Rutgers football and walk-ons. You can't have one without the other.
Scarlet Knights fans love the walk-ons, and they've had plenty to cheer for who saw extended playing over the years. Some of them eventually earned a scholarship and made it to the NFL like fullback Michael Burton, offensive lineman Shaun O'Hara, or linebacker Gary Brackett.
That got The Knight Report thinking. Which current walk-ons for Rutgers have the best chance at earning a scholarship either this summer or later down the line due to Jawuan Harris being selected in the MLB Draft and opting to sign.
To name one, Lawrence Stevens was awarded one last September.
1) Max Anthony, FB, RS-Jr.
Speaking of Burton, Anthony is the fullback for the Rutgers football team who will be asked to do a lot of things from lining up in the backfield and being a lead blocker to playing some tight end. Tight ends coach Vince Okruch calls Anthony the "move guy" and while the fullback is going away in most of the modern offenses, new play-caller John McNulty utilizes tight ends and fullbacks a ton. Anthony, a 6-foot, 240-pounder, played in all 12 games a year ago with four starts at fullback.
2) Justin Davidovicz, K, So.
For the most part, throughout the years, Rutgers has held just one scholarship kicker on the roster for four seasons like Jeremy Ito, San San Te, and Kyle Federico. Lately, that hasn't been the case. Specialists are lower on the priority chain nowadays but are valuable. Davidovicz is a preferred walk-on who handled kickoff duties as a freshman in 2017 and looks to be the team's field goal and extra point kicker as well in 2018.
Punter Adam Korsak is on scholarship, so why not Davidovicz?
3) Cole Murphy, WR, RS-Jr.
Murphy isn't exactly at the forefront of everyone's minds when it comes to the leaders of the pack at the wide receivers position (he caught one pass for nine yards from quarterback Jalen Chatman with the reserves in the spring game this past April), but he is a veteran having redshirted last season after playing at Coffeyville Community College. He was a quarterback in Kansas in high school throwing for 1,103 yards and 12 touchdowns on 53-111 passes in 2014. As of now, Murphy will be the holder on special teams.
4) Izaia Bullock, LB, RS-JR
It's been quite the quick turnaround at the linebacker positions for the Scarlet Knights. There is now quality scholarship talent and depth, but that doesn't mean a walk-on couldn't steal the show. In the Scarlet-White game, Bullock saw time with the twos and finished with four total tackles, which was good for third most in the scrimmage. The 5-foot-11, 220-pounder from Linden is still behind guys like Rashawn Battle in the middle, but with hard work and possible stout special teams, a scholarship isn't out of the question for Bullock in a year.
5) Billy Taylor, LS, So.
Snappers are people too.
Taylor entered the fray extremely late in training camp last summer, yet quickly beat out Alan Lucy for the starting snapping job on special teams. While it is very unlikely that Taylor is given a scholarship, who knows.
If you don't hear about Taylor over the course of this season and the two after that that, it's a good thing.
What Rutgers football walk-ons did we miss that you think could earn a scholarship this season or soon thereafter?
