Future of Rutgers Football 2023: Quarterbacks
It is officially springtime, so training camp for the Rutgers football team will begin shortly. In the first edition of Future of Rutgers Football, The Daily Targum previews the 2023 quarterback room.
Last season, the Rutgers football team started multiple quarterbacks, including sophomore quarterbacks Evan Simon and Gavin Wimsatt.
This past season both of these young play-callers saw on-field action. Simon led the Scarlet Knights (4-8, 1-8) in passing yards at 777 yards, a 57.7 percent completion rate and four touchdowns. Wimsatt, on the other hand, was the focus toward the end of the season as he started 6 of the 8 games he played in.
Wimsatt, a former four-star recruit, collected 757 yards through the air and threw for five touchdowns. Based on trends at the end of the previous season, Wimsatt should be in the driver's seat to receive the position of starting quarterback.
Both Simon and Wimsatt will have to fight for the starting spot this coming season, especially with the hire of the new offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca at the beginning of this year, replacing interim offensive coordinator Nunzio Campanile, who replaced Sean Gleeson at the offensive helm in the middle of last season. In the 2019 season with Minnesota, Ciarrocca’s team averaged 34.1 points per game (PPG), the third most all-time in school history.
Another Rutgers player that could make significant headway next season is freshman quarterback Raeden Oliver. Though he did not see game-time action last season, Oliver played for the Jaguars of East Orange Campus High School prior to his commitment. He was an outstanding leader and helped his team to a perfect 13-0 season in the 2021-2022 season, where he also passed for 1,728 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Not only was his arm a threat, but his legs also impressed, as Oliver rushed for 252 yards on 50 attempts and four touchdowns during his senior season. The Jaguars won their championship game in triple overtime against Clifton High School for the Section I, Group V title. Oliver kept East Orange in the game with a pair of passing touchdowns.
Having depth at the quarterback position has been a struggle for the Knights in the past, but there is a reason to be optimistic, especially in the coming years with player development and recruitment.
Through recruitment this year, the newest addition to the depth chart at the quarterback position is incoming freshman quarterback Ajani Sheppard. Sheppard’s senior year at Iona Prep was capped off by a 2,393-yard passing season with 21 touchdown tosses along with astonishing rushing statistics. He also carried the ball for 1,291 yards and 11 rushing scores.
Rutgers' quarterbacks under center last season passed for an average of 153.9 yards per game, putting them at the bottom of the Big Ten in that category. After averaging a conference second-to-worst 17.4 PPG, the Knights are looking to answer their desperate need for an offensive attack in the 2023 season.
When evaluating his quarterbacks, offensive coordinator Ciarrocca looks for three things.
"I value accuracy among everything right. I would love for arm strength. The better the arm, the more things you can do, the better you can stretch the field," Ciarrocca said. "No. 2 would be functional intelligence, right. He has to be able to think deductively and learn from his mistakes. And then the third thing is leadership."
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