As Rutgers embarks on a highly-anticipated season, senior defensive back Eric Rogers prepares for his second year with the team looking to become one of its defensive stalwarts.
"This camp I've been working on embracing the role of being more of a leader in the room," Rogers said. "I'm just trying to step up and be a leader to the young guys, we have a lot of young guys in the room, so just leading and guiding them in the right way and doing well as a team."
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Rogers spent his first two seasons with Northern Illinois where he collected 44 tackles, 33 solo, and two interceptions. He enters his second year under defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak's system coming off a campaign where he played in all 13 games with 19 tackles and six pass breakups.
The Burlington native also found his way to the endzone when he returned a blocked punt 17 yards for a touchdown in Rutgers' 31-14 win against Indiana on Oct. 21.
"I'm pretty comfortable within the system, it's just getting everybody on the same page," he said. "We have good chemistry and everybody plays together, so just keep building that chemistry and learning more, I think we should be okay."
Rogers also discussed the differences in year two with the departure of Max Melton, who was selected in the second round (43rd overall) of the NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals.
"He's been telling me since I've been here to be more of a leader," Rogers said regarding Melton. "Robert Longerbeam and I are two older guys which sounds crazy, but being more of a leader and showing guys the ropes like how Max showed me. I learned how to move around here and carry yourself."
Defensive back has proven to be one of Rutgers' strongest position groups during head coach Greg Schiano's tenure and, with the likes of Rogers and Longerbeam, this season appears to be no exception. The list does not end there though as the Scarlet Knights also have some younger backs who have caught Rogers' eyes.
"Kevin Levy and Bo Mascoe, they're really good players," he said. "The whole room is full of playmakers and it's a lot of fun competing with those guys every day. We got a really good group of young guys in the room."
Rogers also described what it has been like going up against some of Rutgers' receivers and what he has seen from the new-look core.
"I think those are also a really special group of young guys, I'm a really big fan of KJ Duff and Ben Black's made a lot of plays," he said. "That whole room is full of playmakers and it's been a lot of fun competing against those guys every day and they get me better."
It is no secret the Scarlet Knights enter the season with a lot of hype considering the talent it is bringing back and the seemingly favorable schedule it was dealt. However, Rogers is focused on the task at hand and trusts that if the team continues working on itself, everything else will fall into place.
"You just keep the main thing the main thing, continuing to work every day and trusting our training and continuing to build every day," he said. "We have pretty good chemistry from the back end to the front and I think we're going to be a really good group, but it's just about continuing to learn and work on how to play football."
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