With a couple of scrimmages under his belt before the spring game on April 29, defensive lineman Mayan Ahanotu discussed what it was like getting back into the swing of things.
"It's always exciting putting those pads on and going live for the first time," Ahanotu said. "It felt really good and the excitement was high."
Despite lining up on the defensive side of the ball, Ahanotu can see the improvement from Rutgers' offensive line now under offensive line coach Pat Flaherty.
"There are veteran guys on that line that have played a lot of football," Ahanotu continued. "I can tell every day they're getting better."
Entering his third year with the Scarlet Knights, and second under defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak, Ahanotu has taken on a bit more of a mentor role helping some of the newer players learn the ropes.
"It's been great playing with these guys and learning this system," he described. "I'm trying to help these other guys out as much as I can."
The Tampa Bay native played in all 12 games for the Scarlet Knights in 2022 with three starts on the defensive line. So, going into 2023 he will look to continue keeping his body healthy so he can create even more of an impact.
"I was just talking with the trainers and stuff like that, we'll do body composition stuff, and from there we'll make a plan," Ahanotu explained. "Just like a game, you gotta execute the plan as well as you can."
If there is one thing Rutgers' defensive coaching staff has preached throughout training camp so far it is violence. Although the Scarlet Knights posed a quality defense last season, they feel there is still room for improvement and it all starts with execution.
"Our big thing is violence, violence and executing our job at the same time," Ahanotu said. "If we're executing we gotta come out here and prepare and ready to know what our job is. The violence comes to play once those pads come on."
Despite finishing with numerous quarterback hurries last season, Rutgers accumulated just 20 total sacks. However, Ahanotu feels that trait that will be corrected in 2023 and the Scarlet Knights will be a more well-rounded defense.
"It's just a couple of milliseconds," he said. "After that, we're doing little minute details that coach Watson's getting right with us so it turns into sacks instead of QB hits."
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