GAME WEEK PREVIEW:Rutgers V Howard; Depth Chart, Expectations & Predictions

okay we're heading into Labor Day weekend and that means one thing we're heading into ruter football game week let's get to it I'll give you Kandy give you Diamond give you pills give you anything you want1 bills okay so we're heading into Labor Day weekend this is a great week I absolutely love this time of the year you're kind of coming to the end of season uh end of the summer season and into fall one of my if not my favorite time of the year you know the the uh pumpkin LS and October Fest start rolling in and usually down at the the beach this time of the year and come back for a Ruckers opening and we open against Howard this Thursday at SHI Stadium uh this is going to be an interesting kind of game now we're 35 and a half uh Point favored but this isn't the Howard team that we remember from the past a little bit better they uh they were six and six last year they won to M got to a bow game and lost it but they like to run the ball they have a two-headed uh running back attack like to play some defense wouldn't be shocked if you know they kind of hung in there for a while tried to eat up some clock with which is what we're trying to do although in this game I feel that we need to this year improve upon our passing game that's uh no secret there so don't be surprised if we look to uh throw the ball around a little bit and test out the new offense we're going to have to test out uh you know our new and improved wide receiver room we know we're going to be able to run it um nonetheless I would say you know if I had to make a prediction maybe 4510 recers maybe Howard scores late in the game to uh you know get a touchdown on the board well you know maybe they score a little early you know we're trying to get used to the game it's the first game of the year uh although you know with our nine returners starting on a number 16 defense that might be a little bit difficult but you never know how the first game Jitters go uh nonetheless well you know the the Outlook you know we've gone through the different uh position groups over the past few weeks we'll just do a brief uh overview you know I kind of uh predicted for us you know like an eight and4 uh floor for us this year maybe it's probably the season we should have had last year but all the injuries and the issues at the quarterback position and the offensive line over the past couple years kind of put us at a disadvantage I think we have enough opportunity at 9 and3 there's going to be a lot of 50/50 games how those shake out and if we can stay healthy we'll be the barometer along with how well our quarterback uh position plays now we have uh the Triple A we have aan konus Johnny Shepard and AJ SAS going into uh Camp I thought uh was looking for AJ SAS to kind of challenge a Shephard for the backup quarterback role as the the Dual threat quarterback of the future you know uh apparently there's some sort of upper extremity kind of secretive injury issue with AJ so that's not going to be the case but I'm surprised that a Johnny Shepard you know I I thought initially okay he kind of fit the style of offense we were playing at the time when we had Gavin and he would be like a third string quarterback but he really wouldn't uh have a significant impact uh in games uh think it was kind of wrong about that he uh you know the only game time uh time we saw with him was with Wagner yes it's Wagner but he looked totally comfortable uh with the offense I think he only had two or three passes uh you know all completed and he could run it but he apparently this Camp has developed into a pretty good B back up um I remember coacho saying you know no turnovers that's always a really great day uh for the offense when uh there's no turnovers so Johnny Shepard will be the backup Athan how aan goes will'll decide how our offense goes this year and I'm interest see I'm interested in seeing what we got going on with AJ SAS you know is he developing how serious is his injury uh you know we return all those starters on defense you know motter being out uh Tyne po I it might be out for the first couple games I really would have liked to see us be able to hit the ground running literally and figuratively this season with all our guys in place how dominant we can be um but things don't always work out that way the injury bug has not been kind to ruter uh you know Dariel jabon says he's ready said he's ready to go you know we have Moses Walker highly recruited out in New York yeah freshman Abram Wright uh coach has been talking about Timmy Hans better as a guy that you know he's done pretty well and improving you you have to keep an eye on those guys I think we'll be able to get through at least the first couple games of the Year U nonetheless we uh those uh The Experience on defense should be able to uh carry the carry the day for us and if you look at our what we want to do play defense and the running back room Kyle finally getting uh love from the national media national press he's on the dop Walker and Maxwell award lists uh all big all big 10 along with Trayvon Henderson and of course we got Sam you know as a backup but I feel this running back room is really uh interesting because of its depth you know Jan B Benjamin will give you that change of pace but I think people aren't talking about a lot and are kind of uh Sleeping on Gabe wit know four star running back he's playing at Notre Dame in uh in lawrencville this year uh coach running back coach deir Shaw is GNA have his work cut out for him do you