Rutgers Scarlet Knights 2026 Season Preview

Same Coach, Different Bar

Greg Schiano is back for year seven off a 5-7 finish that included a 2-7 slide through Big Ten play, so 2026 is less about installing a new system than proving the current one still works at this level. The power rating (No. 67) says this roster is closer to middle of the pack than the conference record shows, which puts the gap between talent and results squarely on how Schiano's staff schemes and develops what is already on hand. Another 2-7 conference showing would be hard to write off as bad luck given how long this staff has had to build its own roster.

Lonergan Inherits a Leaky Line

Rutgers moved the ball fine in 2025, ranking 25th in passing yards per game and 20th in offensive success rate, but 38 sacks allowed (126th) and a brutal 3.38 points per scoring opportunity (102nd) turned drives into field goals instead of touchdowns. Dylan Lonergan arrives from Boston College projected to start, and his 2025 tape (12 TD, 5 INT) suggests he can run this passing game if the protection in front of him improves. The bigger issue sits on defense, where 434 yards allowed per game (127th) and a 12.4% havoc rate (125th) mean Lonergan may have to outscore people rather than lean on his own unit.

Rutgers didn't just replace Athan Kaliakmanis, it went outside the building for him: Dylan Lonergan arrives from Boston College, where he threw for 2,025 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, to take over as the clear starter. That's a step down in raw production from Kaliakmanis' 3,124 yards and 20 scores, but Lonergan inherits a passing attack that ranked 25th nationally in yards per game and finished 20th in offensive success rate, so the infrastructure around him is more functional than the record suggests. The real threat to that efficiency is protection, not the quarterback change, given a line that allowed 38 sacks a year ago, with AJ Surace and Rocco Rainone sitting behind Lonergan as the only experienced depth.

Antwan Raymond is the reason this backfield isn't a question mark, coming off a 1241-yard, 13-touchdown season that anchors everything Rutgers wants to do on the ground. Ja'shon Benjamin gives Greg Schiano a proven change-of-pace behind him, and Louisiana Tech transfer Clay Thevenin arrives with 634 yards and 8 scores of his own experience, insulating the room if Raymond needs a breather. The real value add is depth and juice, not a fix for damaged goods, four-star Woodruff signee Aiden Gibson and three-star Michael Dukes III add long-term upside, but with 142 rushing yards per game a season ago the offense needs Raymond and Thevenin to actually generate more explosive gains than that 84th-ranked ground attack managed.

KJ Duff's 60 catches for 1,084 yards make him one of the few proven quantities in this passing game, but Rutgers still has to replace 52-catch, 762-yard Ian Strong and 44-catch, 577-yard DT Sheffield, meaning nearly half of last year's production at the position is gone. Behind Duff, the returning names are bit players (Ben Black's 8 catches is the next-highest total), so four-star Louisa County product Dyzier Carter and Harrisburg's Elias Coke arrive with a real shot to be featured rather than developed slowly. With a passing attack that ranked 25th in yards per game a year ago, the burden shifts hard onto Duff to anchor the room while the newcomers figure out live snaps.

Rutgers produced almost nothing at tight end last year, and the plan for 2026 is to import the position rather than develop it. Kenny Fletcher Jr. (26 catches, 236 yards) and Colin Weber (17 catches, 102 yards) are gone, leaving a returning group led by Jackson Gister and Logan Blake, who combined for two catches all season. Kameron Anthony arrives from Ball State with 7 catches for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns already on his résumé, and he projects as the immediate answer in an offense that already throws for 266 yards a game (25th nationally) but needs more juice inside the red zone, where Rutgers ranked 102nd in points per scoring opportunity.

Rutgers allowed 38 sacks last season, a number that helps explain a passing game that ranked 25th nationally but an offense that stalled at 102nd in points per scoring opportunity. Greg Schiano brings back the bulk of that group, with seniors Dantae Chin, Kwabena Asamoah, Justin Cesaire, Emir Stinette and Hank Zilinskas forming the experienced core, while three-star signees Jared Smith, Logan Anthony, James Cocozzo and Donovan Johnson add interior depth behind them. The volume of returning bodies matters less than whether this group can finally cut down the pressure that turned red-zone trips into field goals in 2025.

