Rutgers Scarlet Knights 2025 Football Preview, Prediction, Betting Ideas

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

2024 Record:7-6

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2024 over under: 6.5 (over hits)

Looking back at ’24: I am sure many of you readers had some cheeky futures action on this Rutgers program in 2024. A super manageable schedule, a transfer QB linking back up with his old offensive coordinator, and Kyle Monangai returning in the backfield to cause havoc on Big 10 defenses. Not to mention the trusted guidance of Greg Schiano, who enters year 5 in his second stint in charge, in the end, those of you on the over squeaked out a winning wager, while the dreamers holding Big 10 title game appearance, or playoff futures, were left tossing the ticket in the trash by early October. Rutgers raced out to a 4-0 start, impressing in a road victory over Virginia Tech and beating Washington behind a huge day from Monangai. The defense suffered some key injuries, which were sorely felt in a 42-7 drubbing at the hands of Wisconsin. A last-minute meltdown vs Illinois, allowing a 40-yard TD essentially at the buzzer to drop another home game. The loss to Kansas State was one of the crown jewels of bowl season in a 44-41 thriller, but allowing 542 yards to the Wildcats in the finale, I'm sure, didn’t sit well. Head coach Schiano seems to be the one guy who knows how to get things humming in Piscataway. I like the look of this program, but as we dive in, the scheduling gods were none too friendly to the Scarlet Knights in ’25.

Program Trends:

Recruiting ranking Big 10:

2026(summer):11th

2025: 10th

2024: 11th

Returning production ranking, Big 10:

2025: 2nd

2024:3rd

Portal rankings BIG10

2025: 2nd

Program trends: What you have to love about how Schiano approaches things in New Jersey is making sure a lot of the local talent stays home. Eleven commits from the ’25 class are New Jersey natives. That includes 4-star linebacker Talibi Kaba, who I’m sure the staff will hope can contribute. Jayden Elijah, a 6’7 offensive lineman and another New Jersey kid, chose Rutgers over the likes of Michigan and Penn State, things you likely wouldn’t be seeing if Sciano wasn’t running this program well. The one big disappointment of the offseason was losing Mohamed Toure to Miami; the LB was set to return from his ACL injury and would have provided much-needed stability and experience to the defense.

Offense: Kirk Ciarrocca is back for his third season at the helm of the offense. Rutgers put up 28.9 points per contest a year ago, the most in any season since 2008. His hand-picked QB Athan Kaliakmanis returns. He graded out ok, but was the first Rutgers QB since 2015 to throw for 2000-plus yards. It's nice to have that continuity. One thing I did not think I would be saying about Rutgers is this WR room looks solid! Ian Strong stands out after leading the team with 5 TD receptions, while 6-6, 220 lb. KJ Duff is back after 425 yards receiving as a freshman. DT Sheffield was also a big get out of the portal, the North Texas WR transfer was all AAC a year ago. The offensive line also will have a ton of continuity. Zilinskas is the 5th highest graded out Center returning in the conference, while Needham and Asamoah are the other returning starters with high grades. Ryder Langsdale, a 6-7, 300 lb. transfer who was All-Patriot League a year ago, will hopefully assimilate quickly at the tackle spot. No Monangai, no problem? CJ Campbell transfers in from FAU. He has big shoes to fill, but he recorded over 1000 yards rushing a year ago and will have a nice line to work behind.

Defense: Joe Harasymiak heads out the door to become UMASS head coach (God Speed). Robb Smith and Zach Sparber will replace him as co-DCs. Sparber comes over from James Madison and brought a couple transfers with him, love to see that, Eric O’Neill being the standout (EDGE) he was first team ALL-Sun Belt last season. Bradley Weaver (Ohio) and DeNgohe (James Madison) are two players stepping up in class and will be looked upon to provide for the D-line. Keshon Griffin and Jordan Walker, who led the team in sacks last season, are the players returning to watch. Quebec native Djabome was 3rd team All-Big 10 last season. He will be the lynchpin in the LB room after Toure’s departure to the U. Cam Miller, a Penn State transfer, will join returning Bo Mascoe as the go-to CBs; both have NFL potential after grading out well last season. Safety seems a solid question mark. Another Canadian, Jett Elad, comes over from UNLV; hopefully, he can step right in now that he is closer to home!

Roster in a nutshell: It's rare to say that the offense looks better than the defense at Rutgers! But here we are! The question marks at linebacker and safety are concerning, as this doesn’t look like a ferocious D-line, albeit solid. If Campbell can do his best Monangai impression, the offense should be decent!

Statistical Pulse: Rutgers allowed the second-fewest tackles for loss in conference from a year ago, only giving up 57 on the year. Rutgers put up the third-most rushing yards per game last season at 175 per game. They graded out the 5th-best offense per PFF in the Big 10, Rutgers! According to Bill Connelly, Rutgers had the third-best lineup continuity in the Nation; they stayed healthy. The Rutgers defense allowed the third-most yards per contest in the conference at 162 per game. As well as allowing the third-worst in conference, 68% TD conversion once teams entered the red zone.

Schedule: Rutgers currently does not have an athletic director. So I don’t know who pissed off people at the Big 10, but someone clearly did with this behemoth that has been handed to them! They'd best be buttoned up against the MAC in the non-conference games (Ohio and Miami Ohio). Because Penn State, Oregon, and Iowa all make the trip to Piscataway, while trips to Ohio State, Illinois, Minnesota, and Washington will test this team's pulse. Just think about the travel for a second from New Jersey with no bye on this stretch of the season, at Washington, home to Oregon, at Purdue, at Illinois, home to Maryland. Hopefully, they have good recovery protocols on their flights!

Prediction: Look, there is a clear foundation here that is to like. The opposition won’t like seeing Rutgers just as much as it is the other way around. Schiano’s team will always scrap, fight, claw, and drag you into deep water. They also finally seem to have an offense that can put up points. The problem is now that the defence seems to be a concern. Nine transfers on the defense certainly signal's they don’t love what they see, as well as new coordinators; there will be a lot of new. Relying on the lower-level transfers to hit big is more reliable in the likes of the Big 12, but when you have Ohio State and Penn State amongst others on the schedule, the defense will need to be clicking. I think Rutgers finds a way to 6-6, for the third consecutive bowl game appearance, it won't be easy, and once again, they’ll need to stay relatively healthy. But betting against a Sciano program is a scary proposition.

Actionable: Rutgers over under being 5.5 seems fair. I lean over, but I'm unsure I can chuck it in here. If you’re a punter like me, why not a 40 to 1 ticket on CJ Campbell to lead the Big 10 in rushing(BET365)? Look, we all love to have a couple long shot player props in pocket, don’t fool yourself! So why not? The offensive line should be very solid, the passing game will continue to click, so teams can't just hone in on the run, and Campbell seems to be getting positive reviews. I’m sold on a flyer!

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