Rutgers Media Day Ash Press Conference Highlights
On Sunday, Rutgers head
football coach Chris Ash took the podium for his Rutgers Media Day press
conference. In what was roughly a twenty-minute update and chat with the media,
he covered quite a bit of ground, shedding some light on some new faces that
are making an impact, slight changes in look and strategy, and giving an
updated timetable on the quarterback decision.
On the overall vibe of training camp, Ash feels its been
"very productive" and that Rutgers
has "improved in all areas of our football team." As importantly, the
"overall health is good," in the sense that there haven't been any
additional significant injuries in the past week.
If the team hadn't improved in all areas something would
truly be amiss, so that's expected. I'm stoked to hear that the overall health
of the team is good, as that could a big factor in determining the outcome of
some of the competitive, but winnable games Rutgers
has scheduled early in the season.
The QBs, RBs, D-Line, Linebackers, and Special Teams were
all groups that were highlighted by Ash has having been improved.
Quarterbacks
Ash feels the team has improved at quarterback in comparison
to what and who they had in camp last year. The new timetable for the selection
of the starting quarterback is "either end of this week or earlier next
week." Later on he elaborated by saying, "this week, we've really got
to find out who is going to be the most consistent and most dependable."
Ash had begun to answer one reporter's question by referring to
"both" quarterbacks, but quickly corrected himself to heap some
praise on Johnathan Lewis, who Ash described as a "big, good-looking,
strong-armed kid that's got tremendous football IQ, and I'm very, very excited
about Johnathan Lewis's future."
Whether Lewis truly has a chance to win the job out of camp
or not, it might be hard to keep him on the bench depending on how the season
plays out. Ideally, though, I believe any freshman quarterback could use a
redshirt year. If RU can be competitive with Bolin or Rescigno, and Allen in a
pinch I think it would set up a nice QB competition next year between Rescigno
and Lewis to play behind what will be a very experienced O-line.
Running Backs
In discussing the upgrade at running back, Ash mentioned Gus
Edwards, Robert Martin, Josh Hicks, Trey Sneed, and Raheem Blackshear, as
"a very competitive group that will be improved from last season."
Martin is "closer and closer to 100%." Of the true freshman
Blackshear, Ash said, "he's going to be a guy that's going to play for
us." And when asked about Edwards, Ash summed it noting that he "has
one last year and obviously would like to have a shot at the NFL, and he knows
he's got to go out and have an extra great year to do that."
From the clips I've seen, Edwards is a legit Big Ten back.
He's strong, fast, and catch the ball. Now that Martin is healthy, he's going
to do what he can to get all his reps back. Josh Hicks broke a 66-yard TD run
in Saturday's scrimmage and I don't think he wants to lose too much ground
either. Sneed has been singled out on more than one occasion as someone who's
impressed the coaching staff, and Blackshear clearly came to camp ready. Teams
no longer use one or two tailbacks. There is a lot of depth now on the roster
at this position and Jerry Kill will find a way to use whomever is needed.
Defensive Line
In discussing D-Line improvement, Ash singled out Jon Bateky
as "playing at a very high level." Later on, he was asked about
Kemoko Turay, and the coach had this to say: "...we want and need him to
be an every-down player, and that's what he wants, also...He's bigger. He's
stronger. More intelligent in terms of football right now. And he's really
focused on being the best that he can be."
If nothing else, it's clear that Bateky and Turay have put
the time in the weight room. Bateky is an imposing guy in the middle and Turay
is a tall, chiseled guy to have on the end. The strength improvement and added
depth should translate into some better play this year.
Linebackers
Speaking about the linebacker corps, Ash said "we're
drastically improved from where we were last year." When discussing some of
the freshman who will have the chance to play, Ash mentioned true freshman
linebacker Olakunle Fatukasi as "a guy that's starting to do some good
things for us on defense. He's getting some reps in the two-deep. He'll be a
special teams guy."
It's encouraging that Ash feels the group has drastically
improved even after losing Maddox-Williams for the season. Another year to get
comfortable in Ash and Niemann's defensive scheme has probably done wonders for
the returning players, plus RU made linebacker a position of emphasis on the
recruiting trail for 2017.
Special Teams
Anyway you look at the statistics, once Janarion Grant went
down last year, the Rutgers special teams unit
as a whole was perhaps the worst in the country. Even with Grant breaking long
returns for four games, overall field position was poor. So, there was really
nowhere to go but up. Ash said, "I feel a lot better right now today with
who is running down covering kicks and holding guys up than what we had last
year."
In terms of who will help out on special teams, Ash
mentioned the freshman receivers, some of whom may crack the two-deep on
offense, but many of whom will play on special teams. He said, "Bo Melton,
the Hayek brothers have both stood out, Shameen Jones, Everett Wormley. All
those guys really, are going to have a chance to compete for playing time on
offense and on special teams this fall."
Ash also gave an updated plan for Grant, saying, "We're
going to use him as much as we have to, and he'll be all over the field both on
special teams and on offense."
Another special teams ace is likely to be Damon Mitchell,
who will "help us on offense at receiver and he's going to help us on
special teams...excited about what he brings to the table."
General Offense
On offense, according to the coach, Rutgers
will "be a lot more multiple on offense, and I think what we're going to
do with our offense, is do what we need to do to win games." "There's
going to be times that we can speed it up and there's going to be times that we
have to slow it down."
This is a refreshing stance as opposed to last year when the
offense would go out and almost exclusively run no-huddle. When not achieving a
first down, the plays called would take no time off the clock, and exhaust what
was already a banged-up defense that lacked depth. I remember the RU defense
playing well the first half vs. Penn State last year, only to spend just about
the entire second half on the field, as the offense couldn't manage a single
first down and had only one series that lasted over two minutes.
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