Rutgers generated 11 sacks and ranked 135th in that category last season, so the offseason plan was blunt: buy pass rush. Malachi Davis (5.5 sacks, 9.5 TFL at Toledo) and J'Dan Burnett (6.5 sacks, 9.5 TFL at Tulsa) arrive as ready-made edge threats, paired with four-star Rinaldo Callaway III, while leading returner Zaire Angoy (14 tackles) and Keshon Griffin (1.5 TFL) hold the interior. The unit that finished 136th in yards per play allowed didn't lose much production to the portal, so this is less a rebuild than a talent transplant, and whether Davis and Burnett translate their production up a level will decide if Rutgers' pressure numbers actually move.

Rutgers loses Dariel Djabome's 67 tackles and 5.5 TFL off a defense that already ranked 129th in tackles for loss and 136th in yards per play allowed, and nothing in the returning group replaces that disruption. Abram Wright's 53 tackles make him the clear volume tackler, but Moses Walker and DJ McClary combined managed just 3 TFL, and the four incoming linebackers, led by Joey Kopec and Tanner Raymond, arrive as unproven 3-star pieces rather than instant answers. With the run defense still bleeding 211 yards per game on the ground, this group's floor is about containing damage, not creating the havoc that's been missing.

Kaj Sanders and his 64 tackles are the lone proven piece in a secondary that surrendered 223 passing yards per game (77th) while getting gashed for 211 on the ground, a big reason Rutgers ranked 136th in yards per play allowed. Jett Elad, Bo Mascoe, Cam Miller and Jacobie Henderson are all gone from a group that lost 8 defensive backs, so Greg Schiano is leaning on transfers Kevyn Humes (16 tackles at Maryland) and Mikey Munn (7 tackles at South Dakota) to start immediately at corner alongside returners Chris Joines and Jesse Ofurie. Four-star freshmen Devonte Anderson and Messiah Tilson give the room long-term talent, but with 12.4% havoc (125th) up front doing them no favors, this secondary is built to survive 2026, not dominate it.

Jakob Anderson's leg is the one proven commodity here, and a 44.2-yard average buys Rutgers real field position after a 5-7 season where every possession mattered. The bigger question is who kicks field goals: Dane Pizzaro made just 0 of 1 last year, and Riley McCann arrives with no stats on file, so Schiano is trusting an unproven leg in close Big Ten games. Long snapping is set with three names on the roster in Sammy El Hadidi, Matthew Murri and Michael O'Connor, but the placekicking void is the variable that could cost points this fall.

A Full Reboot at QB

Athan Kaliakmanis and his 3,124 yards walk out the door, and Greg Schiano hands the offense to Dylan Lonergan, the Boston College transfer who threw for 12 touchdowns against 5 interceptions last year. Both starting receivers, Ian Strong and DT Sheffield, are gone too, so Lonergan will be building chemistry with new pass catchers rather than leaning on proven targets. The bigger swing might come up front on defense, where edge transfers Malachi Davis (5.5 sacks, 9.5 TFL at Toledo) and J'Dan Burnett (6.5 sacks, 9.5 TFL at Tulsa) arrive to replace the pass-rush production lost with Dariel Djabome, giving Rutgers two ready-made disruptors instead of hoping a holdover develops into one.

Dylan Lonergan

Rutgers already has its ground game sorted with Antwan Raymond coming off a 1,241-yard season and Clay Thevenin arriving from Louisiana Tech to spell him, so the swing factor is whether Dylan Lonergan can be more efficient than Athan Kaliakmanis was running the same offense. Lonergan's 12 touchdowns against 5 interceptions at Boston College is a modest sample, but with KJ Duff back after a 60-catch, 1,084-yard year, he inherits a proven target and a run game that can carry him early while he settles in.

Schiano's Home Chalk Works

Rutgers bettors know the split by now: at home, especially as a favorite, Greg Schiano's team covers, going 3-1 as a home chalk pick and 4-3 overall in Piscataway. Take that same team on the road and the numbers flip hard, a 1-4 straight-up mark and a 40% cover rate as a road underdog. Conference games are the tell, a 2-7 record on the field against Big Ten opponents, so until Rutgers proves it can win away from home, the smart money stays on the home side and fades everything else.