Rutgers Football names Dylan Lonergan starting quarterback for 2026 season
Rutgers Football has named their starting quarterback for the 2026 season and it is transfer Dylan Lonergan.
Football Rutgers Football names Dylan Lonergan starting quarterback for 2026 season
- Thread starter Alec Crouthamel
- Start date
I figured this guy would be starting since he had started in the past. Still an upset to many here.
Either guy will probably be a downgrade from Athan
It makes sense. Doubt he would've transferred here if there wasn't a real opportunity to start. He's got some experience and he's our guy now. Hope he kills it.
There is not another transfer portal until after the season.
Maybe. But look - he can’t enter until January and unless he ends up taking over the starting role for some reason he won’t have any live film to market himself.
I’m not surprised at the decision being how long it took. If Surace had been showing he was better (even marginally), I figured it would’ve been announced sooner. After 3 loyal years in our system Greg would want to give him every opportunity to try to earn it.
Yes, it is widely expected that he will not be as good
But he played for a bad team and that always hurts performance
On Sept 6th last year, at Michigan state
He went 34 completions out of 45 attempts, for 390 yards
He can have his moments, we hope, behind a good O line and a potent running attack to balance the offense
I expected Dylan to be named, QB experience goes a long way with Greg.
AJ might have been good, but might have isn't a proven fact .
I believe AK at first had doubters , so no surprise seeing Lonergan having the same
AJ might have been good, but might have isn't a proven fact .
I believe AK at first had doubters , so no surprise seeing Lonergan having the same
Why “ouch”? We have two star playmaking position players which figures to mean QB accuracy would be a hugely important metric. Lonergan completed 67% of his passes and threw a grand total of only 5 picks in a sample size of almost 300 passes with a collection of receivers who were nowhere near as good as KJ Duff. How many QBs in RU history do you think have come close in this level of accuracy?
I’m not sure why anyone ever assumed Surace would come in with no game experience at all and beat him out.
Greg brought in a QB who only threw 5 picks in 290 career pass attempts. And completed 67% of his throws to receivers who are notably worse than ours. He threw 2 untimely red zone picks in situations Greg would never put a QB in (for better or worse), and an untimely fumble (which also isn’t something Greg is going to hold against Lonergan in favor of a QB with no in game experience. Taking a step back, Surace would’ve really had to impress to earn the nod. Not with a transfer who put up those kind of accuracy numbers in the ACC available.
Loyalty don’t mean squat if you don’t have the game experience. Longeran is chosen one now. Let’s see what happens.
Speaking of which, I guess that YOU MUST HAVE THREE YEARS OF LEARNING THE KC SYSTEM TO PLAY excuse is out the window?
I always believed that was coach speak to motivate AJ to stick it out and battle. Once the QB race extended into August that meant it wasn’t a factor. This much was obvious a while ago - Greg had been saying the 2 QBs were similar. Nothing about experience in the system helping AJ since very early in preseason. That should’ve been a clue.
Again - it stinks for AJ given his loyalty to RU but there’s a 290 throw sample size in live games that would be tough for any QB to beat out unless one focuses mostly on mobility and the TD pass count (which wouldn’t even be fair to Lonergan considering the lack of surrounding talent he played with). Unfortunately for AJ, even if he’s more of a dual threat than Lonergan - I’m not sure that would be a huge factor with Raymond and Duff in the mix.
Did anyone really think that a QB was transferring here to be the backup?
AJ may not have progressed to become the starter, but a lot of that is on Greg for not pulling Athan when we were getting murdered or when we were well ahead of another team. Guy didn't get the opportunity for reps in live play.
AJ may not have progressed to become the starter, but a lot of that is on Greg for not pulling Athan when we were getting murdered or when we were well ahead of another team. Guy didn't get the opportunity for reps in live play.
Come on - stop. Those kind of garbage time reps weren’t going to change anything either way. Dylan Lonergan completed 7 of his 8 passes in mop up duty at Alabama. Meaningless.
We don't know that for sure.
Found this on Dylan when I was a freshman at Alabama and lost the job to Jaden Milroe:
" Lonergan, from Snellville, Georgia, might be the best pure passer of the bunch. He impressed with his accuracy this preseason but needs some experience to be ready to play."
I don't put a ton of stock into what happened at BC. He had two years of training under Saban at Alabama. That's worth something. Now he has to prove it.
