The Knights Watchman

Jason McCourty (nfl.com) A number of former Rutgers Scarlet Knights had good weeks recording stats in the second week of NFL preseason action. The standout may have been Browns defensive back Jason McCourty, who recorded 4 tackles and recovered a fumble. Other contributors included: Anthony Cioffi had two tackles and a forced fumble for the Oakland Raiders on what was a highlight-reel hit. Brandon Coleman had a catch for 8 yards for the Saints. Marcus Cooper recorded 2 tackles for the Chicago Bears. Jonathan Freeny and Devin McCourty were both in on 3 tackles for the Patriots. Tom Savage completed 8 of 9 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown for the Texans. Quentin Gause and Kevin Snyder each had a tackle for the Broncos. Steve Longa recorded 3 tackles for Detroit. Logan Ryan had a tackle and a forced fumble for the Titans. Mohamed Sanu snagged 2 catches for 25 yards for Atlanta.

There are a significant number of Rutgers players currently on NFL rosters. It's preseason, and there's a chance not everyone will stick, but it's still exciting to note the progress that Scarlet Knights are making in the pros. This is a list of many of the guys who recorded stats or found themselves in the news this past week. Kenny Britt: caught 1 pass for 4 yards Leonte Carroo : caught 1 pass for a nifty 33-yard TD Brandon Coleman: 3 catches for 23 yards Mohamed Sanu: caught 1 pass for 5 yards Anthony Cioffi: recorded 1 tackle Marcus Cooper: recorded 1 tackle Jonathan Freeny: recorded 4 tackles Steve Longa: recorded 4 tackles Jason McCourty: recorded 1 tackle Logan Ryan: recorded 3 tackles Kevin Snyder: recorded 4 tackles In addition, wide receiver Andrew Turzilli was signed this week by the New York Giants. And in a surprise move, center Jeremy Zuttah was released by the San Francisco 49ers. Zuttah had been slowed a bit with a leg injury, but this was...

A day later has shed some perspective on RU's 42-zip victory against the overmatched Texas Southern team. Really, the game went pretty much as it should. A team from the lower division comes in as a tune up to fill a home game. The expectation is at least a 30-point blowout, and that's what we got. The Scarlet Knight defense was on the top of its game and Texas Southern just didn't have the horses to get the job done. That's really all there is to it. Jonathan Freeny was crazy good on the D-line and David Rowe and Khasam Greene were excellent in the secondary. On offense, the RU was just too big and strong for the Texas Southern defense. It seemed that with the exception of two or three good stops, all of Rutgers' backs ran for huge chunks. DeAntwan Willimas looks like a stud, but I still like the idea of using Martinek as the feature back for now. He seems to have the best balance of speed and power and has the benefit of a year of experience. I have my concerns a...

Rutgers’ 49-16 dismantling of USF today was a resounding statement from a team that is clearly out to prove to itself that it is as good as advertised when the season began. Most preseason predictions had Rutgers at the tail end of the Top 25. Premature? Of course they were. The Scarlet Knights only needed to replace the best running back in school history and a handful of quality starters from both sides of the ball. At the same time, the University of South Florida Bulls were picked even higher than Rutgers in most of the preseason polls. The team’s seasons have become mirror opposites. While RU started 1-5, the Bulls rolled to a 5-0 record becoming for a short time the toast of the state of Florida. Since then, the Bulls have gone 1-4. Now they sit at a fairly respectable 6-4 but really not in a position to do much damage as far as qualifying for a major bowl. The Bulls are 1-4 in the Big East, so even finishing with 8 or 9 wins is unlikely to get them the type of bid that would ha...