want a deep rotation of running backs and will you use them situation situationally now one of which he reminds me of Jersey Joe Martin they're they have that similar style and size Martin neck was I think it was 6 6 foot 215 gab wi 61 220 uh both really fast G one of which I think was 446 or 44840 um Joe martinick was 44 know they didn't look like speedsters once they got the ball in their hands but these guys are fast uh and physical I like this and can catch the ball so it' be interesting to see how Gabe wovi develops he might be a secret kind of weapon to use and you know we talked about the wide receiver position and its depth and how that's going to shake out you know D is going to be number one uh Christian Dremel in the slot at number two might be receiv three a little bit up in the air will it be uh Na brandley will it be Ian Strong Chris long we don't know KJ uh Duff should be in the mix why we see four uh fur uh Ben black as that changes Pace Speedster you know get him on isolation you know even Dylan brawe uh brawe so Dave BRX got his work cut out for him hopefully he gets a little bit of a mad scientist in him and he can plug and play and rotate guys uh depending on uh what the game plan is for that day offensive line we've been down the road a bunch of times on the offensive line the left is set Holland Pierce at left uh tackle Brian felter at left guard gusa selinus Center the right side a little more uh up in the air I'm really interested in seeing not just who starts but how that rotation goes it's likely going to be Kobe asamoa at Right Guard uh right tackle shedric rhods uh can you rotate in Taj white or Reggie Sun uh either way I think we have some depth and our situa our situation isn't as dep uh desperate as it's been in the past the offensive line little more comfortable with that uh tight ends Scott Fone working his way up tight end Coach uh need to get more productivity out of the tight end room it's just been non-existent uh the past few years uh someone needs to step uh into the into the into the role pass catcher we can't just be blocking tight ends anymore no more Johnny Langan we can't make you know design plays just for him uh likely going to be Kenny Fletcher starting you know Mike Higgins and Victor kaka's backups you know Logan Blake but uh kir Shaka if he can find a way to get productivity at at the tight end room that's going to open up our offense being able to hit tight end underneath um you know or even you know down the seam but yeah a check down having a another check down option wouldn't be so terrible I think having tight ends uh that could actually make some plays will help the offense out a lot so the tight end room is going to be little bit of a challenge any upside whato ever in productivity whatsoever that's a whatsoever that's a positive for the offense defensive line led by 65 uh 266 Aaron Lewis Colin Ferrell he's going to have uh quite the uh defensive line depth and experience Wesley Bailey Kean Hamilton uh Malcolm Bay transfer from Florida State got sophomores Jer Peterson and Di Abu so hopefully we can stay healthy and we just don't have guys depth uh we just don't have depth so we can fill in for injuries but hopefully we can scheme up some things where we can rotate guys in and out keep them fresh keep the pressure on the quarterback and get some of those sacks uh Corners really experienced at the top with Robert longerbeam and Eric Rogers you know you got sophomore Bo Masco got some reps in the Pinstripe bow looked pretty pretty good Al Salam transitioning is just about uh complete who will be the legitimate uh second option you know last year we had bo Melton and then longer beam that was a really good onew p uh punch will who will step in to be that number two guy and will Longo beam take the next step and being that all big 10 number one uh Corner that remains to be seen uh it will help them out a lot if the defense uh defensive front seven can get pressure and get some sacks uh kind of provide some uh little bit of protection for the back end nonetheless you know Mark Orie has uh you know a little bit of work to do to Hope bring these guys together into being a top half of the Big 10 secondary fortunately there's no Ohio State Michigan or Penn State this year so we'll see how that goes against the new Big 10 teams and you know the safety room led by coach uh Drew lascari FP Dixon Desmond ninos Chron ly those guys will should all be very solid for us uh Joe auor and don't forget don't sleep on freshman kaj Sanders he might get some playing time uh this year so that'll be nice to see some high-end highly taed Talent get on the field sooner and uh take this past recruiting class and get that Talent into the lineup and push us forward uh going forward so when you consider all of this I feel uh 8 and4 n and three is uh where we should be if we were eight and four we take it I think a 9 and3 season winning of several of those 50/50 toss up games you know I'd like to see us beat UCL like to see us beat Wisconsin actually I I you know Maryland is kind of ticking me off I think we're as talented as them this year you in the past they've had a big Edge at quarterback and you know maybe that defensive line too is actually pretty good but I want to be able to beat Maryland and beat them handily this year when some of those toss up 50/50 games and we're on our way to a 9 and3 record everybody enjoy this week this is a great time of the year I'll be in section 124 coming this Thursday night enjoy your week everybody let's go ruter and we'll see you at the game