Here's what Greg Schiano had to say about Rutgers football's offense after 2nd spring scrimmage
PISCATAWAY — Progress.
That’s what this time of year is all about for Rutgers football as it continues spring practices, especially for an offense that needs to be more productive than it was last season.
So far, coach Greg Schiano is encouraged by the steps his team has taken.
“We’re getting better,” Schiano said Saturday after the Scarlet Knights’ second scrimmage of the spring. “We’re throwing and catching, and we’re doing a little better job protecting. There’s guys on the defense that aren’t playing, so that tilts it a little bit. But there are some guys on the offense who aren’t playing, too. I think overall it’s good.”
Rutgers will get the chance to showcase that progress in its Scarlet-White Game on Saturday — it’ll also be a chance for quarterbacks Gavin Wimsatt and Athan Kaliakmanis to try to gain separation in the competition for the starting job.
Schiano said the QBs overall this Saturday did some good things.
“I think they all did good stuff,” Schiano said. “We had some good completions. We made some mistakes. We had two interceptions today. There’s stuff to learn from on the tape. We have plenty of plays to learn from and to watch, and everybody can watch themselves, which is important. I think they did well. It’s starting to take shape.”
Young wide receivers making good impressions
Those QBs have some solid weapons to throw to.
The Scarlet Knights have some talented young receivers who have done a good job of standing out this spring. Schiano on Saturday mentioned true freshmen early enrollees Ben Black, Famah Toure and KJ Duff, the top recruit in New York for the Class of 2024, as three who stood out.
Schiano said Duff hasn’t looked like a freshman.
“That’s good,” Schiano said. “We have a couple guys who are bumped up, so they’re getting some more repetitions. We just need to play bigger and stronger at the position, and I think we’re starting to learn how to do that. In the Big Ten, there’s big DBs, there’s big nickels and there’s big cover-down linebackers, and you’ve got to be able to play strong. That’s something we didn’t always do at times, so we’re really working on doing that.”
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Competition at tight end
Rutgers needs to replace Johnny Langan and Shawn Bowman at tight end, and it has some options in doing so.
The Scarlet Knights moved Kenny Fletcher from defensive end. Schiano said he’s “done some good things that are pretty impressive.”
Mike Higgins, Victor Konopka and Logan Blake are also in the mix. Rutgers also has two freshmen tight ends in Monte Keener and Matthew Ogunniyi.
“I think there’s a real keen competition there,” Schiano said.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rutgers football: Takeaways from 2nd scrimmage
