Knights Under Lights: Mohamed Sanu
In Knights Under Lights, The Daily Targum looks at athletes who distinguished themselves during their time on the Banks.
The Rutgers football team has seen many great wide receivers come and go, etching their names in the history books along the way. Among these legendary names is Mohamed Sanu, one of the program's most productive players of all time and one of its best representatives in the NFL.
Sanu immediately began producing when he arrived on the Banks, with 101 yards receiving yards in his first career game. Following his first collegiate touchdown against Pittsburgh, he eclipsed the century mark two more times that season with 105 yards and a score against both South Florida and West Virginia.
Sanu quickly established himself as one of the Scarlet Knights' top playmakers, gaining more than 130 yards from scrimmage in each of the final three games. He would finish the year with nearly 1,000 yards from scrimmage and nine total touchdowns, capping off a stellar first year with 138 total yards and three scores in a blowout win over Central Florida in the St. Petersburg Bowl.
Sanu's sophomore season saw him produce one of the best games of his career, toting the ball nine times for 121 yards and landing a touchdown while catching five passes for 70 yards and another score against Tulane.
On the year, Sanu gained more than 700 yards from scrimmage, scoring six touchdowns in the process. He also passed for 160 yards and three touchdowns on just nine pass attempts. By this point in his time, Sanu had gained more than 1,700 yards from scrimmage in his Rutgers career and was primed for one of the greatest seasons in program history heading into his junior year.
Sanu wasted no time in his final year on the Banks, with 20 catches for 187 yards and two scores across his first two games. His third game was about as productive as his first two, gaining 176 yards against Ohio and setting the program record for receptions in a single game with 16.
Throughout the remainder of the season, Sanu would record five more 100-yard games en route to a 115-catch, 1,206-yard season, breaking and setting program records along the way. Following a 62-yard effort in a 27-13 victory over Iowa State in the Pinstripe Bowl, Sanu declared for the 2012 NFL Draft, where he was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals with the 83rd overall pick.
After a slow start to his rookie campaign, Sanu found himself in the middle of a hot streak that saw the former Knight score four touchdowns in three games, before a left foot injury robbed him of the remainder of his inaugural NFL season.
Over the next two seasons, though, Sanu would establish himself as one of the league's brightest young playmakers with nearly 1,300 yards and seven touchdowns.
Sanu's breakout would lead the Bengals to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2013 and 2014, where he was limited to 44 yards in two games. After seeing his role reduced in 2015, he opted for a change of scenery and signed with the Atlanta Falcons.
In 2016, Sanu caught 59 passes for 653 yards en route to a playoff berth as the No. 2 seed in the NFC. In his first year with the Falcons, he had the finest postseason of his career, gaining 121 yards during a notorious Super Bowl run in which Atlanta fell to the New England Patriots.
After two more solid seasons with the Falcons, Sanu was traded to the Patriots in 2019, and following a loss in the Wild Card Round, he opted to test the open market. Following brief stints with the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers, Sanu failed to make a 53-man roster and now remains a free agent.
Over the course of his professional career, Sanu gained nearly 5,000 yards and scored 29 touchdowns on multiple top-flight offenses. As it pertains to former Rutgers players, Sanu may be the most impactful and respected professional to ever play on the Banks.
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