One oddity I noticed this season was the lack of contribution from any true freshman. Did all the freshmen redshirt this season? Maybe this is the new normal in the transfer portal era, but it seems crazy that no one earned consistent playing time on this putrid defense. Hopefully Collier and Kyle are ready to roll next season.
Freshmen
- Thread starter Perricone7
- Start date
Scanning the roster, if accurate, several played during Norfolk State, found only two who played in two games:
DJ McClary: 2025 (Freshman): In on a stop versus No. 8 Oregon (10/18) ... recorded three tackles with one for loss in collegiate debut against Norfolk State (9/13).
Kamar Archie: 2025 (Freshman): Recorded three tackles versus No. 8 Oregon (10/18) ... made collegiate debut against Norfolk State (9/13).
Yes, they all did. Braxton Kyle was expected to play until he got hurt. Collier arrived too late when he decided to reclass and needed to bulk up a bit but he appeared in like 2 games. Others played but very sparingly.
Is that really an oddity ? Do we usually get contributions from many true freshmen ? Certainly not expected on the lines and we had excellent health and performance at offensive positions you might see this (WR and RB) and excellent health at the defensive positions you might see this (CB/S).
That said, there were many times that I was curious at what a freshmen (or sophomore) CB or S could have done throughout the season.
This year was maybe the first one that I can remember where a true freshman wasn’t on special teams. I think the roster expansion had something to do with that
Recently we’ve Strong, Raymond, Duff, Black, Sanders play as true freshman. Levy & Blake played as well due to injuries.
Levy and Robinson played on D this year and you could see that they are not yet ready to be starters or regular rotation pieces. Maybe they will make a jump in year 3 as redshirt sophomores.
The Rutgers official site lists four freshmen as participating in the Pedd St. game: Kamar Archie, DJ McClary, Latrell Noel, and Wydeek Collier.
I definitely remember seeing Archie and McClary at linebacker at some point in the game.
I'm very interested in seeing what Archie, McClary, Kaba, and Deloatch can do next year at lindebacker.
I definitely remember seeing Archie and McClary at linebacker at some point in the game.
I'm very interested in seeing what Archie, McClary, Kaba, and Deloatch can do next year at lindebacker.
Assuming everyone comes back next season the LB position will be our strongest. If we are healthy we have : Djabome, Walker, Wright, Robinson, Archie, and McClary.
DJ is out of eligibility & it looked like Wright may have blown out his knee against State Penn
My bad on DJ … he did play in 2022.
Wright has been hurt over the last 2 seasons. Hopefully he makes a recovery. I think he is solid at LB.
I saw Kaba in high school and came away very impressed. I thought he was the best prospect in last year's class.
I think he's still recovering from an injury though.
Yeah I'd argue that outside of absolute freak athletes WR, RB, and DB are where freshman can get some snaps. Outside of that OL, DL, and LB they most likely need to get some muscle and build out their frame. I am sure there is also a learning curve from HS to College gameplay at the Big10 level for the line and backers.
Lots of bodies but would never be considered strongest position group given their performance this year.