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David Pollack Names Major College Football WR Who No One is Talking About

Tango Two

Tango Two

Heisman
Aug 21, 2001
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"This dude is an absolute freak show," Pollack said. ".... Not good quarterback play. Not an offense that sets the world on fire by any stretch of the imagination... He led the nation with 22 contested catches a year ago... I know he was one of three dudes in the Big Ten to go over 1,000 yards with Makai Lemon and Jeremiah Smith. But no one talks about this dude. This dude will be a first-round pick."


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David Pollack Names Big Ten WR Who No One is Talking About

David Pollack feels this Big Ten wide receiver will be a household name in 2026.
www.si.com www.si.com
 
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RUGuitarMan1

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He is not wrong in his analysis if you are talking about legitimate playoff contending teams. There is a big overall gap between that and where RU is. Let’s see if the team can even get to a legitimate bowl game with a 1st rd WR and a day 2 NFL RB.
 
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Bueller

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RUTGERS95 said:
I don't know about that. Many of his balls were right there and/or put in places only they could get. I think you are underselling AK
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Strong and Duff should have had more stats but that's more due to a HC/OC thing. Duff and strong were both amazing contested receivers (under appreciated by many fans) and thats the skill that make a great WR. Dremel could just just never makes those. Washington once made a good end zone TD under tight coverage. Alas neither of them could have started with the WRs of last 2 years. They just weren't B1G starters. Dremel could only do kicks and of course the RU way was to never attempt returns even though Dremel could do sprints when he had the ball. Its amazing to me that people blame NIL so much when anything offensive is crippled in so many ways.
 
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DJ Spanky

DJ Spanky

Heisman
Jul 25, 2001
48,755
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113
Actually I really disagree with this comment from the article:

That player is Rutgers Scarlett Knights' KJ Duff. The sophomore had 1,084 yards and seven scores last year. This comes despite not having consistent quarterback play.
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This "analyst" is an ignorant piece of shít who doesn't do his research:

To Pollack's point, he has the size to be a first-round pick if he has another strong season next year. The issue for him is Rutgers hasn't had the best offenses and hasn't had the best quarterback play to complement a receiver like him.
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229/368, 62%, 3124, 20 TD's, 7 INT's, 147.67 rating.

That sounds pretty god dámn good to me!
 
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Bueller

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DJ Spanky said:
Completely disagree. You think he got the attention he did from NFL teams because of Duff and Strong? BS: those guys really do their research.
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The record is clear that the NFL teams are not great at drafting and especially QBs. Pacheco wouldn't have been drafted without the sub 4.4. If a team bombs on picks they want to be able to point to stats that support the pick.

Washington liked AK because his downfield passing improved

"Despite completing only 16 more passes last season than his previous year, Kaliakmanis threw for 428 more yards. That's because he became more adept throwing down the field, with 27 completions that traveled at least 20 air yards -- 13 more such completions than in his junior year." https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/48595461/commanders-take-qb-athan-kaliakmanis-round-7-nfl-draft

When you have a tall, strong, fluid WR that can use one arm to keep DB away and catch the ball with the other arm while falling down at the same time a QB will get better stats. Washington/Dremel could never do anything like that, QBs like to put the ball where its safe for only their WRs to catch ball. RU had tall WRs that could go up and get a high and contested ball. Sanu was the last RU receiver who could do anything like that. I really don't think a lot of RU fans know just how good a player like Duff is and how much good WRs stress a defense.

Keep in mind having multiple great WRs really stresses a defense and defenders cant stay close to the LOS to stop the run - which in RUs case meant a great RB like Raymond benefitted . Duff, Strong, Raymond were a trio not seen since Rice, Underwood and Britt - and I think Duff is better than all of them (only Sanu can do similar). Teel also got drafted because he had great WRs and run game.

In his best year (2025) AK had 24 combined TDs - Wimsatt had 21 and Mendoza had 48. AK is much closer to Wimsatt than Mendoza. Take away Duff and others and he's not going in the 7th IMO.

Watch Duff's catches close and see how he often uses one arm to keep DBs away while catching with other arm. Its a quite a skill set. Like all good WRs he sees all balls as his and frustrates DB

 
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Caliknight

Caliknight

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LOU-RU85 said:
That I would agree with but I think AK had a pretty good year and was much more accurate than previous years. The NFL thought so too.
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He did, but even with an adequate line, an NFL RB, likely two NFL WRs and a QB drafted, we still struggle to score points. That’s simply coaching and philosophy.
 
DJ Spanky

DJ Spanky

Heisman
Jul 25, 2001
48,755
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LOU-RU85 said:
That I would agree with but I think AK had a pretty good year and was much more accurate than previous years. The NFL thought so too.
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It is amazing, though, that certain people (Bueller? Bueller?) feel the need to tear him down.
 
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Bueller

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DJ Spanky said:
It is amazing, though, that certain people (Bueller? Bueller?) feel the need to tear him down.
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I'm not "tearing him down." I'm just being realistic. He didn't even get an invite to the combine and didn't participate. He ran a 4.92 40 at Rutgers pro day - 3 "big fatties" ran faster at combine. His stats were on nice side of mediocre and padded by RUs traditionally prolific 20 to to 20 offense that cant score. A guy without an invite was lucky to even be picked 224 (Teel was 178).

NFL Network had this to say:

“His Minnesota tape was not very good. His Rutgers tape in 2024 was just OK, and then I thought he took a step in 2025,” an AFC quarterbacks coach said. “Now, he’s not very athletic. He has to win from the pocket, or he has to improve his pocket mobility and his ability to escape. He’s almost like a lesser Mendoza where if everything’s clean and he can just click through a progression, he’s got a good arm, he’s got good accuracy, he’s got good mechanics, he can anticipate really well, which you can’t say for everybody. And then you see him do a lot of things that you are going to ask him to do in the NFL. You see enough on that on tape that it makes you optimistic.”



So yeah a 4 year player and 3 year starter, with no combine invite is recognized as having some some decent skills and mediocre stats. Its 100% fair to say he had great WRs and RB who made a big difference for AKs 428 more yards over 2024.

Can he surprise like Pacheco? Sure but he will need a good OL and skill players. Washington liked him personally and because he had good hustle which I saw as well. Fall is a beautiful season and I increasingly I am unwilling to sit home watching dull football year after year (including pros). I like RU players a lot but I dont get romantic about what I see or dont see, That's nothing personal
 
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