And as I said above, don't sleep on Ashenfelder.
Alabama Crimson Tide land QB Dylan Lonergan, No. 62 college football recruit on ESPN 300 for 2023
Quarterback Dylan Lonergan, from Brookwood High School in Snellville, Georgia, the No. 62 recruit on the 2023 ESPN 300, has committed to Alabama.
www.espn.com
Sorry, regardless if you are never given the chance to play then you'll never even get a chance to play if experience is the deciding factor. The message for any High School QB looking at Rutgers is don't come. Unless you are transferring in from another school where you played already you'll never have the real shot. I guess in today's NIL world that's just how it is going to be.
Will be interesting to see how things play out this year if Dylan struggles at all. Will GS give AJ the chance to prove him wrong or will he not want to risk being wrong.
Well it is what it is so good luck to Dylan and (I hope) GS for having made the correct choice because I have never had faith in his QB decisions until AK..and maybe that is Kirk.
Schiano failed to develop Surace. Instead of giving him real reps in live action, he played him sparingly and made him a hand off machine. Hes never known how to handle QBs and still doesn’t.
It's not just RU. All schools are bringing in transfer QBs over the guys in the program. HS QBs really need to be selective on their career path. It is probably better to go to a lower level school where you can play and put up big numbers, so you can transfer after 2 years to a P4 program.
A changed Greg. He has gotten a clear message that winning is number 1, topping loyalty. It also means he is willing to let AJ transfer so number 3 must be promising.
His CFB Alerts have been the reason why my ESPN alerts has been buzzing nonstop for a week
We don't know that for sure.
Found this on Dylan when I was a freshman at Alabama and lost the job to Jaden Milroe:
" Lonergan, from Snellville, Georgia, might be the best pure passer of the bunch. He impressed with his accuracy this preseason but needs some experience to be ready to play."
I don't put a ton of stock into what happened at BC. He had two years of training under Saban at Alabama. That's worth something. Now he has to prove it.
And as I said above, don't sleep on Ashenfelder.
Alabama Crimson Tide land QB Dylan Lonergan, No. 62 college football recruit on ESPN 300 for 2023
Quarterback Dylan Lonergan, from Brookwood High School in Snellville, Georgia, the No. 62 recruit on the 2023 ESPN 300, has committed to Alabama.
Just curious. Why don’t you put any stock in a 67% completion rate at BC on only 5 thrown picks? That means he’s clearly pretty accurate, no?
He had a shot. If he outperformed even a little in preseason he would’ve gotten the job. He had to beat out Lonergan and didn’t.
I should have been more clear. He lost the job for a bit (or longer? ) after his injury. He did not come back very strong.
It sucks being named #2, but we all know that #2 can become #1 on very short notice in this game for any number of reasons. I wouldn't assume Surace is done just yet.
After the first poor RU offensive performance and/or loss, Surace will become the next Tom Brady and fans will be clamoring for him to start. That might happen after the first incomplete pass.
Agree.
Disagree. Watched the podcast on this topic 6 of 8 of the last Heisman winners were transfer portal players. You play the best player.
Agreed. That loser who started the Quarterback poll thread should put a sock in it.
I actually agree. Play the best players, not the loyal players.Agree.
Disagree. Watched the podcast on this topic 6 of 8 of the last Heisman winners were transfer portal players. You play the best player.
Agreed. That loser who started the Quarterback poll thread should put a sock in it.
except Greg said otherwise this week
game speed and action, despite score and comp, is invaluable
Disagree with the logic. Schiano plays everything close to the vest. It could have been a Josh Allen vs Art Sitkowski competition and Schiano would announce late. Competitive advantage, of course.
You really don't think live game reps would help a player progress? That's crazy talk.
Latest
-
01
The Knight Report
Rutgers Football Top 10 Countdown: J'Dan Burnett
-
02
The Knight Report
Rutgers Football Fall Camp: Get 75% off The Knight Report - Final Day!
-
03
The Knight Report
The Knight Report Live Ask The Experts Chat: August 26th Edition
-
04
The Knight Report
Dylan Lonergan won the Rutgers job, now comes the part that actually matters
-
05
The Knight Report
Rutgers Women's Basketball Recruiting Roundup: Fall brings Official Visit season