8/4/2021 football Edit

Rutgers football missing players, position changes, and report from day 1

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

The Rutgers football team began training camp on Wednesday, and the Scarlet Knights were without a few players due to various reasons.

Safety Peyton Powell, who was Rutgers' big splash transfer from Baylor, wasn't listed on the roster. Powell was a four-star prospect coming out of high school. He left Baylor prior to his freshman season and then made his way to Rutgers.

"Right now he is not part of the team,” head coach Greg Schiano said after practice.

Powell started out as a quarterback for the Scarlet Knights, but quickly moved to defensive back. Powell didn't play last season due to now getting a hardship waiver.

“We’ll see if he does become part of the team. But as we speak, he was not on the roster.”

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Another transfer from Temple, cornerback Christian Braswell, is out for the season. Braswell, a two-year starter for the Owls, was expected to provide solid depth.

He wasn't spotted on the field during practice.

"Christian is here," Schiano said. "Christian had to have knee surgery, so he won’t play this year."

At Temple, the 5-foot-10, 170-pounder made 21 tackles and had three pass deflections, two forced fumbles, and one interception in six games last season. Throughout his career, he's tallied 61 tackles, 16 pass deflections, three picks, forced a trio of fumbles and scooped up two fumble recoveries in 30 contests.

Defensive tackle Robin Jutwreten was also seen in street clothes helping out during practice. Jutwreten started the season opener in 2020, but is now with the team in a different role.

"Robin is going to be a student assistant. He had to medically disqualify because of something that happened last year," Schiano said. "That’s a shame because he is a great person and a hard worker. He is going to help us as a coach. He is going to be a part of our coaching staff in that realm and will be an important part of what we do."

In other news, there were also a few notable position switches. Senior linebacker Rashawn Battle is now on the defensive line, freshman Kyonte Hamilton is also listed on the defensive line, and sophomore Zukudo Igwenagu is now a tight end after previously being at linebacker.

Igwenagu has appeared in four total games on special teams while Battle has played in 33 games with three starts. As for Hamilton, the highly-regarded heavyweight wrestler was originally slated to play tight end. He's listed at 6-foot-4 and 275 pounds.

"He played there (in high school)," Schiano said of Hamilton. "That's just where we felt he was the best fit. Everything we do is to give us the best change to win whether immediately or down the road with our younger guys. I think Kyonte can play a lot of positions."

From when Schiano first arrived at Rutgers in 2001 to now, a lot of changes have occurred from the university, to the campus, to the facilities, to the rules of training camp.

"First off, this facility, I can't thank them enough," Schiano said of the newer practice fields. "It's unbelievable. It's as good as there is in America. The grass fields are immaculate, the towers. This is night and day. There used to be a light pole that was one storm away from falling and it finally did. The rules are different. There are no two-a-days and a walkthrough. It's all good. The game of football is adjusting."

Day one of practice went a little over two hours under cooler conditions, and there was good energy the entire session.

"It was a nice day with cloud cover. I'm sure we'll get some heat soon," Schiano said.