5/20/2021 football Edit

News and notes from Rutgers Football's Scarlet-White game

Chris Nalwasky and Richie Schnyderite

Rutgers.Rivals.com

Football and fans were back at Rutgers on Thursday night as the Scarlet Knights held their annual Scarlet-White game to cap spring practice.

If you weren’t able to be inside SHI Stadium, didn’t watch on BTN, or even if you were in attendance and had binoculars, check out these news and notes from the spring game below.

First things first, everyone wants to know what the depth chart looks like. At first glance, it seemed like both squads had a mixture of first, second and third string guys, however the Scarlet squad seemed to have a few more first stringers, so here’s a look at who started on the Scarlet side of the ball.

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DEPTH CHART

Offense

QB: Vedral / Simon

RB: Wright Collins or Monangai

WR: Bo Melton

WR: Shameen Jones

WR: Aron Cruickshank / Dremel

TE: Haskins OR Konopka (Multiple two TE sets)

LT: O’Neal

LG: Needham

C: Krimin

RG: Rainey

RT: Fatukasi

Defense

DE: Bailey / Lewis

DT: Maijeh

DT: Burke

DE: Tverdov / Mason

LB: Toure

LB: Fatukasi

CB: Melton

CB: Abraham

FS: N. Jones

SS: C. Izien

K: V. Ambrosio

P: Z. Feagles

OBSERVATIONS

-- Cole Snyder, Noah Vedral, and Evan Simon all led the team to touchdown drives during their first series. The offense moved quickly and both were able to use their legs and pick up yards. Snyder looked to be in control and he was accurate, completing 4-of-4 passes for 16 yards. He capped the drive with a rushing score. Vedral went 5-for-5 for 49 yards. Simon struggled a tad in the beginning, but settled in. He too gained a first down on a long run and then threw a scoring pass to Shameen Jones. The quarterbacks threw a bunch to the tight end, which didn’t happen a ton last season.

-- Johnny Langan’s throwing motion appeared to be more smooth. The coaches said earlier in the spring that they were working a lot with his passing, and it seemed to have made a difference. Getting defenses to respect the pass when he is in the game is critical.

-- Little to no run game? Rutgers Football had some solid runs from Aaron Young, but overall it seemed like the running backs were a huge part of the game plan today, which is fine. Don’t read too much into it, as it doesn’t seem to be anything serious rather it appears the staff is just saving guys like Isaih Pacheco (one carry), Wright -Collins (six carries) and others for the fall when the snaps truly matter.

-- Rutgers ran a ton of plays with multiple tight end sets in order to get better pass blocking and give the quarterback a little more time. To piggyback off this, the tight ends also got open at times and created some havoc for the opposing linebackers.

-- Speaking of tight ends, Victor Konopka, who put on muscle in the weight room, looked good and ready for playing time this fall. The freshman blocked well and had his share of catches, including a tough grab in traffic over the middle.

-- Earlier in the spring, Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano said that he wanted to get more receivers involved compared to last year and they did just that. Along with solid receptions from Konopka, the Scarlet Knights had solid route running and some big receptions from a combo of guys as they had seven different players go for 30+ receiving yards each.

-- Vedral was limited and was still in a non-contact jersey due to his ankle injury, but he moved well and swifty, showing no lingering effects.

-- As we’ve hinted, Avery Young was working at safety today with the white squad and as of right now he is projected to be the starter opposite of Christian Izien in the defensive backfield.

-- Stats! In the past, Rutgers would never let us keep and publish stats, but this time the program kept track of them like it was a normal Saturday during the fall.

-- Thought it was interesting that assistant coaches Fran Brown and Tiquan Underwood were the head coaches of the Scarlet and White. Both have recruiting juice and could become head coaches somewhere one day, especially Brown.

-- A few players were dinged up and/or held out on the sidelines including OL Reggie Sutton, DL Ryan Keeler, CB Robert Longerbeam, L Brendan Bordner, KR/WR Josh Youngblood, S Lawrence Stevens, OL David Nwaogwugwu, LB Zukudo Igwenagu, S Elijuwan Mack, LB Deion Jennings, LB Tyhon Fogg, LB Khayri Banton, S Darius Gooden and more.

TOP PERFORMANCES

1-WR Isaiah Washington -- Head coach Greg Schiano told TKR a few weeks ago that Washington was one receiver who really caught the eyes of the coaching staff during the spring, and he showed why on Thursday. Washington got open down the left sideline and snagged a high pass out of the air from Cole Snyder and took it to the house for a 65-yard touchdown. The 6-foot-3, 213-pounder is one of the team’s bigger targets out wide and can be a big asset.

2-TE Victor Konopka -- Konopka might have pushed himself up the depth chart behind only Jovanni Haskins now. Konopka, as mentioned above, caught the ball well and blocked well, a good combination for any tight end. Konopka put on muscle and by the way the spring game looked, the position will be more involved in the offense in 2021.

3- QB Cole Snyder -- Snyder went 7-for-9 through the air in the first half for 91 yards and the touchdown to Washington. Snyder’s big performance continued into the second half as he went on to throw for another 59 yards and another score, this time it was to Monterio Hunt on a fade route. Along with all that, Snyder also added 22 rushing yards and a score on four carries.

4-RB Aaron Young -- Young is one player who needed to step up with Kay’Ron Adams now gone, leaving Young as the lone other player in the room who has experience. Young ran hard and tallied 84 yards on 13 carries on the night. He did a good job getting something out of nothing as well.

5-LB Chris Conti -- Linebacker is one position that has a bright future, and Conti figures to settle in nicely in the middle at some point. Conti registered six tackles (four solo) with a tackle-for-loss and two quarterback hurries.