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REPORT: Rutgers adds Onyechi, Jones, Dixon, and Marfo back to roster

Last July, the Rutgers team lost eight players -- all on defense -- for disciplinary and legal issues. Some were kicked off and others suspended.

Half of them are no longer with the program,, defensive lineman CJ Onyechi, linebacker Malik Dixon, safety Naijee Jones, and cornerback Kobe Marfo are back on the team. It has been known for a while that these specific players had a chance to return, but it is official per a report by NJ.com's Keith Sargeant.

They've spotted in recent photos posted on the official Rutgers football Twitter account lately as well.

Over the summer, head coach Chris Ash downplayed the loss of the aforementioned players plus Brendan DeVera, KJ Gray, Edwin Lopez, and Syhiem Simmons, but as the course of the rough 1-11 went on, Ash realized the holes that were left.

"Anytime you lose that number of guys it hurts," Ash said in October. "I felt like if it wasn't going to necessarily hurt us, a few things had to happen, one, we to stay healthy. Two, some really young players had to develop to help us out. Neither one of those necessarily has happened. We have had some injuries. There are some younger players that I think are going to be good players, that may not be able to help us win games right at this moment. So you look back on it. I knew there was a chance it would hurt us if things go perfect. Things haven't gone perfect so yes, it's hurt us."

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And now that Onyechi, Dixon, Jones, and Marfo and back in the fold, they are welcomed re-additions to the Scarlet Knights.

Onyechi was expected to battle for the starting JACK defensive end/linebacker spot last year that eventually went to Elorm Lumor when he was healthy. The West Orange native played in all 12 games as a freshman making eight tackles. If all things work out for Onyechi physically and he practices well, Onyechi should be Lumor's backup with TiJaun Mason.

Dixon was fighting for the starting strong side linebacker spot with Tyreek Maddox-Williams. Dixon performed well last spring as Maddox-Williams was still getting back into the flow of things coming off of his torn ACL injury. While it appeared Maddox-Williams passed Dixon on the depth chart prior to his suspension, Dixon as the skills to do damage at the position.

Jones brings experience to the safeties group that lacks it. Even though he redshirted in 2017 as a freshman, he was with the program for a year and adds New Jersey flavor to the group. With the loss of Saquan Hampton and Kiy Hester, playing time at both safety positions are there for the taking. Damon Hayes is back at cornerback also after moving to safety last year.

Marfo has been a reserve corner for the Scarlet Knights and brings back veteran depth to the group. He played in one game in 2017 as a redshirt sophomore, assisting on a tackle against Michigan State. In 2019, one would expect Marfo to keep that same role as a backup.

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