A look at Rutgers' top New York recruits in the Rivals era
New York hasn't always been known to be one of the traditional power states in terms of high school football, but Rutgers Football has landed studs from the Empire State over the past few years.
So today, The Knight Report decided to take a look at the top New York recruits that the Scarlet Knights have landed since Rivals started doing the rankings back in 2002.
This does not include walk-ons, transfers or any players before the year 2002.
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YEARS IN THE PROGRAM: 2005-07
Now I know most won’t completely agree with this list, but I think we can all agree that the top New York recruit on the list easily has to be arguably the program’s top running back of all time in Ray Rice. Out of high school Rice chose the Scarlet Knights over offers from Penn State and Syracuse and would go on to rush for 1,100 yards and five scores in year one, 1,794 yards and 20 touchdowns in year two and capped it off with 2,012 yards and 24 more scores in year three before leaving early to be drafted in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. One heck of a career for arguably the program’s top prospect of all time.
YEARS IN THE PROGRAM: 2008-2012
The former four-star recruit is one of Greg Schiano’s best defensive lineman throughout his first go around as the Scarlet Knights head coach. Vallone would go on to set the program record with 53 total games played to go along with 195 total tackles, 36.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 total sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery in his five year collegiate career. Vallone would then go on to play for a couple of different NFL and CFL teams before jumping into coaching, where he is now a graduate assistant helping out with the offensive line.
YEARS IN THE PROGRAM: 2003-2006
The Gouverneur, New York native had one hell of a career for the Scarlet Knights being named an All-American on three separate occasions and he also won the 2006 Draddy Trophy, which is given annually to the nation’s top scholar athlete. Leonard did it all for Rutgers playing both running back and fullback all while rushing for 2,775 yards and 32 touchdowns, which is good for the third most rushing touchdowns in program history. Additionally Leonard also had 1,868 receiving yards and 13 more scores on 207 total receptions. It was a great career for the former Scarlet Knight who went on to play eight seasons in the NFL before diving into real estate where he owns Red Knight Properties.
YEARS IN THE PROGRAM: 2004-2007
Austin was arguably one of the top prospects to ever come out of the Kyle Flood era for the Scarlet Knights. The Milford Prep product had an interesting career and showed a ton of promise in years one and two appearing in 20 total games and had 74 total tackles, two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery too. Unfortunately over the next two seasons Austin couldn’t stay healthy suffering multiple knee injuries, however he showed so much promise in his first two seasons that the New York Jets took a shot on him round six of the 2017 NFL Draft. So far that chance has paid off as Austin is expected to be one of the Jets starting cornerbacks this season.
YEARS IN THE PROGRAM: 2003-2007
Fladell like Austin is also considered a Queens, New York native. It took a couple of years before becoming a starter for the Scarlet Knights, but he was the starting guard under arguably the best offensive line in Rutgers history in 2006 and 2007, as the program would finish with a combined record of 19-7 to go along with two bowl victories. Flannel would then go on to sign on with the New York Giants and Jets practice squads as a free agent before spending a couple years in the United Football League.
YEARS IN THE PROGRAM: 2017-2021
Seymour started out his career with the Scarlet Knights as a defensive tackle, but made the move to offensive line after year one and then would go on to appear in 46 games over the next four years, 41 of which were starts at right tackle. Seymour went on to sign with the Las Vegas Raiders out of Rutgers but after two seasons he was recently cut by the team this past spring with the non football injury designation, it is believed that he injured his Achilles.
YEARS IN THE PROGRAM: 2017-2021
The only currently active member of this group is Olakunle Fatukasi who went down as one of the best linebackers in the country last season racking up 101 total tackles, 11 tackles for loss, three sacks, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. Along with all that Fatukasi also was named All-Big Ten first team by the media and the Associated Press, he also was a Butkus Award Semifinalist, the award for the nation’s best linebacker. Since last year didn’t count towards eligibility, Fatukasi made the decision to push the NFL another year back and has a chance to go down as one of the Scarlet Knights greats with another huge season in 2021.
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