overall, the pass rush ranked well last year, but this group needs to take a jump against the run.
Linebacker
Rutgers returns its primary starters Deion Jennings and Tyreem Powell. They played 596 and 778 snaps together. Jennings led the team with 91 tackles and logged 8.5 tackles for loss. Powell came in with 71 tackles himself, but Jennings should act as the leader of this defense. Jamier Wright-Collins returns as the third linebacker after playing 155 snaps last year. However, Rutgers typically plays with two linebackers on the field. Overall, this group should be a strength for Rutgers this year.
Defensive Back
Rutgers lost one of its better starters in Christian Braswell. However, it returns Robert Longerbeam and Max Melton. The pair played 475 and 577 snaps last year. Melton broke up ten passes, while logging a pair of interceptions. Longerbeam broke up six passes himself, but both corners displayed average play for the most part. The nickel looks like Shaquan Loyal after 202 snaps last year. However, Rutgers addressed this position in the portal. Charles Amankwaa comes over from Akron after logging 690 snaps in 2021. He spent most of last year injured. Eric Rogers also comes in from Northern Illinois, where he played 350 snaps last year.
Safety could be a bigger issue for the Scarlett nights after Avery Young and Christian Izien departed. Both were quality starters for Rutgers as well. Desmond Igbinosun played 565 snaps last year and broke up four passes. He also logged 55 tackles, making him the most experienced player at this position. The next most active safety was Elijuwan Mack, who played just 125 snaps last year. Joe Lusardi also played 29 snaps in five games, but Rutgers may rely on a transfer here as well. Michael Dixon comes over from Minnesota after 413 snaps last year. There is a good chance he plays over Mack or Lusardi.
2023 Rutgers Football Schedule & Predictions
Rutgers Football 2023 Schedule
Rutgers plays a non-conference schedule consisting of Temple, Virginia Tech and Wagner. Two of these games should be clear wins and Virginia Tech could be a tossup. From the Big Ten West, Rutgers draws Wisconsin, Iowa and Northwestern. While Northwestern has been down, Iowa and Wisconsin are the two favorites on that side. From there, it is the usual suspects in the Big Ten East. Overall, this schedule looks pretty brutal on paper.
Rutgers Football Futures Bet & Prediction
Under 4.5 wins looks like a solid bet here. Wagner is the only game on the schedule Rutgers should be a large favorite. It will be favored against Temple. However, games against Northwestern, Virginia Tech and Indiana will likely be close to pick-’ems. With Rutgers needing to win all three or upset another opponent, under 4.5 wins looks like a solid wager.
Best Rutgers Football Futures Bet: Rutgers under 4.5 Wins at DraftKings
You can read the rest of Matt Gajewski’s 2023 college football season previews and predictions below!
- Alabama Season Preview & Predictions
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- Baylor Season Preview & Predictions
- Florida Season Preview & Predictions
- Georgia Season Preview & Predictions
- Iowa Season Preview & Predictions
- Iowa State Season Preview & Predictions
- Kansas Season Preview & Predictions
- Kansas State Season Preview & Predictions
- Kentucky Season Preview & Predictions
- LSU Season Preview & Predictions
- Michigan Season Preview & Predictions
- Michigan State Season Preview & Predictions
- Mississippi State Season Preview & Predictions
- Missouri Season Preview & Predictions
- Ohio State Season Preview & Predictions
- Oklahoma Season Preview & Predictions
- Oklahoma State Season Preview & Predictions
- Ole Miss Season Preview & Predictions
- South Carolina Season Preview & Predictions
- TCU Season Preview & Predictions
- Tennessee Season Preview & Predictions
- Texas Season Preview & Predictions
- Texas A&M Season Preview & Predictions
- Texas Tech Season Preview & Predictions
- Vanderbilt Season Preview & Predictions
- West Virginia Season Preview & Predictions
