A quarterback competition for Rutgers football? It is a matter of progress says Greg Schiano
There is a quarterback competition for Rutgers football, with Saturday’s scrimmage the latest chance for Gavin Wimsatt and Athan Kaliakmanis both showing flashes.
The incumbent starter, Wimsatt took a developmental step forward last year, his first season as the starting quarterback at Rutgers. In a season where he led Rutgers to an impressive bowl victory over Miami, Wimsatt still has plenty of room to improve and take a step forward.
He threw for a career-high yards last year and also marked an improvement in completion percentage. Wimsatt also put up some staggering numbers running the ball and threw more touchdowns than interceptions – all very strong signs of development.
But the completion percentage is still low by Power Five standards and has to improve if Rutgers is going to continue its rebuild.
With the arrival of Kalaiakmanis in the transfer portal from Minnesota, Rutgers now has two quarterbacks with significant Big Ten experience. And unlike last year, there is a true quarterback competition for the Scarlet Knights.
Saturday’s scrimmage was what head coach Greg Schiano saw as the next step in that process of not just evaluating the quarterbacks but also developing them. It is a process that Schiano says goes back further than just spring practice.
“I think it’s not only the spring, I think they’ve made progress from when we got back in January all the way through,” Schiano told reporters last Saturday in talking about the quarterbacks.
“I’m pleased with their progression. Still plenty to go. But as long as you keep taking those baby steps, a little bit every week. We’ll get there eventually.”
It wasn’t a flawless performance from either quarterback, but there is a real genuine competition between Wimsatt and Kaliakmanis.
Despite transferring in from Minnesota, Kaliakmanis knows this system well. Two years ago as a freshman at Minnesota, his offensive coordinator was Kirk Ciarrocca.
And it was Ciarrocca, now in his second year at Rutgers, who recruited Kaliakmanis to transfer within the Big Ten this offseason.
“The quarterbacks – I think they all did good stuff. We had some good completions, made some mistakes,” Schiano said.
“Had two interceptions today. Look, here’s some stuff to learn from the tape. Plenty of plays to learn from and watch. Everybody can watch themselves which is important. I think they did well, it’s starting to take shape”
This past season showed some of the potential that Kaliakmanis brings to Rutgers. As a sophomore at Minnesota, Kaliakmanis completed 53.1 percent of his passes for 1,831 yards with 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Saturday’s scrimmage was the second of spring practice for Rutgers. The final spring scrimmage is the Scarlet-White Game this Saturday.
